Today we’ll be going on a tour of Cairo. When we got into the car I gave Nahed the strawberry bookmark I’d finished yesterday. She seemed to really like it.
We started in Coptic Cairo, the location of the oldest church and synagogue. Coptic literally means Christian people of Egypt. First stop, the Coptic Orthodox Church of St. Barbara. Sections of this church date back to the 4th century AD, but it’s been rebuilt several times. Here are some pictures.
Next we visited the Hanging Church. The church is considered “hanging” because it’s suspended on logs placed over the gate house of a Roman fortress built years before the church itself. It was probably built in the late 7th century. It is believed to have been a stopping point for Mary, Joseph, and Jesus who lived in the church for about a month after they fled to Egypt to escape the Romans. The design of the church was significantly influenced by Islamic and Egyptian styles. Some of the carved symbols contain traditional moorish geometry, while others (e.g. the cross with lotus flower tips) carry styles used in ancient Egyptian temples.
We stopped in a Coptic church that was holding a mass. There was a strong smell of burning incense inside and we noticed many of the women were wearing hijabs.
Our final stop in old Cairo was at Ben Ezra Synagogue, built on the site where baby Moses was said to have been found floating in the reeds of the Nile in a basket.
We moved on to the citadel, a hilltop fortress built as a defensive position against the Crusaders, which contains the Mosque of Mohammed Ali. Mohammad Ali lived from 1769 until 1849 and was an Ottoman Albanian commander who rose through the ranks to eventually rule Egypt. He is regarded as the founder of modern Egypt because of the dramatic military, economic and cultural reforms he enacted.
While at the citadel Nahed gave us a primer on the basics of Islam. The five pillars of Islam are:
- You must believe in one god, Allah.
- You must pray five times a day at designated times. (The times change throughout the year based on sunrise and sunset. The prayers are also slightly different at different times of day. Men should pray in the mosque on Fridays if they can. Going to the mosque is optional for ladies. It’s ok if you can’t pray at the designated times. Ahmed the Great told us he makes up all his missing prayers at home in the evening. Many men have a dark spot on their forehead from pressing their head onto the floor while praying.)
- You must fast from sun up until sun down during Ramadan. (Muslims celebrate Ramadan to commemorate the initial revelation by the Angel Gabriel of the thoughts ultimately documented in the Quran to Muhammad.)
- Muslims must donate 2.5% of their annual savings to charity, specifically the poor and the needy.
- If financially able, Muslims must make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime during the Hajj.
A cohesive family and strong community ties are very important and encouraged by practitioners of the Islamic faith.
Here are some pictures of the mosque and the citadel.
After visiting the mosque Nahed took us to a restaurant for a special lunch of stuffed pigeon and stuffed duck. We had seen “pigeon houses” through out the city where the unsuspecting pigeons nest.
I got the duck and Rick got the pigeon. It wasn’t stuffed but was served on a bed of rice. I forgot to take a picture of our food, but here’s a picture of the pigeon from the internet that looks similar.
I tasted the pigeon but couldn’t stop thinking about what I was eating. Rick didn’t like the taste at all. It was really gamey, or something?!
After lunch we went to a candy store. The celebration of Mohammad’s birthday is November 20. The candy shops bake special candy, mostly with nuts, to celebrate. While there we bought some candy to share when we get home.
Next we went to the Egyptian Museum, which appeared to be in a state of disarray. The Egyptian government is currently building a huge new museum close to the pyramids. It will open soon and many of the exhibits are being packed up in preparation for the move. Luckily the Tut exhibit isn’t moving until the end of the month, so we had a chance to see it in Cairo. Both of us had seen the exhibit before, Rick in New York at the Met, me in London at the British Museum. In Cairo the exhibit was drab, disorganized and dirty in comparison. Hopefully it’s new home will provide a better venue.
The museum is huge and we probably could have spent a couple of days there, but our time was limited that day to 2 hours. We didn’t by a photo ticket so no pictures.
We returned to the hotel and I started knitting an orange for our bartender friend who I’d promised a gift the night before. I finished it just in time for dinner. We went down to the restaurant and it turned out to be his day off. Luckily he’s supposed to work tomorrow, so I’ll give it to him then.