Plain talk

By Mursi Saad El-Din

---

I wish I could describe in full the animated paintings of R Albot Kelly which greatly enhance his book on Egypt. Life in Cairo, says Kelly, is so varied that it would be difficult for any visitor to carry away any definite first impression of the city. The newcomer hardly knows where to focus his attention. East and West continually jostle with each other in the streets where strange types and costumes vie with unfamiliar and picturesque architecture.

At that time Cairo was divided into two distinct and widely different parts, the one consisting of the Azbakiya, Ismailia and Kasr Al Debara quarters, built for and almost entirely occupied by Europeans; and the other the purely native town, whose streets and bazaars, mosques and palaces had remained practically untouched and unchanged for centuries.

Cairo was a cosmopolitan city where every European language was spoken. If one wanted to see what the author describes as "real Orientals", the best plan was to pick up "an intelligent donkey boy and comfortable animal and explore for yourself without your Baedeker or dragoman. Donkey riding, says Kelly, is healthy and exhilarating and enables one to traverse the narrowest streets and lanes. In the old quarters every step revealed a new picture: little shops, protected from the sun by ragged awnings, displayed goods and commodities of the most varied descriptions, amongst which, he says, "Alas, you will notice a goodly proportion of Manchester prints."

A vivid picture is given of water carriers, closely veiled women, Ethiopians with their turbans, camels laden with bercim and a motley of street cries of vendors, donkey boys and camel drivers. Then there was, above all, the struggling mass of humanity and the excitement of it all. The visitor has a sense of strangeness which, however, soon wears out. Then he is able to distinguish between the different types and occupations.

In addition to the human attractions in the streets there was also the domestic architecture. The ground floor usually consisted of shops and above were the jutting upper storeys. The supporting corbels were often richly carved and many of the arched doorways of the houses were richly moulded and embellished in a manner suggestive of the most ornate period of Norman work. The wooden doors were richly panelled with large knockers of bronze inlaid with silver. Wrought iron or bronze grilles protected many lower windows and the upper storeys were rendered remarkable by the projecting balcony and windows of the mashrabiyaa work.

The Nile is given its full share in the book. No other river, says Kelly, presents so many curious features or is environed with so much romantic suggestions as this remarkable stream which, rising in lake Victoria Nyanza, in the course of its 3,000 miles traverses half the length of Africa. He finds it easy to understand the veneration with which the Nile was regarded by the ancients. There is something peculiarly impressive in the silent flow of the noble river, a feeling of dignity and repose, and a quiet beauty not to be appreciated in a moment.

Kelly follows the Nile trip, stopping at different towns on the way until he reaches the first cataract, giving full details of the monuments he encounters on the way. I like the way he describes the monuments generally: "Dignity and repose characterise all these monuments and whether it is the Sphinx at Gizeh, or a sculptured Ramses at Thebes, each expresses the same idea of omniscience and immutability to which the everlasting nature of pyramid- or temple-building forms a fitting complement."

Going through the book with its 14 chapters and 75 paintings is a breathtaking trip, full of adventure and beauty. It is indeed difficult to cover all that has to be presented. But I do hope that I have been able to whet the reader's appetite for a full reading of the book, which I believe would be a precious addition to the library of anyone interested in the old image of Egypt.