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The (El-Barid El-Maṣri) is the governmental agency responsible for postal
service in Egypt. Established in 1865, it is one of the oldest governmental
institutions in the country.
TOUT ANKH AMON
History
Modern Egyptian postal service
began when Carlo Meratti, an Italian, living in Alexandria, established a post
office to send and receive mail to and from foreign countries as early as 1821.
Meratti took the responsibility of sending and distributing the letters for a
price. He transferred his activity to Cairo and Alexandria through his office
in Saint Catherine Square near Hannaux (formerly Qansal Square). After
Meratti's departure his nephew, Tito Chini (who agreed with the importance of
the project) succeeded his uncle with a friend, Giacomo Muzzi. The two partners
upgraded the project, naming it the Posta Europea.
POSTA EUROPEA EGYPT STAMP
The post office began sending,
receiving and delivering correspondence from the government and individuals,
and the Posta Europea earned the public trust. At the inauguration of the first
railway between Alexandria and Kafr el-Zayyat in 1845 the company established
branches in Cairo, Atfeih, and Rashid (Rosetta), followed by another two
branches (in Damanhour and Kafr El Zayyat) in 1855. When the railway was
extended from Kafr El Zayyat to Cairo (via Tanta, Benha and Birket el-Sab), the
company exploited this opportunity and used the railways to carry the post
between Cairo and Alexandria for a five-year contract, beginning in January
1856. The contract was as a monopolistic franchise to transport the post to
northern Egypt, where it stipulated a fine to be paid to the Posta Europea by
anyone caught pilfering mail.
KHEDIVE ISMAIEL
Khedive Ismaiel realized the
importance of the Posta Europea and purchased it from Muzzi (after the
departure of his partner, Tito Chini) on October 29, 1864. The Egyptian
government offered Muzzi the position of general manager of the post and on
January 2, 1865, the private Posta Europea was transferred to the Egyptian
government. This date is noted as Post Day.
Government administration
At it's beginning, Egypt Post was
affiliated with the Ministry of Occupations; it was then transferred to a
succession of ministries, and in 1865 Egypt Post was attached to the Ministry
of Finance. On September 28, 1876, Egypt Post was put under the purview of the
Rulings Council Chief and the Ministers of Interior and Finance. On May 19,
1875 it joined the Ministry of Justice and Trade and the Ministry of Finance
again on December 10, 1878. The regulations related to the organization of a
post office was issued by the Ministry of Finance on December 21, 1865,
stipulating that transferring mail and issuing post stamps was the exclusive
job of the Egyptian government. In March 1876 a decree was issued for all post
offices providing all employees with two uniforms: one for work and the other
for ceremonies. The decree was amended to specify the model and type of the
uniform.
EARLY AIR-MAIL STAMP
In 1919, Law No. 7 was passed for
the Ministry of Transportation appropriate the railways, telegraph, telephones,
postal authority, ports, and road and air transportation. Comprehensive Law No.
9 was issued later to set fees for transporting the post and the
postal-management headquarters was moved from Alexandria to Cairo, to it's
building in Al-Ataba Square.
Since its establishment, the post
(in addition to its regular postal activity) has sold salt and soda stamps
(discontinued in 1899), steamboat tickets, debt and shares coupons, stamped
paper, and telegraph and telephone service in return for fees paid to the
Telephone Authority.
The Post in the 20th century
In 1934 the 10th conference of the
Universal Postal Union was held in Cairo, on the 70th anniversary of the
Egyptian Post. After the July 1952 revolution a separate budget was allocated
for the post, giving it the right to direct its surplus revenues toward
improving and boosting the postal service.
POSTA EUROPEA
In 1957 Presidential Decree No.
710 was issued, establishing the Egyptian Post Authority to replace the
previous postal authority. In 1959 the civil-services system (including local
post offices and agencies) began, and in 1961 a secondary postal school was
established by presidential decree. In 1965 the Institute of Postal Affairs was
also established; in 1975, it joined the trade department at Helwan University.
YOUNG KING FAROUK
In 1966 a presidential decree was
issued establishing the General Post Authority to replace the Egyptian Post
Authority, and in 1970 Law No. 16 was passed regulating the Egyptian post. 1982
saw the issuance of Law No. 19 establishing the National Post Authority,
replacing the General Post Authority and attaching it to the Ministry of
Transportation.
Ministerial Decree No. 70, in
1982, was a special regulation concerning Post Authority's personnel; Decree
No. 55 that same year regulated the authority's finances. In 1999 the Ministry
of Communications and Information Technology was established to supervise the
National Post Authority, Egypt Telecom and the National Communications
Institute.
