The Park on the Ayubbid Wall

Copyright © Egypt, Cradle of Civilization

Al Azhar Park (also Al-Azhar Park), is located in Islamic Cairo, a part of central Cairo famous for the historically important mosques and Islamic monuments. It is overlooked by the Cairo Citadel. The park is a green space in the middle of the jam-packed dusty city. 

Typical Islamic house, source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 

The view from the park, overlooking this outstanding historic district, is spectacular panoramic that takes you back to the captivating past. 

Cairo Citadel

Azhar Park is built in one of the poorest districts of Cairo, Darb el Ahmar. The district is rich with its Islamic art and architecture and its many monuments of domes and minarets.

Al-Azhar Park was a gift from His Highness Prince Shah Karim Al Hussaini, Aga Khan IV,
to the Cairene in 1984. Aga Khan Trust for Culture established the park over 30 hectare (74 acre) following a decision at the “The Expanding Metropolis: Coping with Cairo’s Urban Growth” Conference. The 500-year-old mound of rubble that was designated to be the park was a municipal rubbish dump that took 80,000 truckloads to excavate. The challenge was not only to transform the landscape but was also to implement urban rehabilitation projects including the socioeconomic rehabilitation of the neighbouring Historic City, which required launching of numerous restoration and community-initiated development projects. Al-Azhar Park project was intended to be a case study for a number of challenges such as environmental rehabilitation and cultural restoration.



On the western side of the park are the old Fatimid city and its out-growth Darb el Ahmar (also El-Darb El-Ahmar), with their wealth of mosques, madrasas and mausolea (plural of mausoleum), characterised by a long line of minarets. To the south is Sultan Hassan Mosque (Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan) as well as the 826 year-old Ayyubid Citadel of Salah el-Din. On the eastern side is the "City of the Dead" with its many social welfare complexes that was supported by the Mamluk Sultans which became an area that developed into a densely populated neighbourhood of its own.

Sultan Hassan Mosque 

Uncovered during the excavation was a 1.5-kilometre section of the 12th century Ayyubid city wall of Cairo that was built during the reign of Salah el-Din, with several towers and battlements almost intact and in fairly good shape. Also found were valuable stones with hieroglyphic texts some measuring as much as one meter long that were used in the building of the wall.

The Park's buildings and spaces were designed and constructed in Islamic context, using a variety of styles from different periods and regions. This is echoed in the bustan-like orchard gardens, its takhtaboush areas (shaded sitting spaces), Fatimid archways used in the buildings and the Persian and Timurid water pools and fountains. The streams and channels all lead to a lake in the south meadow which is all directly fed by raw Nile water from a nearby municipal line.

Beside the orchids, water features, kids play area, amphitheatre, there are only three actual buildings, the entrance, Citadel View Restaurant and the Lakeside Café. There is also an out-door café on a vintage point with a spectacular view where you can witness a stunning sunset. While the Citadel View Restaurant serves an Egyptian truly delicious buffet, the Lakeside café with its wooden screens and citrus groves has a Lebanese cuisine.

A walk through Azhar Park

With the magnificent 360˚ panoramic view of surrounding Cairo in the distance you can actually catch a glimpse of the Pyramids' silhouette. But besides the spectacular landscaping and endless view of the Cairo townscape, a daytime stroll on the Royal Palm Promenade is a refreshing experience as water streams run along the middle of your path. There are 325 varieties of plants where most of them have been natively grown in the Park's nursery. More of the interesting trees are the Sycamore, Zyziphus and four types of Acacia. The variety of plants also includes medicinal and culinary herbs such as laurel, chamomile, mint, lemon grass, coriander and thyme. There is also a beautiful array of roses, climbers and succulents, where most of these plants have labeled signs with both the official and Latin name to identify them.

