The Medieval Bazaar
Friday, December 5th, 2008Copyright © EgyptHasItAll.com
A portal that transports you back into time, Khan el Khalili gives its visitors a glimpse into what a traditional market was like in the middle ages, with its medieval atmosphere and labyrinth of winding streets and twisted alleyways.
In 1382 Emir Djaharks el-Khalili built a big caravanserai (or khan) in the heart of the Fatimid City. A caravanseri was like a hotel for traders, and usually the central point to an area’s economic activity. This caravanserai is still there, you just ask for the narrow street of Sikka Khan el-Khalili and Badestan. The Khan el-Khalili Bazaar is situated at one corner of a triangle of markets that go south to Bab Zuwayla and west to Azbakiyyah. The Khan is bordered on the south by al-Azhar Street and on the west by the Muski Market. One of the old original gates guards the entrance to the original courtyard which lies midway down Sikkit al-Badistan Street. The al-Hussein Mosque is also in Khan el-Khalili and Al-Azhar University and its mosque are not far away.
On a narrow street leading off al-Badistan, El Fishawi Café (or Café of Mirrors), is open continuously day and night, and you can count on that, because it has been so for over 200 years. It is small, a little crammed, and with mirrors almost everywhere. It has been the meeting place for local artists, and has been frequented by the Nobel Award winning laureate Naguib Mahfouz, one of Egypt’s most well known authors. His novel Midaq Alley is set in an alley in Khan el Khalili.
The place where art and commerce come together, Khan el Khalili is the heart of the city. You can easily wander the streets of this bazaar to take it all in. You don’t need a guide, or even a guide book, and should you get lost, just keep going in one direction and you will quickly come out of the maze, and close to a taxi. But if you’re planning on doing any shopping, be prepared to bargain shamelessly! Just remember that you should never feel that you insult or disappoint a seller by not buying.
Clothes are cheap, spices are of good quality and affordable, souvenirs are of good quality as in the hotel lobby, but at a better price. Jewelry is a matter of taste, and there’s an enormous variety of gold on offer. The perfume shops of the Khan are particularly tempting, saturated with spicy and floral scents. Colorfully decorated and brightly light, they’re run by clerks who can mix any fragrance you desire. Egyptian buyers generally shop in the area north of al-Badistan and to the west, where prices may be lower. Better deals for gold and silver are to be found west of the Khan along the “Street of the Gold Sellers”, and further on one will find the Brass and Coppersmith Markets.
The Khan is a MUST see, not to be missed even on a rainy day, as it is an open market, don’t let anything discourage you from this experience, it is still worth the visit!
About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem
—————————————————————–
Egypt Tours
Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the church contains an eleventh-century pulpit, a thirteenth-century ebony and ivory screen and also has been a place where antiquities have been preserved especially in the Coptic Museum, with some 110 medieval icons and murals, the oldest among them belonging to the 8th century. But the oldest artifact unearthed is a lintel showing Christ’s entry into Jerusalem that dates from the 5th or 6th century. The church was badly damaged in the 1992 earthquake, which affected many of Cairo’s medieval buildings, but has since been renovated.
The 1988 Nobel Prize winner for literature, Naguib Mahfouz, is one of the most outstanding novelists in modern Arabic literature. A large number of his novels have been translated into many foreign languages. He was born in 1911 in the old quarter of Cairo, El-Gamaliyya, which has set the stage for many of his novels. For over more than a century, and since his first novel in 1939 he has since written 32 novels an 13 collections of short stories, the most famous being, “El Bedaya Wal Nehaya” (The Beginning and the End) and “The Harafish”. Through his ability to present both a critical view of the very local society to which he belonged, that of modern Cairo, and a more universal perception of the troubles of man in the modern age, Mahfouz has gained this great literary appeal both in the Arab and international world.
Abdel Halim Hafez is among the most popular artists in the Arab world. Not only did he have a magical romantic voice, that entranced the crowds, but they loved him on the big screen too. He was born on the 12 of June 1929, in the small town of Halawat, in the Nile Delta. By the age of 5 both his parents had passed away, so he moved to live with relatives in Cairo, where he graduated from the Academy of Arabic Music in Cairo. Abdel Halim may have recorded many albums, but much of his work is only available from live recordings as he was mainly a live performer, and during the war years he contributed the proceeds of many of his concerts to the Egyptian Government. In March of 1977 he died in London, UK from Bilharzia which he had contracted as a child. It is estimated that the crowd that followed the funeral procession was about 100,000, one of the largest crowds at a funeral ever in Egypt.