SAVING
In 1861, Great Britain became the
first nation to offer such an arrangement. Sir Rowland Hill, who successfully
advocated the penny post, and William Ewart Gladstone, and then Chancellor of
the Exchequer, who saw it as a cheap way to finance the public debt, supported
it. At the time, banks were mainly in the cities and largely catered to wealthy
customers. Rural citizens and the poor had no choice but to keep their funds at
home or on their persons.
The original Post Office Savings
Bank was limited to deposits of £30 per year with a maximum balance of £150.
Interest was paid at the rate of 2.5 percent per annum on whole pounds in the
account. Later, the limits were raised to a maximum of £500 per year in
deposits with no limit on the total amount. Within five years of the system's
establishment, there were over 600,000 accounts and £8.2 million on deposit. By
1927, there were twelve million accounts—one in four Britons—with £283 million
(£15,502 million today) on deposit.
Commemoration of King Farouk wedding
The British system first offered
only savings accounts. In 1880, it also became a retail outlet for government
bonds, and in 1916 introduced war savings certificates, which were renamed
National Savings Certificates in 1920. In 1956, it launched a lottery bond, the
Premium Bond, which became its most popular savings certificate.
TAHA HUSSEIN
Post Office Savings Bank became
National Savings Bank in 1969, later renamed National Savings and Investments
(NS&I), an agency of HM Treasury. While continuing to offer National
Savings services, the (then) General Post Office, created the National Giro in
1968 (privatized as Girobank and acquired by Alliance & Leicester in 1989).
Many other countries adopted such
systems soon afterwards. Japan established a postal savings system in 1875 and
the Netherlands government started systems in 1881.
Egypt implemented the saving
system not much later. Low-income individuals, mainly in rural areas where no
commercial banks are easily available make deposits into the Postal Authority
savings fund striving postal system, which remains in function until today. Operations
have evolved to include ATM’s and Debit cards in every imaginable little division
in a village.
Memphis located close the Sakara Pyramids in now Gizeh became the capital of
Ancient Egypt for over eight consecutive dynasties during the Old Kingdom (c.
2686–2181 BC). The city reached a peak of prestige under the 6th dynasty as a
centre for the worship of Ptah, the god of creation and artworks. The alabaster
sphinx that guards the Temple of Ptah serves as a memorial of the city's former
power and prestige. The Memphis triad, consisting of the creator god Ptah, his
consort Sekhmet, and their son Nefertem, formed the main focus of worship in
the city.
Alabaster Sphinx of Memphis
Memphis declined briefly after the
18th dynasty with the rise of (1549/1550 BC to 1292 BC.) Thebes and the New
Kingdom, and was revived under the Persians before falling firmly into second
place following the foundation of Alexandria. Under the Roman Empire,
Alexandria remained the most important Egyptian City. Memphis remained the
second city of Egypt until the establishment of Fustat (or Fostat) in 641 CE. It
was then largely abandoned and became a source of stone for the surrounding
settlements. It was still an imposing set of ruins in the 12th century but soon
became a little more than an expanse of low ruins and scattered stone.
Babylon Fortress's remains in old Cairo
The area around present-day Cairo,
especially Memphis, had long been a focal point of Ancient Egypt due to its
strategic location just upstream from the Nile Delta. However, the origins of
the modern city are generally traced back to a series of settlements in the
first millennium. Around the turn of the 4th century, as Memphis was continuing
to decline in importance, the Romans established a fortress town along the East
bank of the Nile. This fortress, known as Babylon, was the nucleus of the Roman
and then the Byzantine City and is the oldest structure in the city today. It
is also situated at the nucleus of the Coptic Orthodox community, which
separated from the Roman and Byzantine churches in the late 4th century. Many
of Cairo's oldest Coptic churches, including the Hanging Church, are located
along the fortress walls in a section of the city known as Coptic Cairo.
Fustat
Rendering of Fustat landscape
El-Fustat (Arabic: الفسطاط), was the first capital of Egypt under Muslim rule.
It was built by the Muslim general 'Amr ibn al-'As immediately after the Muslim
conquest of Egypt in AD 641, and featured the Mosque of Amr, the first mosque
built in Egypt and in all of Africa.
The city reached its peak in the
12th century, with a population of approximately 200,000. It was the centre of
administrative power in Egypt, until it was ordered burnt in 1168 by its own
vizier, Shawar, to keep its wealth out of the hands of the invading Crusaders.
The remains of the city were eventually absorbed by nearby Cairo, which had
been built to the north of Fustat in 969 when the Fatimid’s (descents
from Fatimah, the daughter of Islamic prophet Mohammed)conquered the region and created a new city as a
royal enclosure for the Caliph. The area fell into disrepair for hundreds of
years and was used as a rubbish dump.
