A Walk in Old Cairo

There are seven of us in our small traveling group today, and we are heading on a self-guided walking tour of Old Cairo, that section of the city dating back to before Roman times. Two thousand years ago, the Romans ruled Egypt from their administrative center in Alexandria, a city to the north of modern day Cairo. Cairo wasn't even Cairo when the Romans arrived. It was a tiny, backwater trading community that the Romans called "Babylon." As a part of their administrative occupation of Egypt, the Romans erected a fine, twin-towered trade post here at the base of the Nile Delta. The foundations of the mighty, Roman towers would one day serve as the foundations of the city of Cairo.

Roman Towers

Old Cairo is five metro stops to the north of us. Our group meets at one of Ma'adi's two metro stations. We pay our £1 Egyptian (about 15 cents) and board a modern, relatively clean train. Twenty minutes and no hassles later, we exit Mar Girgis Station. Crossing the street, we immediately encounter the remains of the old Roman towers. Cairenes call it the "Babylonian Fortress," and its robbed-out, stone-and-brick edifice looms three or four stories above us. Rebuilt and reinforced many times, the towers once guarded the lively river traffic sailing up and down the Nile. Two thousand years ago, the Nile flowed right up to the base of the Babylonian Fortress. Thanks modern engineers dictating the course of the Nile, today the river flows a couple of miles away to the west of us.

Coptic Museum

We follow the curve of one of the Roman towers towards the nearby Coptic Museum. This small museum (£60 entry fee) houses artifacts dating from the beginning of the Coptic Christian era of Egyptian history up to the Islamic era. We see delicate bronze pieces as well as a handful of extremely well-preserved textiles. The defining aspect of the museum however, is its richly carved wooden ceilings. The glorious ceilings, a product of skilled, local artisans, are a part of the 2006 restoration of the museum. The frescoes, bronzes, and ceilings make for a stunning masterpiece.

Interior, Hanging Church

Just down the street from the Coptic Museum is the famous Hanging Church, a Coptic Christian church that is over one thousand years old. The church has been in continuous use since being built. It was erected atop the ruins of the ancient Roman walls, hence its name. Inside, the church has the cozy feel of a small, wooded chapel, a nave packed with wooden pews and two side aisles. Gilded icons of saints and apostles adorn all of the walls. Light streams in from windows high above. A large stone pulpit, held aloft above the church pews by thirteen stone pillars, dominates the nave. Each pillar represents Christ and his Apostles. I note that one pillar, presumably the one representing Judas Iscariot, is hewn from dark marble, a stark contrast to the others.

We leave the Hanging Church to wander around the walls of the Christian Cemetery. These ancient walls surround most of the area that the Cairenes refer to as Old Cairo. We are on the outside of these walls, and we traipse through a lively Cairo neighborhood characterized by mechanics' shops, tiny cafes, mosques and trash heaps. Curious local residents eye us as they make their way to their afternoon prayers. Their awkward stares suggest that they have not seen foreign tourists in this neighborhood for a long time.

Jewish Cemetery gate,
Ben Ezra Synagogue

After wandering through an ancient Christian and Jewish cemetery, we stumble upon the Ben Ezra Synagogue. The oldest known synagogue in Egypt, there has been a house of worship on this site for at least 1100 years. Amidst the mosques of Cairo, it is easy to forget that northern Egypt was once the center of a vibrant Jewish community. Ancient records of land exchanges show that the land beneath the modern day Ben Ezra Synagogue was purchased by one Abraham ibn Ezra of Jerusalem for the purpose of establishing a religious community. It is believed that a synagogue was built not long after. As if this site needed any further historical gravitas, there is a powerful local legend about this place. According to the tale, several thousand years ago a pharaoh's daughter found an infant floating in a reed basket amongst the lush vegetation along the river Nile. She kept the child and named him, Moses.

Interior, Mosque of Amr ibn el-As

Having visited several Coptic Christian churches and a synagogue, we make our way north towards the Mosque of Amr ibn el-As, the first mosque in Egypt and on the African continent. 1300 years ago, Amr ibn el-As was the Arab general whose forces defeated a Byzantine army in the vicinity of what is now Old Cairo. Amr was a companion to the Prophet Muhammad. Legend tells that shortly before his death, the Prophet foretold that Amr would one day conquer Egypt and would be kind to its people. Muhammad's prophecy was fulfilled years later when Byzantine forces were beaten by Amr's crack troops. The rest of the region was occupied without much bloodshed. As it turns out, Amr ibn el-As was lucky. Relations between the people of Egypt and their Byzantine rulers had become quite uneasy in recent decades, and the people of Egypt seemed to welcome these new Arab invaders. Amr became a kind of governor of Egypt during the early days of

Visiting the Mosque

the Muslim Caliphate, and during this time, many Egyptians converted to Islam. It seems that the conversion was not coerced. Many Egyptians would have embraced the egalitarianism of Islam. Others may have converted to avoid the tax that Amr placed upon those who did not follow the tenets of this newly introduced religion. Whatever the explanation, the people of Egypt converted to Islam, setting into motion a spiritual revolution that would make Islam the religion followed by more than 95% of the people here.

Having started our journey at 10 a.m., we are exhausted by 3 p.m. Today, we stood before Roman gates; marveled at Egyptian wood carvings. We experienced the quiet piety of one of Egypt's most famous Coptic churches, and we gazed at the spot where Moses was plucked from the River Nile. At the end of the afternoon, we were consumed by the vastness and solemnity of Africa's first mosque. Our self-guided walking tour of Old Cairo proved to be a captivating and inspiring sojourn.

*This week's photos by Dana Purpura (and one by Rick Harman)