Cairo

Cairo, the capital of modern Egypt, is situated on the right bank of the Nile, 131 miles by railway from Alexandria, and near the apex of the Delta—in the figurative language of the East, it is the brightest gem in the handle of the green fan of Egypt. In the present day it covers about 11 sq. m. of the sandy plain, and extends from Mount Mukattam to the port of Boulak (Bulâk); but only a small part of the modern city belongs to the Cairo of history, which consisted originally of little more than an immense palace with its attendant buildings. Modern Cairo is built upon the remains of four distinct cities. 'Amr, the Mohammedan conqueror of Egypt, founded the first in 641 close to the Roman fortress of Babylon, and his city was named El-Fustât or 'the Tent,' because it was erected on the spot where he encamped. Remains of this earliest of the Mohammedan capitals of Egypt are still included in Masr-el-'Atîka or 'Old Cairo,' chiefly famous for the Coptic churches built within the Roman fortress. In 751 the deputy of the Abbaside califs transferred his residence to a spot somewhat to the north-east of Fustât, and a new suburb sprang up called El-'Askar or 'the Camp.' In 868 Ahmad-ibn-Tâ'lûn, the first independent Mussulman ruler of Egypt, founded a third city or suburb, El-Katâî ('the Fiefs'), still more to the north-east; and a further step in the same direction was made in 969 when Jôhar, the general who conquered Egypt for the Fatimite califs of Tunis, laid the foundations of the great palace-inclosure, which he named El-Kâhira ('the Victorious'), corrupted by the Italians into Cairo. In the present day the whole city is vulgarly called Masr-el-Kâhira, or simply Masr (which is also the Arabic name for Egypt, the Hebrew Mizraim). Kâhira soon expanded from a palace into a suburb, and the various foundations grew into one city, save where fire or earthquake laid waste a whole quarter; and vast heaps of rubbish occupy the site of ruined streets. The Fatimites threw a wall round their restricted city, and Saladin in the 12th century extended the walls so as to include the new Citadel, which he built (1166) on a spur of Mount Mukattam, together with some suburbs which had sprung up outside the old Fatimite boundary. The course of the walls can still be traced in the heart of the modern city by the names of ancient gates. Since the accession of Mohammed 'Alî and his dynasty in the present century, Cairo has been greatly enlarged on the west side, and the space between the city of Saladin and the Nile has been covered with villas and palaces of European construction. The medieval city, however, may still be seen in something of its former picturesqueness in the streets and bazaars, which occupy and surround the site of the original palace-inclosure of El-Kâhira. The quarter bounded by the north and east walls, between the Bâb-en-Nâsr ('gate of victory') and the Citadel, is still purely oriental; and it is chiefly in this part that are found the numerous mosques, schools, fountains, and latticed houses which represent the art of the Saracens in its most chaste and perfect form. Here is situated the Azhar University (founded 971), to which 2000 students annually flock from all parts of the Mohammedan world; here is the mosque of El-Hâkim (990), the beautiful Mâristân and tomb of Kalaûn (1288), and the fine mosques of En-Nâsir (1298), Aksunkur (1347), Sultan Hasan (1358), El-Muayyad (1420), and El-Ghôrî (1503), to mention but a few of these exquisite monuments. In this part also is best seen the characteristic life of the people. The traveller who wanders through the narrow crowded lanes, where a thin streak of sky marks the narrow space between the lattice-windows (meshrebîyas) of the overhanging upper stories, and diving under a camel here, or shrinking into a recess there, endeavours to avoid being trampled to death by the endless stream of horses, camels, asses, and human beings which surges through the principal thoroughfares, and then emerges in front of a line of stately mosques, or beneath the arches of a noble gateway, or again finds himself in a silent secluded court, lined by private dwellings, may fancy himself transported to the fairyland of the Thousand and One Nights, and realise the saying of the Arab writer: 'He who hath not seen Cairo hath not seen the world; its soil is gold; its Nile is a wonder; its women are like the black-eyed virgins of Paradise; its houses are palaces; and its air is soft—its odour surpassing that of aloes-wood and cheering the heart; and how can Cairo be otherwise when it is the mother of the world?' The medieval city, however, is rapidly giving way to the encroachments of western commerce and sanitation. The separate closed quarters of distinct trades are becoming rarer. Very few of the old palaces of the Mamelukes are still standing; the most beautiful features of the decoration of ancient houses and even mosques have been despoiled by the travelling collector; and natural decay, aided by centuries of neglect and ignorant injury, has reduced the remains of a perhaps unrivalled epoch of Saracenic art to those shattered but exquisite ruins, which an official 'Commission for the Preservation of the Monuments' now endeavours, not, indeed, to restore, but if possible to rescue from further demolition and decay. See MOSQUE, ARABIAN ARCHITECTURE.

The modern portion of the city consists partly in a few broad streets or 'boulevards,' which pierce the medieval quarters, and have destroyed many priceless monuments of art, but chiefly in the western suburb of Ismaîlia, formed by new villas, built along broad avenues lined with trees, and extending from the square called the Ezbekîya, near or in which are the principal hotels, the opera-house, theatre, and the European shops, as far as Boulak. In this suburb are some of the numerous palaces of the Khedive, notably Abdîn, where all official receptions take place; others are situated on the bank of the Nile, where are also barracks and a hospital. Boulak (q.v.), whence the steamboats and dahabiyas start for the Nile voyage, is principally noteworthy for its printing-press; its splendid collection of Egyptian antiquities was removed to Gizeh in 1889. Modern Cairo, including the whole circuit, old and new, is the largest city in Africa, and second only to Constantinople in the Turkish empire. Its population at the census of 1882 was 374,838, including 21,000 Europeans, chiefly Italians and Greeks; population in 1892 estimated at 400,000. The main constituents of the inhabitants are the half-Arab, half-Egyptian townsfolk; the fellâhîn, or country-people who have settled in the capital; Copts, Turks, and Jews. There are military and veterinary schools, a girls' school, and a public library rich in Arabic manuscripts. The police is admirable, and the city is under the control of a special governor. Railways and telegraphs connect it with Alexandria, Ismailia, Suez, Port Said, and Upper Egypt. Steamers ply on the Nile as far as the Second Cataract. Gas, the telephone, and other modern appliances are in universal use among the European and official circles. There is a busy trade, but chiefly of the transport kind, consisting of the produce of the interior. Manufactures, except rude pottery, turned woodwork, and silver-smithery, are well-nigh non-existent; and Egypt's old arts have been almost forgotten. After the battle of Tel-el-Kebîr in 1882, British troops occupied Cairo, and thenceforward Cairo was the centre of English influence in Egypt. See works by S. L. Poole (1892), E. W. Lane (1896), and E. A. Reynolds Ball (1898).