Ben Ezra Synagogue in old Cairo (1892)
Today, Fustat is part of Old
Cairo, with few buildings remaining from its days as a capital. Many
archaeological digs have revealed the wealth of buried material in the area.
Many ancient items recovered from the site are on display in Cairo's Museum of
Islamic Art.
Fustat was the capital of Egypt
for approximately 500 years. After the city was founded in 641, its authority
was uninterrupted until 750, when the Abbasid dynasty (descendents of El-Abas
Ebn Abbi El-Moutalib uncle of prophet Mohammed) staged a revolt against the Umayyad
(Umayya Ibn Shams from Syria). This conflict was focused not in Egypt, but
elsewhere in the Arab world. When the Abbasids gained power, they moved various
capitals to more controllable areas.
Rendering of Ibn Toulum mosque
They had established the centre of
their caliphate in Baghdad, moving the capital from its previous Umayyad
location at Damascus. Similar moves were made throughout the new dynasty. In
Egypt, they moved the capital from Fustat slightly north to the Abbasid city of
al-Askar (city of the solders مدينة العسكري ), which remained the capital until
868. When the Tulunid dynasty (from Turkish origins) took control in 868, the
Egyptian capital moved briefly to another nearby northern city, Al-Qatta'I
build by “Ahmed Ebn Tulun”. This lasted only until 905, when Al-Qatta'i was
destroyed and the capital was returned to Fustat. The city again lost its
status as capital city when its own vizier, Shawar, ordered it's burning in
1168. The capital of Egypt was ultimately moved to Cairo.
According to legend, the location of
Fustat was chosen by a bird: A dove laid an egg in the tent of 'Amr ibn al-'As
(585–664), the Muslim conqueror of Egypt, just before he was to march against
Alexandria in 646. His camp at that time was just north of the Roman fortress
of Babylon. Amr declared the dove's nest as a sign from God, and the tent was
left untouched as he and his troops went off to battle. When they returned
victorious, Amr told his soldiers to pitch their tents around his, giving his
new capital city its name, Miṣr al-Fusṭāṭ, or Fusṭāṭ Miṣr, popularly translated as "City of the
tents", though this is not an exact translation.
Late 1800 picture Old Cairo
The word Miṣr was an ancient Semitic root designating Egypt, but
in Arabic also has the meaning of a large city or metropolis (or, as a verb,
"to civilize"), so the name Miṣr al-Fusṭāṭ could
mean "Metropolis of the Tent". Fusṭāṭ Miṣr would
mean "The Pavilion of Egypt". Egyptians to this day call Cairo
"Miṣr",
or, colloquially, Maṣr, even
though this is properly the name of the whole country of Egypt. The country's
first mosque, the Mosque of Amr, was later built in 642 on the same site of the
commander's tent.
Moez Street in Al-Qahira
The Mosque of Amr ibn-al-As.
Though none of the original structure remains was the first one
built in Egypt, and it was around this location, at the site of the tent of the
commander Amr ibn-al-As, that the city of Fustat was built.
For thousands of years, the
capital of Egypt was moved with different cultures through multiple locations
up and down the Nile, such as Thebes and Memphis, depending on which dynasty
was in power. After Alexander the Great conquered Egypt around 331 BC, the
capital became the city named after him, Alexandria, on the Mediterranean coast.
This situation remained stable for nearly a thousand years. After the army of
the Arabian Caliph Umar captured the region in the 7th century, shortly after
the death of Muhammad, he wanted to establish a new capital. When Alexandria
fell in September 641, Amr ibn-al-As, the commander of the conquering army,
founded a new capital on the eastern bank of the river.
To the right the hanging church (2 bell towers) To the left remains from Babylon fortress (round structure)
The early population of the city
was composed almost entirely of soldiers and their families, and the layout of
the city was similar to that of a garrison. Amr intended for Fustat to serve as
a base from which to conquer North Africa, as well as to launch further
campaigns against Byzantium. It remained the primary base for Arab expansion in
Africa until Qayrawan was founded in Tunisia in 670.
Fustat developed as a series of
tribal areas, khittas, around the central mosque and administrative buildings.
The majority of the settlers came from Yemen, with the next largest grouping
from western Arabia, along with some Jews and Roman mercenaries. Arabic was
generally the primary spoken dialect in Egypt, and was the language of written
communication. However Coptic was still spoken in Fustat in the 8th century.
Inside a very old building
Archaeological digs have found
many kilns (high temperature ovens) and ceramic fragments in Fustat, and it was likely an important
production location for Islamic ceramics during the Fatimid period.
