Pathways Egypt

The name “Alexandria” is familiar to any student of ancient history, as a center of Greek/Hellenic culture in Egypt. It was founded by Alexander the Great and, clearly, named for him in 332 BC. There is some dispute over the exact date when the city was founded, but it is known that for almost a millennium Alexandria served as the capital of Egypt. It was all the more strange given its long and storied history, then, that Alexandria fell into a long and gradual decline after falling to the Arabs in 641 AD and passed out of relevance for some time.

It would take the arrival of the “founder of Modern Egypt”, Muhammad Ali (no, not the boxer), to begin to return Alexandria to a position of great importance in global and national terms. Muhammad Ali had a plan to return Egypt itself to the top echelon of countries and to do this he set about a large scale industrialization of the country, which involved reinstating Alexandria as a leading port. This is a state which it retains today, placing it at the epicenter of Egypt’s commerce, industry and tourism. Alexandria is also the historical home of the Pharos Lighthouse, one of the original Seven Wonders of the World.

Among its many cultural claims to fame, Alexandria was home to much of Egypt’s historical Jewish population, and is the location for one of Egypt’s active synagogues, the Eliahu Hanabi Synagogue. This is another symbol of Egypt’s status as somewhat of a bridge between two worlds, the Arabic and Western sections. Among others are its geographical position – being in North Africa makes it an excellent staging point – and its patronage by historical figures and writers. EM Forster spent time here and wrote about his experiences of the area, as did others.

Its positioning and history, then, make Alexandria a very cosmopolitan and bohemian center of interest for the tourist. Some of the sights from the Alexandrian era still stand, while the city has itself modernised to no small degree, and a visit to Alexandria is certainly more than worthwhile for anyone thinking of traveling to Egypt.

As a nation with so much history – going back as much as six thousand years – Egypt will perhaps always be spoken of in terms of that history. This, however, does not necessarily do justice to Egypt or to its cities, in particular Cairo which has been the center of Egypt for quite some time and is its present day capital city. Although much of the country has been preserved in something like its historical form, Cairo has very much been a modernizing city, and a quick glance at its skyline shows how this modernization has taken shape, with glittering lights reminiscent of a European or American capital.

One notable fact about Cairo is that Egyptian citizens refer to it as “Misr”, which is the Arabic name for Egypt itself. This is a very clear demonstration of the city’s recognized role in present day Egypt – and in the wider Arab World. The city is the home of the Arab League and the region’s oldest music and film industries, making it very much a place where the trends are set for other cities to follow. The second-oldest university in the world, al-Azhar University, is also located here.

The Cairo travel sector is considered to be secondary in many ways to that of the more historic city and region of Luxor – and from a point of view of historical tourism there is some truth in that. However, this is Egypt, and one site being “less historic” than another is rather relative. Cairo for its part is in very close proximity to the site of Giza, where the famous Pyramids and the Sphinx stand after all these years. It has also been Egypt’s capital for more than 800 years, through periods of great upheaval and conquest.

Among the less historic attractions of Cairo travel there is a temperate climate which is comparable with many parts of Europe and America, with temperatures tending to climb only as high as 33 degrees from June through August. Soccer buffs might also like to take in a game between Al-Ahly and Zamalek, often considered the fiercest rivalry in all of sport.