Egypt – 2 Cities, 2 Ladies, 2 Waterways – Part 2

 Please Read Part 1 Here

Egypt IS OLD – One of the Oldest Civilizations:

There was life in Egypt around 10,000 years ago, but Egyptians united under one government around 5000 years (3200 BC) ago when history of Fir-aons or Pharaohs (Kings) is believed to start. Pharaohs numbered in 100s. They can be divided into 30+ dynasties, dating up to year 343 BC. The story of Moses (Musa AS, or Moshe) & a Pharaoh (Fir-aown) is narrated in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Which Pharaoh was it? I really don’t know. Strange fact is that Egypt was ruled by non Egyptians till 1952 which included Greeks, Macedonians, Romans, Turkish, Arabs, French and British.

Cities of Al Qahira (Cairo) & Alexandria:

Alexander the Great (Sikander-e-Azam) established a city Alexandria (Iskandria) as Egyptian capital. It remained so until Muslims (Fatimid) conquered Egypt in 640 and founded the city Al-Qahira, now known as Cairo. They shifted the capital of Egypt from Alexandria to Cairo. Cairo, known as “city of 1000 Minarets” is full of Muslim history. The city is hugely populated; as a result it is too polluted & crowded with traffic.

Traffic congestion is a huge problem in Cairo, on top, Egyptian driving is second to none. They like precision driving, meaning they drive bumper to bumper at any speed. But they do care about light pollution at least. As many as 40% people drive at night with headlights off. Surprised & scared, I enquired about it from my Egyptian colleague. “We don’t want to dazzle the driver ahead” he explained. Cairo city is similar to Lahore, overcrowded, narrow streets, too much traffic, dust & rubbish everywhere (here Cairo is ahead).  Tourists are punished badly; most taxi drivers & vendors would put their price up by only 2 or 3 times if not more. They will try any means to rip off your money. Unfortunately this is sad since we claim to be Muslims and fear Allah. This behaviour leaves a bad impression on tourists visiting the country. Egypt is not alone; I faced this issue elsewhere also, mainly in Muslim countries except few. Malaysia is one such good example.

Saladin / Salahudin Ayubi – The Warrior:

Salahudin conquered the city in 1171. He built a citadel (castle) here to defend the city against Crusaders (Saleebi fighters). Elegant Citadel and some walls still stand.

World’s Oldest Script (Writing System) – Hieroglyphics:

The world’s oldest script or writing system called Hieroglyphics was established here around 3200 BC (5200 years ago). It is a complex mixture of pictures and text. It was very difficult to learn and people who mastered it earned huge rewards, one such writer become King later.

TWO MOST FAMOUS WOMEN: UME KALSOOM AND CLEOPATRA

Who is Cleopatra?

Who doesn’t know her! A beautiful lady who is the subject of countless studies, books, films & dramas. She was Macedonian Greek who ruled Egypt between 51 & 30 BC. It was the period when Egypt was weak politically. Romans sent two of their generals Julius Caesar & Mark Antony to Egypt one after another. Cleopatra married them both, in their order of arrival (Caesar died after which she married Antony). No wonder Romans accuse her of seducing their generals. They sent army to fight Antony after his marriage to Cleopatra. He committed suicide on hearing the rumour of Cleopatra’ death. Cleopatra killed herself as she came to know of the death of her husband Antony; sad ending really. Romans were happy though; Egypt fell to Romans & became part of Roman Empire.

Umm Kalsoum (1904 – 1975):

Umm Kalsoum was/is a legendary singer of the Arabs world. She started singing around 1930. Soon she became the most famous & loved singer in the whole Arab world. For 40 years, first Thursday evening of every month, all Egypt & other Arab countries would stand still for hours to listen to her live in concert! She passed away in 1975, a museum is established in her memory. Some Egyptians call her the 4^th Pyramid of Egypt.

TWO MOST FAMOUS WATERWAYS: SUEZ AND NILE

Suez Canal:

There is a 163 KM piece of land that connects Africa to Asian land. Red sea is on south of it and Mediterranean sea on the north. Just because of this tiny piece, ships had to cross the whole Africa to reach Asia. Only if we could dig a canal through it would save journey of many days. French thought of doing it but then gave up; their engineers miscalculated and declared that one sea is higher than the other. Egyptians took the challenge and started the Suez Canal project again in 1859, completing it in 10 years. It is a 193 KM long man-made single-lane canal. As an example, a journey from London to Bombay would be 11,600 KM through Suez, but 19,800 KM otherwise – only 8,200 KM more.

Digging it was a difficult & costly job which is completed mostly with manual labour. Egypt became bank corrupt and ended up selling the canal to Britain & French. Suez remained with them till 1956. Gamal Abdul Nasir claimed it back from them, obviously it made British & French only angry and led them to occupy it militarily with the help of their friend Israel. International condemnation compelled them to return it back to Egypt. Suez Canal is a major sea trade route now days earning huge amount of toll tax for Egypt.

Suez is considered to be one of the Most Important Canal in the World.

RIVER NILE – The Longest River in the World:

Nile is the longest river in the world (6,670 KM). Starting from Burundi, it passes through Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt. Only 22% of its length falls in Egypt. Yet Dirya-e-Neel is the life line of Egyptians since 1000s of years. Starting in south it runs through the country towards north. Most of the population lives along its banks. Nile provides them with water for agriculture & drinking, sea food, transportation and tourism opportunities.  Before falling into Mediterranean Sea, it produces one of the biggest deltas on earth. Nile used to flood Egyptian land every year due to summer rains and snow melt, providing a natural fertilizer to the Egyptian soil. A high dam was built at Aswan in 1972, after which yearly flooding has stopped. Egyptians use artificial fertilizers now.