Fustat was the centre of power in
Egypt under the Umayyad dynasty, which had started with the rule of Muawiyah I,
and headed the Islamic caliphate from 660 to 750. However, Egypt was considered
only a province of larger powers, and was ruled by governors who were appointed
from other Muslim centres such as Damascus, Medina, and Baghdad.
Fustat was a major city, and in
the 9th century, it had a population of approximately 120,000.
Al Qahira
Entrance to the Hanging Church
When General Gawhar (Fatimit General) captured the
region, he founded a new city just north of Fustat on August 8, 969, naming it
Al Qahira (Cairo) "the Vanquisher" or "the Conqueror",
supposedly due to the fact that the planet Mars, an-Najm al-Qāhir "the
Conquering Star", was rising at the time when the city was founded, and in
971, the Fatimid Caliph al-Mo'ezz moved his court from al-Mansuriya in Tunisia
to Al Qahira in Egypt. Al Qahira was not intended as a center of government at
the time, it was used primarily as the royal enclosure for the Caliph and his
court and army, while Fustat remained the capital in terms of economic and
administrative power. The City thrived and grew, and in 987, the geographer Ibn
Hawkal wrote that al-Fustat was approximately one-third the size of Baghdad. By
1168, it had a population of 200,000.
During that time, Jawhar also
commissioned the construction of the al-Azhar Mosque by order of the Caliph,
which developed into the third-oldest university in the world. Cairo would
eventually become a centre of learning.
The city was known for its
prosperity, with shaded streets, gardens, and markets. It contained high-rise
residential buildings, some seven storey’s tall, which could reportedly
accommodate hundreds of people. Al-Muqaddasi in the 10th century described them
as Minarets, while Nasir Khusraw in the early 11th century described some of
them rising up to 14 stories, with roof gardens on the top storey complete with
ox-drawn water wheels for irrigation.
The Persian traveller,
Nasir-i-Khusron, wrote of the exotic and beautiful wares in the Fustat markets:
iridescent pottery, crystal, and many fruits and flowers, even during the
winter months. From 975 to 1075, Fustat was a major production centre for
Islamic art and ceramics, and one of the wealthiest cities in the world.Modern archaeological digs have turned
up trade artifacts from as far away as Spain, China, and Vietnam. Excavations
have also revealed intricate house and street plans; a basic unit consisted of
rooms built around a central courtyard, with an arcade of arches on one side of
the courtyard being the principal means of access.
Destruction and decline
Sabil (water fountain) in old Cairo
In the mid-12th century, the
caliph of Egypt was the teenager Athid, but his position was primarily
ceremonial. The true power in Egypt was that of the vizier, Shawar. He had been
involved in extensive political intrigue for years, working to repel the
advances of both the Christian Crusaders, and the forces of the Nur al-Din from
Syria. Shawar managed this by constantly shifting alliances between the two,
playing them against each other, and in effect keeping them in a stalemate
where neither army could successfully attack Egypt without being blocked by the
other.
However, in 1168, the Christian
King Amalric I of Jerusalem, who had been trying for years to launch a
successful attack on Egypt in order to expand the Crusader territories, had
finally achieved a certain amount of success. He and his army entered Egypt,
sacked the city of Bilbeis, slaughtered nearly all of its inhabitants, and then
continued on towards Fustat. Amalric and his troops camped just south of the
city, and then sent a message to the young Egyptian caliph Athid, only 18 years
old, to surrender the city or suffer the same fate as Bilbeis.
According to the Egyptian
historian Al-Maqrizi (1346–1442):
Seeing that Amalric's attack was
imminent, Shawar ordered Fustat City burned, to keep it out of Amalric's hands.
Mosaic found in Fustat ruins
Shawar ordered that Fustat be
evacuated. He forced [the citizens] to leave their money and property behind
and flee for their lives with their children. In the panic and chaos of the
exodus, the fleeing crowd looked like a massive army of ghosts.... Some took
refuge in the mosques and bathhouses...awaiting a Christian onslaught similar
to the one in Bilbeis. Shawar sent 20,000 naphtha pots and 10,000 lighting
bombs [mish'al] and distributed them throughout the city. Flames and smoke
engulfed the city and rose to the sky in a terrifying scene. The blaze raged
for 54 days.....
After the destruction of Fustat,
the Syrian forces arrived and successfully repelled Amalric's forces. Then with
the Christians gone, the Syrians were able to conquer Egypt themselves. The
untrustworthy Shawar was put to death, and the reign of the Fatimids was
effectively over. The Syrian general Shirkuh was placed in power, but died due
to ill health just a few months later, after which his nephew Saladin became
vizier of Egypt on March 2, 1169, launching the Ayyubid dynasty.