Fathy Salama was born in Shobra (Harlem of Cairo) on March 27, 1969. This Grammy (Best Contemporary World Music Album) and BBC Award winner started playing the piano at the age of six and by age thirteen was gigging in Cairo’s clubs. Traveling to Europe and to New York to learn jazz with great artists as Barry Harris, Sun Ra and Pat Patrick, his music creations link together modern music and the music of the Orient. Through his group Sharkiat, Fathy has made many hits in the 80’s and has won two prizes for his film sound tracks for Fallen Angels Paradise and Signs of April.
In 1953, Omar El-Sharif became an over night screen idol with his first role in the Egyptian film, Sira’ Fil Wadi (The Blazing Sun). He first started working in his father’s successful lumber company, then converting to Islam and marring renowned actress Faten Hamama in 1955. He starred in a total of 22 films from 1954-1961, before his first debut in an English language film “Lawrence of Arabia” in 1962. Omar El-Sharif’s best remembered role is David Lean’s “Doctor Zhivago”, where his son Tarek Sharif appeared as Yuri at the age of 8. Omar El-Sharif is fluent in Arabic, English, Greek and French and can also speak some Italian and Turkish. He has been nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor, and a Golden Globe Award as Best Supporting Actor, Most Promising Newcomer award and in November 2005 was honored with a UNESCO medal in recognition of his significant contributions to world film and cultural diversity.
Umm Kalthum (1904-1975) is one of the most famous Arab singers of the 20th century. She was known for her powerful, pure voice and her moving renditions of both neoclassical and colloquial Egyptian lyrics. After the Egyptian defeat in the Six-Day War (1967), Umm Kulthum toured the Arab world on behalf of Egypt, donating the proceeds from her concerts to the Egyptian government. During her career, Umm Kulthum recorded more than 300 songs and made 6 motion-picture musicals. She became associated with President Gamal Adel Nasser, and in many interviews and avenues to the public she has promoted both the Egyptian and Arab culture.
Youssef Chahine born in 1926 in Alexandria to a Christian family established himself from the start as a director with an independent mind, ready to challenge authority. All his films have adopted some controversy or other, whether it be criticizing U.S foreign policy or Egyptian/ Arab social issues. He has been recognized on the international scene as early as 1951, where he was invited to the Cannes Film Festival and in 1978 won a Silver Bear at Berlin for his film “Alexandria…Why?”. Chahine has also received the 50th Annual Lifetime Achievement Award at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival. He has made more than 40 films, the last “This is Chaos” premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2007. Chahine died this August at the age of 82 after several weeks in coma.
Since 1942, and in her pursuit of free studies in art Inji Eflaton, participated in the exhibition of the “Art and Freedom Group”. At the time modern Egyptian art, was conformed by bonds of academism and formalism and this was the first society to attempt to free art from its bonds. Starting March 1952, she had her first of 28 solo exhibitions in Egypt and world wide, including Rome, Venice, Paris, Dresden, Warsaw, Moscow, Prague, New Delhi, San Paolo and Kuwait. Inji Eflaton who died in 1989, received from the French Ministry of Culture, in 1986 a medal of merit called “Cavalier of the Arts and Literature”.
Taha Hussein (1898- 1973) was born to a lower middle-class rural family and lost his eye sight at a very early age. His father was keen on giving Taha the best in education, he was among the first to join and graduate with a Ph.D from the, then newly founded university. He received a scholarship to France and was the first Egyptian to obtain a BA from Montpellier University, and then a Ph.D. from the Sorbonne on Ibn Khaldoun (the fourteenth century Arab thinker). Taha Hussein became one of the leaders of the Arab culture renaissance, through his powerful will, craving for knowledge and his ability to challenge the established values.
About the Author:
About the Author:
The Abu Simbel Sun Festival is one of the world’s most unique events to date. This week the Solstice occurrence can be witnessed again by crowds that pack into the temple before sunrise. The two dates, February and October the 22nd commemorate King Ramses’ ΙΙ ascension to the throne and his birthday respectively.