Although in summer its best to visit the park in the afternoons to escape the heat, on a winter day a morning promenade will revamp your soul! The entrance fee maybe modest but it provides to fund for the maintenance of the park, along with the revenue from the restaurants, special events and shows, car parking fees and the sale of plants from the nursery. The entrance fee may not be much for a large number of Cairo's residence from the middle and upper class but it may be too much for many of the poor who live just a few kilometres away from the park, and who in my opinion need the park more than anyone. So it is not advisable to visit the park on a public holiday and especially not in Eid (Arabic for "day of festivities"), whether it be a Muslim or Coptic Eid. The park maybe more colourful with children donned in new multicoloured Eid cloths but will be impossible to appreciate with all the noise and commotion.

Once you get through with all the obvious sites like the Pyramids, the museums and major mosques I strongly recommend a laid back visit to this intriguing place.

The Virgin Mary Tree

Copyright © Egypt, Cradle of Civilization

In the incoherent district of El-Mataria, in Cairo, there stands an old sycamore tree that has been attracting thousands of pilgrims each Christmas, it's called the "Virgin's Tree". There are many sacred trees in Egypt, trees that have offered shelter for the Holy Family during their stay here, but the one in Mataria holds the highest regard of all.

The Virgin's Tree at Al Matariyah

Mataria is now a heavily populated suburb in Cairo accessed by a modern fly-over, but 2000 years ago it was a fertile, simple village where many of these balsamic trees were grown and many date palms too. The village of Mataria was popular among pilgrims from the Holy Land and at the time it was considered one of the holy sites and a blessed place like paradise. Of all the sites visited by pilgrims after Christianity was declared the religion of the Roman Empire at the beginning of the fourth century, this tree was regarded as the most holy.

The Holy Family On Their Journey Into Egypt

The journey of the Holy Family took them from Palestine to Egypt, a journey that lasted for about three and a half years, taking them through many towns in Upper and Lower Egypt. The accounts of this journey are chronicled in a Mimar (manuscript) by Pope Theophilus, 23rd Patriarch of Alexandria (384-412 A.D.) He wrote down what the Virgin Mary told him when she appeared to him in a vision. Other sources of information include accounts by 2nd and 3rd century Greek and Jewish writers, philosophers and historians.

The Holy Family journeyed south from Palestine across the wilderness, avoiding the main road for fear of capture. They entered Egypt at modern-day Rafah, where a lone sycamore tree is said to have survived since their visit there too. The only other country where Jesus Christ is said to have lived besides his homeland Palestine, is Egypt. The reason apart from it being a land of plenty with no shortage of natural resources, Egypt was traditionally seen to have a high level of cultural integration and religious tolerance.

The holy journey of the holy family in Egypt

Today the balsam shrubs have long since disappeared and the sycamore that stands now grew from a shoot planted in place of the original tree but the tradition of the tree continues to live on. The sycamore was sacred in Pharaonic times and it was called "Nehet". The sycamore tree lives long and bears sun exposure and humidity. Ancient Egyptians used them in making wooden monuments. Sycamores exist all over the Delta, Upper Egypt and also in the oases. It is considered a popular fruit in villages. These trees are beautiful and shady, so they are cultivated on wide road sides.

It is told that as Mary, Joseph the carpenter and the child Jesus tried to escape from two brigands who were in their pursuit; the trunk of the sycamore tree miraculously opened its bark where they hid inside, escaping detection. The tree is said to have medicinal properties, which is the reason why its branches are depleted, pilgrims have even stripped its bark. In the 15th century Felix Fabri, a Dominican monk, visited Mataria and noted that a gate had been built around the tree for protection and that the number of pilgrims that could enter at any one time was restricted to four. Nearby it is believed that a spring of water gushed out of the ground forming a pool where the Virgin Mary bathed Jesus is also said to be part of the miracles of the place because of its healing water.

Mary the Mother of Jesus

According to the Old Testament, the prophecy foretold that idols shall crumble wherever Jesus went, but this was not the only blessing to be granted to Egypt, as being chosen a safe haven for the Holy Family, but also for its people to have been the first to experience the miracles of Jesus the son of Mary.