With Fustat no more than a dying
suburb, the center of government moved permanently to nearby El-Qahira (Cairo).
Saladin later attempted to unite Cairo and Fustat into one city by enclosing
them in massive walls, although this proved to be largely unsuccessful.
While the Mamluks were in power
from the 13th century to the 16th century, the area of Fustat was used as a
rubbish dump, though it still maintained a population of thousands, with the
primary crafts being those of pottery and trash collecting. The layers of
garbage accumulated over hundreds of years, and gradually the population
decreased, leaving what had once been a thriving city as an effective
wasteland.
Today, little remains of the
grandeur of the old city. The three capitals, Fustat, Al-Askar and Al-Qatta'i
were absorbed into the growing city of Cairo. Some of the old buildings remain
visible in the region known as "Old Cairo", but much of the rest has
fallen into disrepair, overgrows with weeds or used as garbage dumps.
Courtyard of old house
The oldest-remaining building from
the area is probably the Mosque of Ibn Tulun, from the 9th century, which was
built while the capital was in Al-Qatta'i. The first mosque ever built in Egypt
(and by extension, the first mosque built in Africa), the Mosque of Amr, is
still in use, but has been extensively rebuilt over the centuries, and nothing
remains of the original structure. In February 2017 the National Museum of
Egyptian Civilization was inaugurated on a site adjacent to the mosque.
It is believed that further
archaeological digs could yield substantial rewards, considering that the
remains of the original city are still preserved under hundreds of years of
rubbish. Some archaeological excavations have taken place, the paths of streets
are still visible, and some buildings have been partially reconstructed to
waist-height. But the site is difficult and dangerous to access because of the
nearby slums. However, some artifacts that have been recovered so far can be
seen in Cairo's Museum of Islamic Art.
Under the Ottomans, Cairo expanded
south and west from its nucleus around the Citadel. The city became the second
largest in the empire, behind Constantinople,
When Napoleon arrived in Cairo in
1798, the city's population was less than 300,000 forty percent lower than it
was at the height of Mamluk influence in the mid-14th century.
Saladin / Mohamed Ali Citadel
The French occupation was
short-lived as British and Ottoman forces, including a sizeable Albanian
contingent, recaptured the country in 1801. Cairo itself was besieged by a
British and Ottoman force culminating with the French surrender on 22 June
1801. The British vacated Egypt two years later, leaving the Ottomans, the
Albanians, and the long-weakened Mamluks jostling for control of the country.
Continued civil war allowed an Albanian officer named Muhammad Ali Pasha to ascend to
the role of commander and eventually, with the approval of the religious
establishment, viceroy of Egypt in 1805.
The opera house of Egypt (before burning)
Until his death in 1848, Muhammad
Ali Pasha instituted a number of social and economic reforms that earned him
the title of founder of modern Egypt. However, while Muhammad Ali initiated the
construction of public buildings in the city, those reforms had minimal effect
on Cairo's landscape. Bigger changes came to Cairo later under Ismail Pasha (r.
1863–1879), who continued the modernization processes started by his
grandfather.
Midan Talaat Harb / Soliman Pacha
Drawing inspiration from Paris, Ismail envisioned a city of
maidans (roundabout) and wide avenues; due to financial constraints, only some
of them, in the area now composing Downtown Cairo, came to fruition. Ismail
also sought to modernize the city, which was merging with neighbouring settlements,
by establishing a public works ministry, bringing gas and lighting to the city,
and opening a theater and opera house. Parts of the article and the pictures from Internet sources.
Monday 9 April 2018 marks Sham
El-Nessim, a festival that takes place in the same breath as Orthodox Easter,
falling on the day after Easter Sunday each year.
The rituals and beliefs associated
with today’s Sham El-Nessim celebrations link it directly to Ancient Egyptian
feasts linking. Much like Easter, the festival deals with notions of creation
and renewal.
ENJOYING THE DAY IN THE PARK
All Egyptians regardless of their
religion, beliefs, and social status have celebrated sham El-Nessim since 2700
BC. The name Sham El-Nessim (Inhaling the breeze) is derived from the Coptic
language, which is, in turn, derived from the Ancient Egyptian language. It was
originally pronounced Tshom Ni Sime, with tshom meaning “gardens” and ni sime
meaning “meadows”.
Like most Ancient Egyptian feasts,
Sham El-Nessim was linked to astronomy and nature. It marked the beginning of
the spring festival, with day and night equal in length and the sun in the
Aries zodiac, marking the beginning of creation. The Ancient Egyptians, who
called it The Feast of Shmo (The revival of life), determined the exact date
each year by measuring the sun's alignment with the Great Pyramid in Giza.
