On to Cairo

 

At 3am as we slept the Borealis docked quietly at Port Said. This was the place where Ferdinand de Lesseps convinced Khedive Said that the cana should be built, largely with French and British finance. For any Polish child, Port Said is the safe haven from which Stas and Nell started their extraordinary adventure in "Across Desert and Wilderness" which led them through Khartoum to wildest Kenya. I set my alarm for the unearthly time of 5.15am and satisfied myself with a light breakfast of fruit and cereals. 

I was off for a tour to Cairo, but not the Pyramids or the Egyptian Museum, as I had already seen them. Our aim was to get to know the cultural and relgious side of Egypt. Albina stayed on board the vessel as the subject was not sufficiently interesting for her, while she too had already seen the pyramids with me.  

We were temporarily given our passports back for this journey and the Egyptian entry stamp had already been entered into it. There were six buses waiting for us, mainly those intended to visit the main attractions, but our smaller group of 23 had a bus to ourselves with plenty of room for us to stretch out. Neverhtless it need room not just for our driver and guide but also two secutity men, one in uniform, and the other, a more sinister looking gentleman, dressed in a smart suit and hiding his gun holster. A s I watched from the coach there was a lot of signing of documents, policemen and security officers pacing backwards and forwards around the coaches, before we finally drove off in a convoy through the city of Port Said. We battled to stay together through the traffic, passing on the way a mosque with a beautiful blue dome which just failed to catch with my camera as the bus suddenly swerved. Eventually we drove into a compound. There was more discussions, more arm waving, and when we were eventually released our coach followed a white chevrolet with flashing lights. We joined an express way, bordered with a concrete barrier that kept us free of the slower (and not always slower) local traffic, and careered our way south in the direction of Cairo. The countryside was flat and intensely gree, as an eastern extension of the fertile Nile delta. I could spot wheat, orchards of fruit and olives, and fields of larger green bushes, probably cotton. We crosses numerous thin irrigation canals, and the homes of the local farmerd, some of them even three storey, almost palacional.

Soon we drove into another road barrier where we were held up for more than twenty minutes. Our guide who had been talking incessantly about ancient Egyptian religion, and explaining why primitive Egyptians believed in an after life, because they could see life returning after each season and after each day. During this long delat which left us restless, she spoke not a word. Security in Egypt is not a matter for discussion, or even explanation. Eventually, the order of our buses in the convoy was rearranged and were off following another police car with flashing lights. We had obviously exited the jurisdiction of one sheriff, to be replaced with another, each determined to make its presence known to us tourists from abroad. 

With time the greenery disappears, first on the left, and ater on both sides, to be replaced by dusty empty areas, gradually filling with new still empty, whose purposes escaped me. Perhaps they were commuter suburbs for Cairo workers. Economic activity continued along this route, with large international schools, a family theme park and the inevitable mosques complete with domes and minarets dotted along the path. We hit Cairo at the latter part of the rush hour. It was a Sunday, which for Egyptians is the first day of the working week. 

The  city still has that dusty look of brown and yellow shading on the plaster and brickwork of houses and the older apartment blocks, emphasized all the more by the smog that blocks out the sun and clouds over anything more than 5 blocs away. Only the old massive citadel, built with material borrowed from the great pyramids, seems above the smog with its seven mosques including the magnificent one with the shiny silver dome dominating the city on the east side of the Nile. There seems to be as much traffic as when we were here last some 30 years ago, but curiously, slightly less gridlock. Perhaps the newer express ways and frequent flyovers account for this as well as the new municipal trains travelling past modern stations with their curved blue roofs. Some higher buildings but still this city of 22 million is dominated by the 2000 or minarets, some of them really sleek and beautiful. The minarets are more silent now but still more than a mere symbol to the sunni muslim population. We passed the occasional prominent monuments such as dominant equestrian statue of Ibrahim Pasha, or the pyramid outline to the memorial over the tomb of President Sadat, assassinated after he had achieved the historic peace treaty between Egypt and Isreal. Also I see some spectacular new build such as the large complex of buildings forming the International Centre for Egyptian Civilization. In fact any prominent school that seeks to upgrade its profile in Egypt now calls itself  "International". There is even an Intenational Muslim University that teaches the latest sciences as well as other modern cultural subjects, but is limited only to Muslim students. So much so, that female and male students must study separately. This may impress many Egyptians, but their world ranking in true international academia is not that high. 

Our first stop on reaching Cairo was the Synagogue of Sha'ar Hashamayim. The pavement at the front of this elegant grey building was blocked by a barrier of densely packed bollards with a gate, and was surrounded by a police presence. The gate was opened for us and we walked into what was avery sad looking interior. It was being subjected to reconstruction and our group was constantly bumping into scaffolding or tripping over rolled up carpets. This building was once the pride and joy of a prosperous Jewish community and was built in 1903. With high walls, attractive stained glass windows and a high walnut door, half covered with a turquoise coloured curtain, hiding the Torah scrolls. The layout was much like what I would remember during my visit to the Central London Synagogue, but the central island was replaced by a single platform for the cantor or rabbi to perform their tasks. Ever since private enterprise was nationalized bhy Nasser, theJews departed, hastened by bitter feeling over Isreal and Palestine and, accordin to the guide, there was only about 1000 left in Egypt. The actual resident congegatio n of this synagogue was just 4 women. Nevertheless, money was still pouring in from abroad from more prosperous Jewish communities abroad to assist with the upkeep and the reconstruction of the building. Looking around mournfully at the state of the building, we asked the lady custodian, when the reconstruction would be finished. "I just don't know," she replied with a bleak shrug. 