The Egyptian Look

Copyright © Egypt, Cradle of Civilization

Ancient Egyptians were always aware of how appearances matter, where beauty and elegance were the top concern. And in every portrait the focus was always on the meticulously and beautifully outlined eyes that stood out and captured the world. During all periods and dynasties of ancient Egyptians, both men and women, applied eye makeup on a daily prerequisite. It did not only serve as a decorative purpose but it also served medicinal, magical and spiritual practices.


Two eye makeup colors were popular with the ancient Egyptians, the green and the black. Eye makeup was not a luxury reserved for the rich, but even the humblest graves proved to contain some. It was not the existence of makeup that separated rich from poor, but the expense and luxury of the containers and applicators. The eye color was found stored in leather or canvas pouches, small jars, conch shells or within hollow reeds. While the poor used to store it in hollow sticks, the rich used intricately carved and bejeweled containers of ivory or other precious materials.


There were two types of eye color, green "Udju" and black "Mesdemet". Udju was made from green malachite which is the vibrant green ore of copper (copper carbonate hydroxide) and was mined from the Sinai Desert. These mines came under the spiritual domain of the goddess Hathor, ancient goddess of beauty, joy, love and women. She bore the epithet "Lady of Malachite." The malachite stone was crushed and then mixed as the green eye make up. It was especially popular in the Old Kingdom, and right through the Middle Kingdom, but towards the New Kingdom it was replace almost completely by the black color.


Black eye color Mesdemet, was obtained from galena, which is the dark blue-grey ore of lead (lead sulphide). It was obtained either near Aswan in Upper Egypt or at the Red Sea Coast. It was also one of the things that was imported back by Pharaoh Hatshepsut's famed expedition to Punt and was given to her in tribute by the Asiatic nomads. One of the earliest uses of galena was as Kohl. Kohl is a mixture of soot and galena. It gained popularity over the green malachite during the period of the New Kingdom. A small amount of the eye color was mixed with animal fats or even water to make it easier to paint on the face.


The ancient Egyptians used eye makeup not only for cosmetic reasons but also for their medical purposes. Galena possesses disinfectant and fly-deterrent properties. It also protected the eyes from the intense sun. Mesdmemet was prescribed to help cure a number of eye diseases. On the other hand Udju was believed to induce or evoke the eye of Horus, the god of the Sky & Sun and also the god of healing. So outlining the skin around the eye would protect its user, especially from the "evil eye". The Egyptian word for eye-palette was derived from their word for "protect." Kohl was used by mothers, which they applied to the eyes of infants after they were born, was believed to strengthen the child's eyes and protect him from being cursed by the "evil eye". This tradition is still practiced to this day, but in the rural parts of Egypt.


Today galena can be easily and inexpensively purchased but under the name Kohl. Outside of Egypt, it can be purchased from vendors that supply accessories to Eastern dancers. Real kohl usually comes in a little box containing a stick-like applicator and a compartment for the make up itself, so its appearance and way of application has not changed over the centuries. Today kohl can also be purchased in the form of a pencil which is a lot easier to apply.


So ancient Egyptian eye makeup did more than paint a pretty face! Although Kohl became a popular cosmetic once again during the 1920s, when an "Egyptian look" came into fashion in the United States and Europe, and it is still used as eyeliner in many Eastern countries.

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem

Journey Through the Afterlife

Copyright © Egypt, Cradle of Civilization

To the Ancient Egyptians death was not the cessation of life but was only a temporary transition or interruption before they enjoyed an eternal existence in the afterlife. This wonderful and mysterious place was every Egyptian's dream and so the rituals to attaining immortality were the only ticket to being reborn.
Piety to the gods, preservation of the physical form through mummification, provision of statuary and other funerary equipment was as much an integral part of the religion as it ensured a safe journey to the afterlife. So the corpse had to be properly embalmed and entombed in a mastaba before it could live again in the Fields of Yalu and accompany the Sun on its daily ride.