FOOD OFFERING
These days, many Egyptians rise at
the crack of dawn and head out to parks and gardens for a family picnic. There
they enjoy the spring breeze with a traditional meal of fish, onions and eggs.
Fish figured large in Ancient
Egyptian beliefs, and this translated into a range of dishes. Salted mullet
fish (known as fesikh), was offered to the gods in Esna in Upper Egypt. Indeed,
Esna’s ancient name was Lathpolis, reflecting the original name of the fish
before salting.
Another traditional Sham El-Nessim
practice, the colouring of eggs, reflects the Ancient Egyptian view of eggs as
symbolic of new life. The symbolism featured in the pharaonic Book of the Dead
and in Akhenaten's chant, “God is one, he created life from the inanimate and
he created chicks from eggs.”
Ancient Egyptians would boil eggs
on the eve of Sham El-Nasim, decorating and colouring them in various patterns.
They would then write their wishes on these eggs, tuck them in baskets made of
palm fronds and hang them on trees or the roofs of their houses, hoping that
the gods would answer their wishes by dawn.
FESTIVE MOOD
The habit of eating onions on the
feast day is equally ancient. According to Egyptian legend, one of the pharaoh’s
daughters had an incurable disease. Doctors were clueless until a high priest
gave her onion juice by way of medicine. Her condition improved and her father,
thrilled at her recovery, declared the day an official celebration in honour of
onions.
From that day forward, people
would roam the city of Menf each year, offering onions to their dead.
Ancient Egyptians also considered
certain flowers and plants to be holy, with the lotus flower used to symbolize
of the Egyptian nation.
Families in Ancient Egypt would
combine these various elements at Sham El-Nessim. They would gather the day
before to colour boiled eggs, preparing meals of fesikh (Pickled Mullet fish)
and onions. Some would hang onions in their doorways to ward off evil spirits
or place them under their grandchildren’s pillows that night to summon the god
Sukar. Before dawn, people would head to meadows and gardens or the banks of
the Nile to watch the sunrise, bringing with them food and flowers. They would then spend the day in the open air, welcoming the spring with joyful singing.
Feseekh فسيخ
Feseekh in English can be
transliterated into various forms, such as fisikh, fesikh, ...etc.
It is a semi-putrid form of salted
and dried Grey Mullet species (Mugil spp.), a saltwater fish that lives in both
the Mediterranean and the Red Seas.
FESHIKH & ONIONS
The traditional process of
preparing it is to dry the fish in the sun before being preserved in salt. It
has a distinctive stench to it, that only its true lovers would appreciate.
The process of preparing feseekh
is quite elaborate, passing from father to son in certain family. The
occupation has a special name in Egypt, fasakhani فسخاني
Feseekh is traditionally eaten
during Sham El Neseem شمالنسيم ("Smelling the Breeze"), which is a spring
celebration from ancient times in Egypt.
Every year, just before Sham El
Neseem, there is a scare about feseekh consumption, and its dangers. This is
not unfounded, because when prepared or stored incorrectly, Feseekh can be
indeed deadly, due to toxins by food poisoning bacteria. Baldwin I, King of
Jerusalem learned that the hard way, meeting his death after a feseekh meal in
Egypt's north.
Little has changed since the time
of the Pharaohs, apparently.
Happy Sham El-Nessim!
* This story was first published
in April 2014 Al-Ahram
The Citadel is a
medieval Islamic fortification in Cairo, Egypt located on Mokattam hill
near the center of Cairo, it was once famous for its fresh breeze and grand views
of the city. It is now a preserved historic site, with many mosques and museums. In
1976, it was proclaimed by UNESCO as a part of the World Heritage Site Historic
Cairo (Islamic Cairo), which was "the new centre of the Islamic world”,
reaching its golden age in the 14th century.
History
To protect the citadel from the
Crusaders, the Ayyubid ruler Salah al-Din (Saladin) fortified it between 1176
and 1183 CE. After defeating the Fatimid Caliphate, Saladin set out to build a
wall that would surround both Cairo and Fustat. Saladin is recorded as saying,
"With a wall I will make the two [cities of Cairo and Fustat] into a
unique whole, so that one army may defend them both; and I believe it is good
to encircle them with a single wall from the bank of the Nile to the bank of
the Nile." The Citadel would be the centerpiece of the wall. Built on a
promontory beneath the Muqattam Hills, a setting that made it difficult to
attack, the efficacy of the Citadel's location is further demonstrated by the
fact that it remained the heart of Egyptian government until the 19th century.
The citadel stopped being the seat
of government when Egypt's ruler, Khedive Ismail, moved to his newly built
Abdin Palace in the Ismailiya neighborhood in the 1860s.
