Travel, they say, to unwind, to relax, get away from it all.... I wanted to see Venice but my sister and travel companion, Edith, had been there several times. "Let's see Egypt", she said. "Visit sites along exotic spice routes, see the Pyramids, find a treasure among dim shadows in the heart of the souk....." Well, with Italy ruled out as too ordinary, I agreed to the trip. We flew out on Jan 24.
Egypt's political instability exploded into prime time news on Jan 25. The smoldering undercurrent of civil unrest following last November's egregiously rigged elections gained momentum on-line and took to the streets. On Jan. 26 traffic flowed through the city as our bus pulled into a queue on Tahrir Square. We entered the Cairo Museum compound at around 10:30, passing tall gates, machine gun toting guards, and the ubiquitous metal detector. After a guided tour, meandering at leisure we found ourselves apparently swimming upstream. Everyone was leaving. Authorities were closing the museum. The scene outside had changed dramatically. There was no traffic at all. We were the final bus. As we pulled away a growing crowd of protesters were facing the armed police, now stationed behind body shields, gun barrels resting on rectangular openings. The sun was shining on soldiers in riot gear and German shepherd patrol dogs. A visit to the souq was out of the question.
Cairo is dirty. 22 million people call it home. In Egypt the average income is $300/year, and if one has to be poor one does not want to be "urban poor". If one is "rural poor", and if one can get water from the Nile, one may, like the ancients, farm the land. Cairo gets an inch of rain a year on average. Dust blowing in from the desert coats endless lines of laundry with a dull haze. Most buildings are several lopsided stories of uneven bricks. Building codes appear to be lax as neither rain, nor freeze/thaw cycle, nor seismic activity are of great concern. It is bustling with demolition, construction and commerce.
I liked the people. They were calm and well mannered with close and loving family ties. All of which stands in stark contrast to how they drive. Driving rules can best be described as a big game of "chicken". Buses cut off mopeds, trucks cut off buses, small taxi vans filled to capacity dart to and fro, cutting off bicycles, donkeys and the occasional camel. Look both ways before crossing the street. Run, don't walk. Litter is plentiful, graffiti is rare. Most Egyptian women do not work outside the home. Beyond the Westernised city centers In a country where baksheesh is the norm - we were often tipping male attendants for our three squares of toilet paper.
We live well. We are the lucky ones. Our vision of Cairo is from the shelter and ease of our hotel room. A good dinner awaits - followed, perhaps, by a cocktail near the courtyard fountain. Bring a cardigan. Dress modestly. Look back before Muhammad, before Jesus......That is the Egypt we love, the Egypt you should visit if you have the chance.
The Pharaonic civilization arose along the Nile by some 5,500 years ago, as the Sahara, lush for several thousand years between ice ages, became the desert we know today. (The word Sahara means desert.) He who controlled the water controlled the power. The Pharaoh, and the priests controlled the water. They built temples, storehouses, and tombs. Karnak, a dominant temple complex was built over several thousand years. Large stones were cut from the ground by an expansion process, wherein fires were built above lines of drilled holes filled with moist fibers. The seasonal high water of the Nile carried the stones downstream. The regional burial traditions of funerary figures, plaster and copal masks for the dead ( 10,000 year old examples are on exhibit in Amman) develop into the elaborate burial effects of King Tutankhamen. The ruins are immense and wildly colorful. As they were protected by the climate and drifting sand, and engineered to last eons, the hand of man has caused most of the damage one finds. That damage, from the scouring of faces of idols, graffiti left over centuries, to an early Coptic sanctuary in a 3,000 year old birthing house or 6th century painted image of the Last Supper in the Temple at Luxor, tells the history of the Christian era.
Their civilization reigned for around 4,000 years. As much time passed between the Old Kingdom and the New Kingdom as has passed between Jesus and ourselves. Over time the Egyptians fought the Syrians and the Nubians, the Greeks and the Romans and in time all enemies dovetailed into their tradition. Our Biblical history is corroborated by their records. It is interesting to note that 90,0000 Nubians suffered forced relocation and most of their historic sites were flooded after completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1970. Also interesting....the High Dam holds back 5.97 trillion cubic feet of water. Compare that to the Hoover Dam which holds back a mere 1.24 trillion cubic feet of water. Considered one of the marvels of 20th century engineering, it contains 17 times the mass of the Great Pyramid. It was very tricky to build. No one is quite sure how the pyramid was built. Egyptians, a generally sensible and well considered people, are offended by the notion that aliens had anything to do with the project.
Which brings us back to today.....The Egyptian of today has a tough road to walk. 95% of them live near the Nile upon which all life in the region depends. While the High Dam assures electricity and prevents the loss of life, livestock and other inconveniences caused by annual flooding, it also traps the silt that has fertilized the Nile Delta since man first walked. Soil quality is deteriorating, and is now middling to poor, based on recent studies. Million of tons of chemical fertilizers are now used per annum. Add to that the downstream effects of an Ethiopian Dam system under construction upstream. My heart goes out to the Egyptian people. Global warming and increased desertification loom like impending plagues.
Give thanks in this Easter and Passover season that the Allmighty took our forefathers out of the land of Egypt, and give thanks for his abundant rainfall and our raucous inclusive political system. Next stop Venice.