The Egyptians believed that the human consisted of living entities, the "ka", the "ba", the "akh", the "name" and the "shadow". These elements were necessary to make up a complete personality and had to be sustained and protected from harm to insure that the deceased was successfully integrated into the cosmos and enjoyed immorality in the next life.

To reach a rewarding destination to the afterlife, the deceased had to pass all the tests. But first the process of preserving the body had to be successful, which took 70 days to be completed. Mummification involved removing the internal organs, removing the brain through the nose, and desiccating the body in a mixture of salts called natron. The body was then wrapped in linen with protective amulets inserted between layers and placed in a decorated anthropoid coffin.

The last of the rituals to be performed by the priests on the mummy was called the "Opening of the Mouth." This ceremony was supposed to magically give the deceased the ability to speak and eat again, and to have full use of his body. After placing the mummy in the sarcophagus, the tomb was sealed.


The deceased then had to wait for the sun god Ra, to come to his tomb. Ra would shine sunlight on the darkness and speak magic words from the Book of the Dead. The Book of the Dead contained a collection of spells, charms, passwords, numbers and magical formulas that aided the deceased safely through the journey of the afterlife. After Ra speaks these words, the mummies throw off their wrappings and Ra takes them to the Afterlife on his barge.

For the deceased to get to the Field of Reeds which was the happy place where the dead enjoy the rewards of the afterlife. The deceased disembarks in Duat (the underworld) and has to get past seven gates before reaching the final destination. The soul of the deceased is lead by the jackel-headed Anubis, god of mummification, into the Hall of Truth, and is brought forward to be judged by Osiris.


The Egyptians believed that the heart not the brain was the place for emotion and thought; it was the record of its owner's will and intentions. Basically, the heart was the key to the afterlife as during the Weighing of the Heart ceremony, Osiris placed the heart in a scale to be weighed against a feather which represented Ma'at (truth and order).

If the heart did not tip the scale it was deemed worthy and continued on to the Osirian Fields, but if the heart was heavy with sins it was devoured by the demon Ammit (Eater of Hearts) a half dog, half crocodile god, dooming its victim to eternity in Duat. Thoth, the Egyptian god of scribes, wrote down the results. So earning immortality required a sin-free heart and the ability to recite the spells, passwords, and formulae of the Book of the Dead. The loop-hole around this was being buried with a "surrogate" heart to replace the owner's for the Weighing of the Heart ceremony.


The Egyptians centered their lives on their religion and rituals to finally be rewarded with immortality, but the fear of a "second death" was to be the worst fate imaginable! Not only was it a sorrowful destiny but was considered total oblivion. So to guarantee eternal happiness having a good, honest heart was the most essential element to a safe journey into the Afterlife.

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem

The Religion of the Ancients

Copyright © Egypt, Cradle of Civilization

Deciding to write about the religion of the Ancient Egyptians was like opening up Pandora’s Box! Not only was religion a belief to the Egyptians, it was a way of life and it governed they’re very existence. It seems they were motivated to create the civilization they have left behind, solely for the gods. We know a lot about they’re everyday lives, the jobs they did, what they grew, what they ate, their government, their medical technology, even how they created their magnificent monuments. We know they dedicated their lives to appease the deities, but what exactly was the belief that was strong enough to create one of the most sophisticated societies in history?
The Egyptian religion was based on polytheism, or the worship of multiple deities, except for the brief period during the reign of King Akhenaton, who was a monotheist, believing in one god, the sun-disc, Aten. There was as many as 2000 gods and goddesses worshiped during the course of their history, often represented as part human and part animal. While some of these gods where worshiped throughout the country some were only popular in a certain location, with different gods being prominent at different periods of Egyptian history. These deities represented various forces of nature and the myths associated with them evolved and changed over time, so really Egypt never had a definite hierarchy of deities nor a unified mythology. In Egyptian mythology the Supernatural was never separated from humanity.

