"SAYEEDA GEORGE"

Cue (NZERS), Issue 29, 15 August 1945, Page 1

"SAYEEDA GEORGE"

JjLMOST every member of 2 NZEF has spent some time in Cairo and has made the acquaintance. of the Cairene —the übiquitous George Wog and his family. In all probability, he has wandered dozen the Mouski, gazed at the Blue Mosque, climbed the Pyramids, inspected the Museum of Hygiene, spent some memorable moments at a cabaret, drunk numerous bottles of Stella, and perhaps had the vicarious thrills of a Birka picquet. He has picked, up a smattering of Arabic, learnt a little of Egyptian ways, rubbed shoulders with peoples of almost every nationality, and gained the feeling that he has become almost overnight a cosmopolitan, almost a man of the world. But few that are left in the Division today have achieved more than a fleeting acquaintanceship with Cairo and its people. Cairo is too vast, too old, and too cosmopolitan to know intimately in a few weeks or months. It is too steeped in the history not only of past centuries but of past civilisations. The great city has kept abreast of the times—it is as modern a city as could be found anywhere—but it has never entirely thrown off the cloak of the past— cloak that is embellished with the gold and silver and precious jewels of historical events. For Cairo today still breathes of the greatness of its ancient kings, of (Persia, Greece, and

Rome; and there still 'exist memories of the warring Arab and the Turk, the invading French and the British. Unfortunately, the soldier is not given the same chances of appreciating this picturesque cloak as the leisured civilian tourist, for he sees too much of the dirty underclothing. But it is safe to say that most New Zealanders in Cairo have at one time or another felt the spell of the ancient civilisation of Egypt as captured for all time in the. Pyramid's, the Sphinx, and the ancient monuments. Cairo, which to most people is the equivalent of saying Egypt, js one of the storehouses of the world’s art treasures and a link with civilisations that existed several thousand years ago. And yet the city did not come into* existence in its present form until thirteen centuries ago when the Arabs conquered Egypt. Egypt has a long record of greatness and of domination. Its history is divided into three distinct phases— Paleolithic up to 10,000 8.C., Neolithic up to 3500 8.C., and the Dynastic period up to 331 B.C. Even prior to the Dynastic period when the

Pharaohs ruled the land, the Egyptian had reached a fairly high degree of civilisation. They worshipped many gods and animals and believed steadfastly in a future existence, for which reason they buried with the body food, furniture, and weapons. Already the Egyptians of those days had shown

great skill with their pottery'- and their drawing, a skill that has remained with them throughout succeeding ages. In the days of the Pharaohs, Egypt prospered. Its first king was Narmer, who later adopted the title of Mena. It was during the early Dynastic period that the ancient city of Anebhetch, later known as Memphis, was adopted as the capital of the country, and that Tcheser built his step pyramid at -Sakkara near Memphis as a funeral monument, a - form that was later perfected by Cheops, Chephren, and succeeding pharaohs. It was in the reign of Chephren -that the Sphinx was completed. This huge figure of a recumbent lion with outstretched paws

and a human head modelled on that of the reigning king is -probably the most famous monument in the world. It was in the Fourth Dynasty that the Priests of Ra exerted a powerful influence on the pharaohs, so much so that they forced the kings to insert ”Ra” in their names. From that time onwards, each king of Egypt, including the Persians, Macedonians, and Romans, called himself ’’Son of Ra”. The priests had their headquarters in the olid Heliopolis, or Mataria as it is now known. It was at Heliopolis that Übertsen I reconstructed a large temple and set up there a pair of red granite obelisks, one of which is still standing.

From 1700 8.C., the power of Egypt began to fade, although it was during this pericd that art and architecture flourished and Egyptian civilisation was at its height.- In 525 B.G. the first of a long succession of successful invasions of the country began. The Persians were its first conquerors, and they ruled for 200 years, until displacedl by Alexander the Great. Under Alexander, Egypt flourished and became the centre of culture and commerce of the civilised world. , It was during this period that chemistry was born, later to be developed by the Arabs as a science to serve mankind.

The Greeks gave way to the Romans when Antony and Cleopatra’s bid to conquer the known world' was frustrated by Octavius. When the Roman Empire collapsed, Egypt became part of the Byzantine Empire, and was a stronghold of Christianity. In 641, the Arabs stepped in, and gradually Egypt became an Arab country. The Ara language and the Mohammedan hligion were adopted. A small minori y of the people remained Christians, an their descendants are the present day Copts. There were three Mohammedan capitals of Egypt before Cairo wa founded. The first was El-F 1 ,

the south of the present Cairo and known today, with the remains of its old fortress, as ’’Old Cairo”. The second is now entirely desolate, and the third founded by Ahmed libn Tulun is partly included in the present Cairo and contains the great mosque named after its founder. He also built a great aqueduct, remains of which are still to* be seen. When Gohar el—Kaid conquered the country in 969 for the Fatimite Khalif, he founded a new capital, El-Kahirah, ’’the Victorious”, a name that has been corrupted to Cairo. He also founded the mosque, el Azhar, which was converted into a university and still remains the chief theological seminary of the Islamic world. New Zealanders have often looked across from Maadi at the Citadel, but not all know that it was Saladin who built it when he fortified Cairo against the Crusaders. The army of Saladin’s day consisted mainly of mercenaries

who were given the name of Mamelukes. They became so powerful that one of their number actually became ruler of the land and .Mamelukes held power for- 270 years. During their time bridges were built, canals were cut and many beautiful mosques were erected. The tomb mosque of Kait Bey on Roda Island and the Sultan Barkuk, with its two domes and two minarets, were products of this period. Incidentally, it was on Roda Island that, according to Arab legend, Pharaoh’s daughter found Moses in the bulrushes.