Next we moved to the undergound world of the Egyptian coptic community, which had been a secret clandestine sect during the period of Roman persecution. From the third to the sixth century Egypt was acHristian state, at until the incursion of Islam. The country is still 20% Christian. Walking around a street of cafes and bars, we were led down a steep staircase and descended through a large gated doorway into a subterranean passage, which had once beenthe main access to the tunnels in which theearliest Copts (or Egyptian Chritians) lived and worshipped. The passages are uncovered and open to the sky now, but still very narrow and hemmed in between buildings with shops and places of worship. Bricked in entrances marked the earlier clandestine houses as we proceeded along the crowded narrow passage way to the Nunnery of St George. Through ancient gateway we reached a delightful little courtyard planted with grass and hedges. A beared tourist with another group shouted at the top of ihis voice "Is this a church?" "No, a nunnery," someone else replied. A few steps further, he shouted out the same question somewhat impatiently. "Is this a church?". "No, a nunnery," I replied. "What's a nunnery?", he asked, which surprised me because his English sounded good. "A home for nuns." "A nun, what'a nun?" "Well do you know what a monk is?" I replied. He nodded. "Well, these are female monks, and here is where they lived and prayed" He looked stunned as he let this information sink in, and I left him to go down the xhapel below the nunnery. Other members were quietly laughing. I came across him again after about half an hour. He recognized me and thanks me for enlightening him.

There was a beautiful chapel hidden below.dedicated, as was the nunnery itself, to St George. That is he of the dragon fame, who was also an early martyr. The chapel was built in the 9th centr and was quite and rectangular, It included a massive 7 metre high cedarwood door, decorated with 78 wooden panels decorated with animals and trees,  which led to other rooms deeper down under the front courtyyard, but the walls of this chapel were surrounded with various icons, ancient and modern and relics placed in a little alcove, around which 3 pilgrims, chanted their prayers in a loud voice. There were also some relics of St George and St Philomena, the latter a saintly and beautiful maiden who refused to marry the Emperor Diocletian, was scourged and otherwise tortured, and eventually beheaded. This led on to another church, erected in red brick, dedicated to St Sergius and St Bacchus, hidden further along the narrow passageway which was celebrated because under the foundations they claimed they had found the place where Joseph and Mary stayed after they fled to Egypt. Our guide was describing with great verve the symbolism of the Coptic cross and how all the decorations reflected in some way either the figure eight for the survicors on Noah's Ark, or 10 for the number of commandments, or 12 for the number of apostles. At least kt made you look for examplesof this symbolism even if the story of Joseph and Mary seemed somewhat far-fetched.

After that, a further walk outside of the subterranean passage led us to a fourth century white church dedicated to St George, which was perched  on top of a huge staircase, and fronted by a beatifully carved wooden portico. Amazingly, it was actually constructed on top of two Roman towers, dated to the time of Emperor Trajan, and was suspended in mid-air with no foundations of its own. You could actually see through a glass panel in the floor of the church that we were suspended by what looked like at least 10 metres above the ground. The church had a beautiful iconostase made of ebony and cedar and encrusted with ivory designs and the walls were literally littered with more than a hundred icons to various saints. They were watched over by a beautiful Madonna icon. who looked straight at you and seemed to follow you with her eyes wherever you were in the building. 

As we drove out of coptic enclave we passed the modest grey coloured Mosque of Amr Ibn El Ass, which was apparently one of the oldest in Egypt, as it was founded by the the ruler who first brought Islam to Egypt. As with so much in Egypt, it was being repaired and was closed to visitors. Then we visited the spectacularly large XIVth century Mosque of Sultan Hassan, with its 3 minarets, high-walled open courtyard and large interior. It is actually at the centre of a complex outbuildings housing a hospital, a hotel and a madrassa for teaching children from as early as 3 to memorize the Koran. It's sheer size and grandeur, as well as thr simplicity of its architecture was certainly impressive. Without putting our shoes back on we made it to the later Refaie Mosque, just opposite to Hassan mosque. This too is very large but it also has the quite magificent tombs of two failed monarchs, King Farouk of Egypt and the Shah of Iran, who found a resting place her thanks to the courtesy of President Sadat, even though the Shah was a Shia Muslim being buried in a Sunni Mosque. Most of the more sumptuous tombs and mosque walls are enriched with Egyptiam marble, which can be crumbly. However the tomb of the Shah was made of Carrara marble, the material from which Michelangelo carved his statues. 

Then it was time to eat at a restaurant in the middle of  the bustling Khan El Khalil Bazaar, where I didtinguished myself by being the only one of our group capable of finishing the main course with three different meats and varied veegetables besides. Finally, it transpired there was no time to wander around the bazaar. I was able to buy a fez for my Egyptian costume next day, but the rest had no time to do anything. We retired to the bus and after teo hours arrived pretty exhausted on board the vessel.

There was still time for me that evening to watch amagnificent and colourful Egyptian Folklore Show and participate in another General Knowledge Quiz and went to bed with the feeling of a well spent day.