Not only did the Egyptians believe that all the elements and forces of nature where controlled by the gods, but that each element of nature was a divine force in itself. The gods represented phenomena, such like Shu which represented air, as they could also include animals, as Sekhmet, the deification of the ferocity of lions. Deities could also represent more abstract things, as Horus who represented the power of kingship. These deities were worshipped with offerings and prayers, in local and household shrines as well as in formal temples managed by priests. The hymns, prayers and offerings were for the purpose of placating the gods, gaining favors and turning them to human advantage. Because different deities existed in different manifestations, and some had multiple roles, the mythology remains a very complex.

But the most fascinating concept is the force of Ma’at. The Ma’at translates to include “truth,” “justice,” “order” and “harmony.” It was the fundamental of all the natural forces, as it represented the eternal order of the universe, both in nature and in human society. The Ma’at ensured the existence of the world stay in equilibrium. According to Ma’at all people and classes of society lived in harmony, and all the forces of nature existed in balance. Ma'at encompassed the cyclical patterns of time, the seasons, and of human generations, it also embodied the structure of the world, which kept each element in its place. This meant that any disruption of Ma’at was fundamentally harmful, so all people were expected to behave in accordance with it.

Egyptians regarded kingship as a force of nature, where the pharaoh was recognized as being both king and god. Although be was seen to be human with vulnerability, he was also regarded to have divine powers, as he was the intermediary between the Egyptian people and the gods. He was of course expected to uphold Ma’at in society, by defending the country from enemies, appointing fair officials, settling disputes between his people, managing the food supply, and appeasing the gods with temples and offerings. It was the pharaoh’s responsibility to honor and content the gods, which is how many temples grew to be huge, such as the Temple of Amun at Karnak, which is the largest religious structure in the world.

Ancient Egyptians tried to understand their place in the universe and their mythology centers itself on nature, the earth, sky, moon, sun, stars, and the Nile River. Trying to understand their mythology and its inter-woven complex connection with their very existence, we may discover not only secrets of the ancient, but we may very well stumble on secrets of the universe.

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem

The Unfinished Obelisk

Copyright © Egypt, Cradle of Civilization

Religion played a more than crucial role in the lives of the Ancient Egyptians, and the overwhelming costs and labor needed to produce, transport and erect religious artifacts, such as obelisks and pyramids, was insignificant compared to its final gratification to the Egyptian people and their rulers. Obelisks where placed, in pairs, in front of or into temples, such as the temple of Karnak in Luxor. They were believed to act as antennas that channeled cosmic energy down to Earth.

An obelisk is a single, quadrangular, monolithic stone wider at the base, tapering gently as it rises upwards, ending with a pyramidion summit. Sometimes the pyramidion was covered with a gold and silver alloy called electrum. The electrum cap duplicates the glare of the Sun as it emits its rays to the earth. The four sides of the obelisk were inscribed and decorated with hieroglyphs. The inscriptions were usually dedications to the Sun god, Amun-Ra or commemorations of a life of a king or queen.

According to the ancient mythology of Egypt, and from the belief in the concept of “Ma’at” (harmony and truth), we know that the obelisks came in pairs and that there were two in heaven and two on earth in every age. The obelisk was associated with the worship of the solar cult, and were called tekhenu by the Egyptians. The Greeks were the ones who called them “obelisk” or little spits (items used for roasting meat over a fire). The oldest obelisk was discovered in Abusir, dating back from the Old Kingdom during the reign of King Niuserre (2449-2417 BC), but it was only 10 feet tall.

To be a success the obelisk had to be a giant single piece of rock, if the cosmic energy was to travel down through it. If completed, the Unfinished Obelisk would have been the largest yet at 1,168 tones and standing 137 feet tall. The tallest today is the Lateran Obelisk in Rome, at 105 feet and weighing 455 tons, which originally stood at the temple of Karnak in Luxor. The project of the Unfinished Obelisk was abandoned because during its extraction, a profound crack was discovered near the center of the obelisk. The bottom side of The Obelisk is still attached to the bedrock, giving insight into the stone-work techniques adopted by the ancient Egyptians.