While the Citadel was completed in
1183–1184, the wall Saladin had envisioned was still under construction in
1238, long after his death.
THE COURTYARD
To supply water to the Citadel,
Saladin built the 85-metre (280 ft) deep Well of Joseph (so-called because
Saladin's birth name, Yousef, “Joseph”), which can still be seen today. This
well is also known as the Well of the Spiral because its entrance consisted of
300 stairs that wound around the inside of the well. Once water was raised from
the well to the surface, it traveled to the Citadel on a series of aqueducts.
During the reign of al-Nasir
Muhammad, the Well of Joseph failed to produce enough water for the numerous
animals and humans then living in the Citadel. To increase the volume of water,
Nasir built a water supply system that consisted of a number of water wheels on
the Nile; the water was then transported to the wall and subsequently to the
Citadel, via the aqueducts Saladin had constructed.
THE PULPIT
The improvements to the Citadel's
water supply were not Nasir's only additions to the Citadel, which was subject
to a number of different additions during the Mamluk period. Nasir's most
notable contribution was the Mosque of Nasir. In 1318 rebuilding the Ayyubid
structure and turned it into a mosque that bear his name. The structure underwent
further additions in 1335. Other contributions to the Citadel during Nasir's
reign include the structure's southern enclosure (the northern enclosure was
completed by Saladin) and the residential area, which included space for the
harem and the courtyard. Prior to Nasir's work on the Citadel, the Baybars
constructed the Hall of Justice and the "House of Gold."
The Citadel is sometimes referred
to as Mohamed Ali Citadel (Qalaʿat Muḥammad ʿAlī),
because it contains the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, which was built by Muhammad Ali
Pasha between 1828 and 1848, it is perched on the summit of the citadel.
This Ottoman mosque was built in
memory of Tusun Pasha, Muhammad Ali's second son who died in 1816. However, it
also represents Muhammad Ali's efforts to erase symbols of the Mamluk dynasty
that he replaced. When Ottoman ruler Muhammad Ali Pasha took control from the
Mamluks in 1805 he altered many of the additions to the Citadel that reflected
Cairo's previous leaders. One obvious change that Muhammad Ali enacted
pertained to the uses of the Citadel's northern and southern enclosures. During
the Mamluk period the southern enclosure was the residential area, but Muhammad
Ali claimed the northern enclosure as the royal residence when he took power.
He then opened the southern enclosure to the public and effectively established
his position as the new leader.
MINARETS
The mosque is the other feature of
the Citadel that reflects the reign of Muhammad Ali. It features a large dome
and overtly Ottoman influenced architecture that looms over the Citadel to this
day. Recently destroyed Mamluk palaces within the Citadel provided space for
the formidable mosque, which was the largest structure to be established in the
early 19th century. Placing the mosque where the Mamluks had once reigned was
an obvious effort to erase the memory of the older rulers and establish the
importance of the new leader. The mosque also replaced the mosque of al-Nasir
as the official state mosque.
Muhammad Ali chose to build his state
mosque entirely in the architectural style of his former overlords, the
Ottomans, unlike the Mamluks who, despite their political submission to the
Ottomans, stuck to the architectural styles of the previous Mamluk dynasties.
The mosque was built with a
central dome surrounded by four small and four semicircular domes. It was
constructed in a square plan and measured 41x41 meters. The central dome is 21
meters in diameter and the height of the building is 52 meters. Two elegant
cylindrical minarets of Turkish type with two balconies and conical caps are
situated on the western side of the mosque, and rise to 82 meters.
MOHAMED ALI MOSQUE INTERIOR
The use of this style, combined
with the presence of two minarets and multiple half-domes surrounding the
central dome — features reserved for mosques built on the authority of the
Sultan — were a defiant declaration of de facto Egyptian independence.
The main material is limestone but
the lower storey and forecourt is tiled with alabaster up to 11,3 meters. The
external facades are severe and angular and rise about four storey’s until the
level of the lead-covered domes.
The mihrab (pulpit) on the southeastern wall is three storey’s
high and covered with a semicircular dome. There are two arcades on the second
storey, rising on columns and covered with domes. Although there are three
entrances on each side of the forecourt, the usual entry is through the
northeastern gate. The forecourt measures 50x50 meters. It is enclosed by
arched riwaks (Courtyard) rising on
pillars and covered by domes.
There is a brass clock tower in
the middle of the northwestern riwak, that was a gift to Muhammad Ali by King Louis
Philippe of France in 1845. The clock was reciprocated with the obelisk of
Luxor now standing in Place de la Concorde in Paris.
