Excursion: Islamic Cairo

I joined another walking tour by Ahmed Seddik, this time of Islamic Cairo.  The tour started at Al Azhar Mosque, which was the first mosque built in Cairo.  It was built in 970 AD.  We arrived just in time to hear the evening call to prayer.  Looking up at the mosque's minarets, with the sun setting in the background, was a beautiful and thrilling moment.

The mosque was initially built as a prayer hall with a modest courtyard, but it has been expanded multiple times.  The Mamluks who ruled Egypt from the 13th century to the 16th century added the minarets to it (below left), and the gates were added during the time of the Ottoman empire (below right).  Above the gates are white cyprus trees, which represent the Ottoman minarets, which are thinner and pointier than the Mamaluk era minarets.

We carried on to the Khan al-Khalili, Cairo's famous market.  It was humming - all the stores were open, there were people and motorbikes everywhere, and the smell of spices and shisha was in the air.

The Egyptian men were sitting back sucking languidly on their water pipes watching the world go by.  It's frowned on for women though.  Hashish is still popular as a recreational drug and the smokey smell did become somewhat different in parts.  We stopped at El Fishawy's for a drink - it's one of Cairo's oldest cafes, famous for being the hang out of Naguib Mahfouz, Egypt's nobel prize winning novelist.  On this night, it was busy with Egyptians and tourists, drinking tea and smoking shisha.

The Khan al-Khalili was originally built in the 14th century, although it was built and rebuilt several times.  It's a wonderful place to visit, particularly if you are after some Cairo kitsch; there is no shortage of Egypt memorabilia.  I passed on the Nefertiti statues and King Tut snowcones but I am planning a return visit to pick up some spices and dried hibiscus flowers.

We wandered through the streets of old Cairo, with Ahmed pointing out interesting facts and the history of the streets we were walking through.  The Cairenes who live here were going about their business - cooking corn, drinking tea, selling bread and listing to Ohm Kalthoum, Egypt's famous singer from the 30s, the 'Star of the East'.  She's a bit dramatic for my tastes but they flip for her here.

At one point we stopped in the doorway pictured below, which was made out of recycled stone that was engraved with hieroglyphs.  The person who did these has been dead for at least 1600 years and probably over 2000.

There was a young man from Cairo
who wrote his name on stone with a biro
when asked why
he answered with a cry
I can't carve those bloody heiros 

It's a wonderful part of the city - so much to explore, and so full of history, yet just as alive today as it always was.  Hustle, bustle, toil and tussle...apologies to the witches.