The Turks, who conquered Egypt in 1517, had little influence on its progress, but Cairo became headline news in 1798 when Napoleon fought and won the Battle of the Pyramids, only to have his fleet* destroyed a few days later near Alexandria by Nelson. When an English force landed in 1801 the French gave up their dreams of an Eastern empire, . and the Turks again took over. When Turkey’s grip, on

Egypt loosened, Mohammed Ali, graduating from Governor of Cairo, became master of all Egypt, but he had to carry out two massacres of the Beys who.disputed his authority. In the second mass murder, which took place in a narrow street between the middle gate of the Citadel and the Bab-el-Azab, only one of the 470 Mamelukes escaped. In 1824, Mohammed erected a palace inside the Citadel and commenced the building of the mosque that (bears his name—that beautiful mosque, with its dome and two slender minarets, which is one of the architectural gems of Cairo. It was during Mohammed Ali’s reign, too, that the foundation stone of the great Barrage, which took eighteen years to build, was laid. The government of Egypt was made hereditary in the family of Mohammed Ali in 1841, and King Farouk is his great—great-grand son. The influence of the British and the French is very apparent in Cairo to - day. In 1879, the two countries established a condominium which lasted two years. When the French refused to help Britain quell a rising

in the following year British troops occupied Cairo and retained a garrison in the famous Kasr -el Nil Barracks right up until . 1936. In 1914, when Turkey displayed her friendship with Germany, Egypt became a British pro, tectorate and Turkish suzerainty was terminated. Eight years later Great Britain proclaimed Egypt an independent sovereign state, thus terminating a long record of foreign domination for the ancient country. * Modern Cairo has been described a thousand times and a thousand times has it been called a city of contrasts. When the Battle for Egypt swayed backwards and forwards across the burning North African sands, and Cairo became the headquarters for thousands of Allied troops the contrasts were' even more marked. Bun in spite of all the dirt and squalor, the innumerable smells and disgusting sights, Cairo even in wartime has an appeal all its own. It is so rich in colour, so unpredictable in its moods, so vivid in its contrasts, and so alluring and mysterious under an Egyptian moon. Tall, gleaming skyscrapers, shining limousines, the latest fashions in dress catch the eye at one moment; and then in the next the scene has changed and one is gazing at a flycovered beggar, a haughty smelling camel, and dirty, verminous hovels, and shouting ’’lmshi yalla”! to filthy, roguish—eyed urchins touting for business. z Nowhere else in the world is there a city quite like Cairo and yet part bf almost every city of the world exists within its boundaries. It is -still the centre of the Arab world, still the Arabian Nights city of fabulous wealth and mysterious adventures, and still the hub of Middle East trade as it was in the picturesque days of the desert caravans. But in the various European residential areas are palatia Western homes, beautiful gardens an

all the trappings of modern civilisation, and in the centre of the city is Gezira Island, one of the most famous playgrounds in the world. Contrasting strongly with the wealth of the Egyptian and the luxurious homes of the European residents are the dirty,

squalid areas of the —narrow, winding streets, mud-brick and stone houses, smells, filth, and smells again. All the vice of the world lurks in Cairo’s back streets; all the pleasures of the world are to be found within the city’s boundaries. Poor though he might be, George Wog seems happy in the life Allah has given him. In spite of his poverty and his ragged robes, he still finds plenty of scope for his natural joie—de—vivre and his age-old philosophy. He still likes to bargain and to gamble and he is a good sportsman in victory or defeat. Strange to say in these long years of war the New Zealand soldier

and George Wog have achieved a comJ mon understanding and a mutual regard. The Egyptians have not forgotten the Kiwis’ dash from Syria to Mersa Matruh and their subsequent part in the Battle of Egypt. No matter how many times a New Zealander has booted a wallad on his ghalabia, abused a Mouski merchant, sung his far from polite version of the country 9 s national anthem, smashed up cabarets, or driven trucks with reckless disregard for native life and property, George Wog\ has come up smilinga cunning, wicked smile, perhaps, but one with a tolerant, friendly appreciation of the New Zealand soldier. To the Wog, the Cairene of the streets and the markets, the cabarets and the gharries, the Kiwi is a ’’good fellah". " The New Zealander on his part will never forget Cairo and its people—its descendants of the serfmen of the Pharaohs, of the Persians, the Greeks and the Bomans, its Moslems and its Copts, its Greeks, Turks, French, Italians, and Armenians. Long after this war is ended he will hear again the eerie call of the Muadhdhin summoning the faithful to prayer; he will see again the picturesque feluccas on the Nile silhouetted against an Egyptian sky; and he will remember the teeming, exciting life of the great metropolis long, after the memories of the sand, the flies, and the heat of the desert have faded. And back in his own country—that ’’very good, very clean, very hygiene’’ land of home — he may, perhaps, retain some of the ancient wisdom of Egypt and some of the philosophy of life that has made the Cairene contented with little. If it is not allowed to kill ambition and industry, there is a lot in that expressive Arabic word — maleesh.