NAPOLEONIC AQUARELLE OF THE CITADEL
The interior has a measure of
41x41 meters and gives a great feeling of space. The use of two levels of domes
gives a much greater sense of space than there actually is. The central dome
rises on four arches standing on colossal piers. There are four semicircular domes
around the central dome. There are four smaller domes on the corners as well.
The domes are painted and embellished with motifs in relief. The walls and
pillars are covered with alabaster up to 11 meters high.
Mosques
There are three main mosques at
the Citadel:
Al-Nasir Muhammad Mosque
Built in 1318, during the early
Bahri Mamluk period, as the royal mosque of the Citadel where the sultans of
Cairo performed their Friday prayers, today this hypostyle mosque is still
similar to how it looked in the 1300 though many repairs have been made. It is
open to the public though infrequently visited by tourists. The parts of the
building relying on plastered walls have been reinforced. There have also been
attempts to restore the light-blue color of the ceiling.
Mosque of Sulayman Pasha
Built in 1528, it was first of the
Citadel's Ottoman-style mosques. It was built on the ruins of an old mosque of
Abu Mansur Qusta.
FORTIFICATION TOWER
Mosque of Muhammad Ali
The mosque was built between 1830
and 1848, although not completed until the reign of Said Pasha in 1857. The
architect was Yusuf Bushnak from Istanbul and its model was the Sultan Ahmed
Mosque in that city. Muhammad Ali Pasha was buried in a tomb carved from
Carrara marble, in the courtyard of the mosque. His body was transferred here
from Hawsh al-Basha in 1857.
Museums
The Citadel also contains three museums:
Al-Gawhara Palace Museum
Also known as Bijou Palace, is a
palace and museum commissioned by Muhammad Ali Pasha in 1814. The palace was
designed and constructed by artisans contracted from a variety of countries,
including Greeks, Turks, Bulgarians and Albanians. Muhammad Ali's official
divan or audience hall, where the pasha received guests, contains a 1000kg
chandelier sent to him by Louis-Philippe I of France. The palace also contains
the throne of Muhammad Ali Pasha that was a gift from the King of Italy.
Carriage Museum
Inaugurated in 1983, it houses a
collection of unique Royal Carriages attributed to different historical
periods, from the reign of Khedive Ismail until the reign of King Farouk, in
addition to other collection of unique antiques related to the carriages.
INTERIOR OF MILITARY MUSEUM
Egyptian Military museum
The Egyptian Army museum was
established in 1937 at the old building of the Egyptian Ministry of War in
downtown Cairo. It was later moved to a temporary location in the Garden City
district of Cairo. In November 1949 the museum was moved to the Haram Palace at
the Cairo citadel. It has been renovated several times since, in 1982 and 1993.
Some Cairo Citadel Facts
When the Cairo Citadel construction
was completed, it accommodated the ruler of Egypt Al Malek El Kamel . He was
the first king to live in it. It was the seat of the government and palace
until 1860 when Egypt's ruler Khedive Ismail moved out of the Citadel of Cairo
into his own new castle. The
Citadel was home to the rulers of Egypt for 700 years.
OLD CATAPULT IN MUSEUM
- The wall that Saladin had begun
to build to protect Cairo and Fustat was still under construction after he
died. It was near completion only in 1238.
- The Citadel was enlarged in the
13th to 14th century.
- The Cairo Citadel is considered
to be one the most elegant of the fortresses that were built during the Middle
Ages.
- When the French invaded Cairo in
1798. The Citadel was important in helping to protect the city but eventually after a long battle Napoleon
Bonaparte's army took control.
View of Citadel from new Aga Khan Gardens
- The Citadel of Cairo is considered to be one of the ‘greatest monuments of medieval warfare'. - To avoid losing his governance over Egypt threatened by the Mamlukes, Mohamed Ali prepared for an official banquet and invited all the Mamlukes dignitaries and officers. They all came dressed in formal dress with almost no combat weapons; as they were leaving the citadel after the banquet they were taken by surprise at the gate called Bab El-Wazer. Mohamed Ali had ordered his troops to close the doors of the gate and kill all the high-ranking Mamlukes. Due to the surprise factor all the mamlukes perished, except for one that survived the Massacre and fled to Syria. This Massacre was called "The Citadel Massacre" or in Arabic "mazbahat el qala’a"
- The Eagle of Saladin depicted on the citadel became the coat of arms of Egypt (seen on the Egyptian flag) and it later was used by other Arab nations. This eagle is on the west wall of the citadel and the head is missing. Studies suggested that it used to be a double headed eagle. It only appeared on the walls of the citadel around 1670 from an unknown location.
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VIDEO OF THE CITADEL OF CAIRO IN ALL IT'S SPLENDOR