Cairo
16 million people live in the city and another million travel in to work. The city simply is not big enough. Day and night the streets are thronged because the houses are too small. The average family has seven children. Parents need children to care for them in their old age. Education and health services are provided by the state. Rents are controlled but buying a house is beyond all but the very rich and landlords get round rent control by demanding key money. Schools operate a shift system. Children go either in the morning or afternoon, often in classes of 60. The teachers on the tour who are many, wince at the thought. We are shown a middle class district, by our standards we would call it derelict rather than a slum. Side roads are rutted mud, facades are patched up but the rest of the structure looks on the verge of collapse. Earthquakes demolished large areas but the buildings that were "just" seriously damaged continue to be inhabited. Traffic congestion is serious as is air pollution, the pyramids would have been visible from the hotel balcony if it were not for the haze. Our balcony looks overthe Nile towards the Cairo tower.
Cairo Museum
is magnificent we are thrilled by the gold and blue splendour of Tut Ank Amun
whose tomb was found intact as a result of the entrance being buried in rubble
from the excavation of the tomb of Ramses III. We visit the tomb later and
are amazed to find it smaller than our ground floor. It must have been absolutely
stuffed with treasure. Mohammed confirms that TUT was not all that important
as a Pharaoh added to which he died at 18 so hardly had time to amass any
significant wealth. We get to know some of the Gods and why the Pharaohs are
so obsessed with the after life and why all the statues stand with their left
feet forward.
All their time in this life is spent getting ready for the second life. No
work can be done on your tomb after you are dead and there are all sorts of
obstacles to imortality. If for instance one of your enemies defaces your
statue, or they simply remove your name. If you avoid that, after death your
heart is weighed against a feather. If your heart is heavier it is fed to
the lion or the crocodile, if its lighter your in, provide no one has stolen
the four vases that contain your liver, lungs, stomach and ?? You don't require
your brain which is discarded during mummification. You are instructed to
"Follow your heart" by a message written where your eyes will light
when you awake.
The mummy room has just been re-opened for the first time in ages and we get
the chance to see some of the individuals we are coming to know. They look
remarkably fit for their age.