The Unfinished Obelisk is located in the Northern Quarry in Aswan. It was commissioned by Queen Hatshepsut to commemorate her 16th anniversary on the throne, and would have been the world’s largest piece of stone ever handled. The Obelisk if finished would have had to be transported by boat on the Nile, to be erected at the Karnak Temple.

The marks left behind on the rock face by ancient rock cutters and the tools they left behind sheds light on how such an accomplishment was undertaken. To carve out the huge stone block as a single piece, a row of holes were made with wooden wedges driven into them. Water was then poured on to the wood and as the wood expanded it caused the rock to split. The obelisk was then chiseled into shape by workers with dolomite rock, which is even harder than granite. Heated bricks were then placed on the surface of the obelisk and when it was sufficiently hot, water was poured on, causing the uneven parts to flake off, giving the granite a smooth finish.

The quarry site has been recently renovated and equipped to accommodate tourists. Being an open-air museum it is protected by the Egyptian government as an archaeological site. Although The Obelisk never came out of its bedrock it was not a complete failure for today we are grateful, as this Unfinished Obelisk has taught us more than any other monument in Egypt!

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem

The Female Pharaoh

Copyright © Egypt, Cradle of Civilization

Throughout the history of the Egyptians there where several women who came to rule their people, but none was brave or ambitious enough to assume the title of King and Pharaoh, except for Queen Hatshepsut, or more accurately put…. King Hatshapsu (dropping the “t” of the end of her name made it a masculine name instead). Before Hatshepsut there where queens who had ruled Egypt but until then ….never a female Pharaoh!


Contrary to any ancient culture, where women were expected to stay at home, women of ancient Egypt had a lot more freedom. They were allowed to own property and hold official positions, they were also given rights to inherit from deceased family members and were allowed to present their cases in court. They also played a cardinal role in the religion, where religion was integral to a ruler’s role so royal women acted as priestesses and officiated at the rites in temples.


Hatshepsut ruled Egypt between 1479-1458/57. She was a unique and intelligent individual, who brainstormed, not only to legitimize her position as pharaoh but also make herself god-like, to win the complete approval of her subjects. Due to her boldness she may have been the first to start a Feminist movement to seek out prominent women from antiquity and publicized their achievements.

Ma'at-ka-Ra Hatshepsut was the eldest daughter to Thutmose I and Queen Ahmose, the first king and queen of the Thutoside clan of the eighteenth dynasty. Upon the death of her father, Hatshepsut married her half-brother, Thutmose II, and assumed the title of Great Royal Wife. They had one daughter, Neferure, who Hatshepsut groomed to take over the roles she played as queen. Upon his death Thutmose II left behind a very young Thutmose III (born to Isis a lesser wife of Thutmose II) to succeed him. Being too young to assume the tasks of pharaoh, Hatshepsut became his regent not long before she proclaimed herself Pharaoh.


After the Oracle of Amun pronounced that the will of the god Amun was that Hatshepsut should become Pharaoh; she adopted many male attributes. She assumed all the regalia and symbols of the pharaonic office: the Khat head cloth, topped with the uraeus, the traditional false beard and shendyt kilt.
Welcome my sweet daughter, my favorite, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Maatkare Hatshepsut. Thou art the Pharaoh, taking possession of the Two Lands

She ruled for about twenty years gloriously, during which Egypt witnessed a long period of prosperity. She was also known to be a strong, fair and just ruler. Besides being the only female pharaoh to erect the most monuments during her reign, the projects she commissioned took Ancient Egyptian architecture to higher standards that set the calibre for the pharaohs that succeeded her. The first and the most beautiful of the temples in the Valley of the Kings was her great mortuary temple Djeser-Djeseru. It is the focal point of the complex at Deir al-Bahari on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor.