The new Cairo Opera House is part of Cairo’s National Culture Center. The funds for the complex were a gift from the nation of Japan to Egypt. In October of 1988 it was inaugurated by President Hosni Mubarak and His Highness, Prince Tomohito of Mikasa, the younger brother of the Japanese Emperor in a remarkable ceremony. It was the first time for Japan to stage a Kabuki show, a traditional popular drama with singing and dancing, in Africa or the Arab World. In recognition of the Cairo Opera House, the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra chose it as a venue for their first performance in the Middle East and Africa in January 2007.
The last resting place for Egypt’s treasures is the present day Egyptian Museum of Antiquity in El Tahrir Square. But the museum is now subject to threat from the surrounding buildings and heavy traffic causing vibration and pollution. Besides, the museum was built to cater for about 500 visitors per day, supplying adequate natural light and ventilation, but with the increase of visitors from 6 to 7000 per day, the decision to expand was yet again a compelling issue.
The project for a new state-of-the-art museum to chronicle for the world the ancient story of over 7000 years of Egyptian civilization began in 1992 but due to the short in funding was delayed. An international competition was held to choose the building design and was won by Heneghan Peng Architects of Ireland. 
Built over 50 hectares of land, and just 15 km south of Cairo, it is located in the shadow of the Great Pyramids of Giza. It is expected to hold 100,000 exhibits making it larger than the British Museum, which holds 80,000 artifacts on display.The project is to cost about $550 million US, and is expected to be finished by 2010. The Egyptian government is hoping to raise $40 million from a current tour of King Tutankhamun artifacts in the United States to go towards funding for the project, but there is also backing from Japanese investors.
The Great Egyptian Museum (GEM) will have capacity for 15,000 visitors a day and house an archeological research institute as well as extensive storage. It is also designed to include an auditorium, a media and a publication centre for books, CDs and video tapes. The creation of a data bank and an Egyptological Library will satisfy the need of many scholars keen on the study of the museum collection.
To get things started let’s do some history! Egypt has always been recognized for being the world’s most ancient existent state. Being at the crossroad between the Middle East and North Africa, this unique geographical location, has invariably made Egypt the bridge between Asia and Africa. Egypt also overlooks the Mediterranean so linking it to Europe too. Over the years this land has been occupied by the Greeks, the Persians, and the Romans. And during its conquest by the Arabs it was ruled by the Fatimids (969-1171), the Mamluks (1250-1517), and the Ottomans (1517-1798). It then went through 150 years of occupation by the French and British colonial rule until the revolution of 1952 that finally returned the power to Egyptian hands. But every new rule that came along, rather than destroy what had been conquered, opt for building a new city, just upwind from the old one. This makes Egyptians of special nature as they have acquired throughout the years the customs and habits of the different regions the country belonged to. Egypt has been cited in the three holy books and has been witness to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Indeed, one of the joys of Egypt is that its historic areas are still vibrant, living spaces and not open-air museums. The physical remains of a thousand years of history, being conquered and reconquered by different groups, are the bare essence of its charm. The past here is more a state of mind than a historical fact and that, ultimately, is the way in which Egypt is truly overwhelming.
‘Baksheesh’ is an integral part of any Egyptian workers life. As wages are low, workers rely on tips from foreigners and locals alike. But since you’re a foreigner, many poor people will consider you rich no matter what part of the world you come from, so stock up on change. It also helps to learn the phrase “la shokran” (No thank you). You can also use the same phrase with someone who is trying to sell you something, and if you forget “la shokran,” just say it in English, and walk away. It definitely works better than “emshi” (go away), which appears as advice in some travel books because it could be taken as an insult. Guide books also warn travelers of the hassle of buying from local shop owners. This is an exaggeration. Yes they may call for you to come into their shop but a firm and polite “la shokran” is more than enough to do the trick. All the same you should be prepared to bargain for anything you buy, and don’t get abusive to the trader, he’s only trying to feed his family. It’s easier to haggle with your currency and credit cards out of sight, and stored separately from your Egyptian pounds (LE), if you can show you have just a few LE on you. Souvenirs are better bought from Khan El Khalili (the old bazaar in the Islamic district), at better quality and prices.
It is advisable to arrange for a private guide. This can easily be arranged through your hotel, and is not at all expensive. They are very useful at the Cairo Museum since many of the artifacts are not labeled and the place is enormous, they can save you time by showing you all the relevant exhibits. Besides it’s a fast and sure way to learn from an Egyptian first hand about the country and the life style of its people.
