Cairo, Cairo

Author: Mod. Tichart (France) and others
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: Triangular sails float on the Nile River, and before the lights turn on, the pink-toned sunset resembles the fragrant smoke of Arabic water pipes, shrouding the river surface. In this mist of light, the minaret of mosques in Cairo and the silhouette of the pyramids on the Giza Plateau across the river are clearly visible. This is a small patch of fertile land in the center of the Nile Delta, which has nurtured most of Egypt's population. This situation has persisted from the Pharaonic era to the Arab era. Cairo is located at the entrance of the Nile Delta, facing the Fayoum Oasis on the west bank of the Nile. It is a testament to the glory of the Fatimid dynasty, the most magnificent Islamic city on the African continent. The Nile divides here and flows into the Mediterranean Sea. This seasonal fertile land has been nurturing the Egyptians for thousands of years. Today, although their ethnic composition has changed, their way of life along the Nile has not fundamentally altered. Not far away is the desert, and only the Nile's flood can bring life to this land. In the Pharaonic era, when the Nile flooded, people would repair their farming tools at home, preparing for the upcoming planting. They also navigated papyrus boats through the floodwaters, fishing or observing water conditions, and taking advantage of this time to pick ripe grapes. They hunted hippos but never disturbed crocodiles, which threatened wetland life—they were sacred animals, representing the water god Sobek. However, records show that by 3000 BC, consecutive floods failed to achieve the desired results, prompting people to explore and learn how to use artificial irrigation facilities to overcome the crisis. Reservoirs, dams, and canals, especially canals, began to play a crucial role. Farmers used earthen pots to draw water from canals to irrigate distant farmland and orchards. The famous Fayoum Oasis flourished as an agricultural province, relying on the Bahr Yusuf Canal dug by the pharaohs of the 12th Dynasty. Artificial irrigation facilities, of course, could not change the seasonal nature of labor, and harvests still had to be carried out during the Nile's dry season. As is well known, the ancient Egyptian calendar was calculated and named based on the flooding cycle of the Nile. The season of Akhet begins when the Dog Star (the North Star of ancient Egypt) and the sun appear together in the eastern sky, lasting about three months. Subsequently, the season of Peret begins, the growing season, when farmers start their only annual planting and wait for the harvest, lasting five months. The final season is the dry season of Shemu, starting from the time of flax harvest. Flax was used for the clothes of the living and the shrouds of the dead. It was also used to weave fishing nets, and its seeds were pressed for oil. After flax came wheat, barley for brewing, and wheat for bread. Men reaped, women winnowed, and then the grain was stored in conical granaries. Each sack was recorded by scribes. It is believed that it was during this process that the inhabitants of the Nile invented hieroglyphs. This script used sailing ships to represent the south and sailless ships to represent the north. Because the Nile flows from south to north, and the monsoon from the Mediterranean blows from north to south. When rowing upstream, the monsoon assists, while downstream, the natural flow of the river can be relied on. The Egyptians, living around the Nile, have their thinking shaped by the Nile, and the only rival to this influence is the desert. Cairo, known as the city of dry towers, like most famous cities in the Arab world, exists within the space formed by strong sunlight and vast deserts. If you choose to leave or go to Cairo by land, you must travel through the desert. The roads are flat, flanked by endless, rolling sand seas. Sometimes, you can see the white villas of the wealthy on small oases, like bubbles rising on green waves. The surrounding silence is deafening, the road stretches into the boundless sand sea, and no matter how fast you accelerate, the remains only the desert. In the distance, the camels moving forward still move at a leisurely pace, maintaining a consistent distance, making the journey seem endless. The nomads in the desert are carried on camels, and before their backs disappear, their footprints have already been reshaped by the flowing sand sea, making them indistinguishable, and the sun never reduces its scorching heat by even a fraction. Since the Pharaonic era, there have been communities living on the edge of the Nile Valley, relying on the desert for their livelihood—the Nu, who were well-versed in desert conditions. These people hunted in the desert, helped the pharaoh's government find escaped convicts, or explored stone mines. The graves of these professional hunters are still scattered along the border of the Nile Valley and the desert, accompanied by their loyal dogs. Later, these people also assisted pharaohs and princes in hunting in the desert, but such activities were merely for entertainment, venting, and showing off power—the flooding of the Nile and the use of irrigation facilities brought abundant food, and even these semi-nomadic tribes no longer had to struggle daily for food. Today, if people want to venture into the desert, they still need to seek help from the Bedouins, who live a semi-nomadic life and roam the world's largest desert in search of water. Deep in the sand sea, water sources emerge and soon disappear, just like the Bedouins. Only through sunglasses or a lens can this sand sea have color and shadow. The sunlight is so intense that it is unbearable to open your eyes, and the scenery in sight is only the dazzling silhouette that almost disappears. Among these scenes, the most spectacular are both the pyramids and Cairo, built in the struggle between water and sand. P19