Although she was known to be a peaceful queen, she made some conquests notably the expedition to the Land of Punt (perhaps present day Somalia) She re-established trading relations that were lost during a foreign occupation by the Hyksos, bringing great wealth to Egypt. The expedition to Punt brought back myrrh, frankincense, woods, sweet-smelling resin, ivory, spices, gold, ebony, ivory and aromatic trees, this was the first ever recorded attempt to replant foreign trees.


Hatshepsut was also the first Pharaoh to erect an obelisk; she had two erected in front of her temple yet only one still stands today, as the tallest surviving ancient obelisk on Earth. She is also the owner of “the Unfinished Obelisk” in Aswan as it establishes how obelisks were quarried.


With all her success and accomplishments she disappeared from history after about twenty years of her reign. To this day no one knows how and when she died exactly, or where her mummy is buried. However, if the recent identification of her mummy in KV60 is correct, CT scans of the mummy indicate that she died of metastatic bone cancer in her 50s.

Depicted in many novels and films, whether as a wicked step mother or a romantic amiable queen, it is undeniable that she was the first great woman in History!

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem

Alexandria, the Pearl of the Mediterranean.

Copyright © Egypt, Cradle of Civilization

After entering Egypt, in January 331BC the Egyptians hailed Alexander the Great as their ruler, pharaoh and god. He sailed down the western branch of the Nile to inspect the Greek trading colony of Naucratis, but he saw no space for development there, so Alexander pressed on toward the coast to reach the Egyptian fort of Rhakotis referred to by both Herodotus and Thucydides, close to Lake Mareotis where a narrow ridge divides its waters from the sea. He had arrived on the coast at a site mentioned by Homer in the Odyssey: "Out of the sea where it breaks on the shores of Egypt rises an island from the waters: the name men give it is Pharos" (Odyssey IV.354-355). Alexander noticed the deep waters of its well-sheltered, natural harbor and saw opportunity. Alexandria was to be the capital of his new Egyptian dominion and a naval base from where he would control the Mediterranean.

In ancient times, Alexandria was one of the most famous cities in the world. Founded around a small pharaonic town it became and remained Egypt's capital for nearly a thousand years, until the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 641 AD when a new capital was founded at Fustat (Fustat was later absorbed into Cairo).

During Alexandria's heydays it was the leading cultural centre of the world, housing people of different religions and philosophical orientations. It was famous for the extensive library, which in the 3rd century BC was said to contain 500,000 volumes. Additionally, Alexandria was renowned for the lighthouse of Pharos, listed as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World as antiquity. Alexandria's Mouseion was a centre of research, with laboratories and observatories. Alexandria was the very first centre for Biblical studies, and it was where the Old Testament was assembled in a form very similar to its present one. The Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, was produced there too plus it was also home to the largest Jewish community in the world, but most have now migrated to Israel. It was (and remains today) the seat of a patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Although Alexandria witnessed a 1,000 years of prosperity, it then fell into decline over a time span covering centuries, and when Napoleon landed, he found a sparsely populated fishing village. It wasn't until in 1819 the city gradually regained importance, when the Mahmudiyah Canal to the Nile was completed by Muhammad Ali Pasha (the Ottoman Governor of Egypt), who developed Alexandria as a deepwater port and a naval station.

Very little of the ancient city has survived into the present day. Much of the royal and civic quarters sank beneath the harbor due to earthquake subsidence, and the rest has been built over in modern times.

Alexandria is the second largest city in Egypt, known as "The Pearl of the Mediterranean", and it has an atmosphere that is more Mediterranean than Middle Eastern; its ambience and cultural heritage separate it from the rest of the country although it is actually only 225 km. from Cairo.
Through out its history Alexandria has been invaded by many a different culture. Starting with Julius Caesar in 47 BC and was under Roman influence for more than a hundred years. With the persecution of pagans by newly Christian Romans, in 391 Emperor Theodosius I ordered the destruction of all pagan temples in Alexandria. In 619, Alexandria fell to the Sassanid Persians but was recovered by the Byzantine Emperor Heracles in 629, and in 641 the Arabs under the general Amr ibn al-As, captured it after a siege that lasted fourteen months. Napoleon's troops stormed the city on July 2, 1798 and it remained in their hands until in 1801 when the British expedition won a considerable victory over the French at the Battle of Alexandria, but after 6 months and a siege of the city it fell back to the French.
The city gradually regained some of its former glory after Mohammed Ali Pasha rebuilding the city around 1810. During the 17th century, the plague killed many of the cities inhabitants. Then again in July 1882 the city came under bombardment from British naval forces and was occupied. In July 1954, the city was a target of an Israeli bombing campaign that later became known as the Lavon Affair. Although during the 19th century many foreigners settled in Alexandria, and in 1907 they made up about 25% of the population. During World War II, as the chief Allied naval base in the Mediterranean, Alexandria was bombed by the Germans.

Today Alexandria remains one of the most beautiful cities in the country and popular summer destination for most Egyptians, attracted by its 32 km (20 mile) coast line.

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem

The Oracle of Siwa

Copyright © Egypt, Cradle of Civilization

The Temple of the Oracle of Amun at Siwa has attracted many a visitor over the history of ancient civilizations, the most prominent being Alexander the Great. It is said that he reached the temple by following birds across the desert. Alexander the Great came in 331 BC to consult the Oracle of Amun in order to seek confirmation that he was the son of the gods (Zeus and Amun) and consequently the legitimate Pharaoh of Egypt and of course of the other lands he conquered. He continued to correspond with the Oracle of Amun until his death through messengers when he needed answers to important questions.

In the ancient world, people were more than superstitious, so manifestations of the gods or Oracles were greatly revered. They were regularly consulted before important decisions as they were able to see into the future. Oracles existed in Egypt well before the Temple of the Oracle at Siwa, which was built during the 26^th Dynasty. The Oracle of Siwa was reputed to have existed well before the temple and continued to flourish well into the Greek and Roman periods.

The area is known to have been inhabited since the 10^th millennium BC, but it was during the 26^th Dynasty that it gained fame when a necropolis was established, and Siwa at the time was given the name Sekht-am or Palm Land.

Greeks that settled at Cyrene (in modern day Libya) made contact with the oasis at the time and Romans later used it as a place of banishment. The first European to visit the temple was the British William George Browne in 1792, and in 1819 the oasis was officially added by Muhammad Ali Pasha (Egypt’s ruler at the time) to modern Egypt. Siwa was the site of some fighting during World War I and World War II.

In fact, until the battles which took place around the oasis in World War II, it was hardly governed by Egypt, and for the previous thirteen centuries it remained mostly a Berber (Zenatiya) community. Siwans continue to have their own culture and customs and they speak a Berber language, called Siwi, rather than Arabic. Because of their geographical isolation the people have remained relatively unchanged. Women still wear traditional costumes and silver jewelers and Siwa remains one of the best places to buy traditional local handicrafts. Interestingly, each October there is a three-day festival during which Siwans must settle all of their past year's disputes.

The Siwa Oasis lying 60 feet below sea level and is located between the Qattara Depression and the Egyptian Sand Sea in the Libyan Desert, 560 km from Cairo and 50 km east of the Libyan border. It is one of Egypt’s isolated settlements, inhabited by 23,000 people descendants from the ethnic Berbers of North Africa.
There are approximately 1,000 sweet water springs that are know to have medical properties. But the most striking feature of the Siwan landscape is the presence of several salt lakes, which diminish in size during the summer; this sets it apart from any other oases of Egypt.

Besides its old ruin Temple of Amun, springs and salt lakes, other sites of interest include Cleopatra’s Bath, the old town of Shali, Gebel Dakrur and Gabal El-Mawta (the Mountain of the Dead). In 2007 there was the discovery of what may be the world’s oldest human footprint, dating back 3 million years. Although the revelations of the oracle which has attracted so many, fell into disrepute under the Roman occupation of Egypt, Siwa still lures people who seek peace, beauty and serenity.

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem