from the land of gods to the land of God...

The place currently known as the Arab Republic of Egypt has an undeniable place in the archives of history, not least for the marvelous temples created by ancient egyptians, their secrets of beauty and their burial traditions. In the 19th century, Egypt stood at the crossroads of trade from Europe to the Middle East. Some would argue that it has not lost its historically important role - I would beg to disagree. Today, Egypt remains one of the most populous countries in the Middle East, on par perhaps only with Iran, but its influence as the center of power of the Arab world, not to mention beyond, has definitely declined. True enough, the rhythm of life in Cairo makes New York seem like a sleepy village, but for all the hustle-bustle and the constant chaos, which makes the entire city resemble a sort of a giant souk, the echo does not carry far.

Politically, Egypt is embroiled in the succession tango with all of the local media running over each other trying to comment on the mode of succession from Hosni Moubarak, to Moubarak Jr. - aka Gamal. On my last trip to Cairo a year ago, protesting judges got wrapped up and somehow silenced. A year later, I think there is no longer a discussion of whether, just of how Moubarak Jr. will fill in his fathers' shoes. Luckily, the creativeness of current world leaders on this point is not leaving much to imagination, and Hosni just needs to have a little chat with Vladimir if ever he runs out of innovative ideas. That being said, it does not look like it. As it looks, Egyptian political leadership has much domestic issues to deal with, not least of them, problems related to the homegrown Muslim brotherhood movement, which despite clear signs from the government, does not seem to want to hide its head in the sand. Browsing the blogs of Egyptian students and human rights activists, it is pretty clear that the regime does not treat their islamic brothers so kindly with the enormous Egyptian police (as opposed to the 'tourist police', more on which later...) dedicated to controlling the islamist opposition, political and otherwise. It is a sort of Musharaf dilemma: how to control the islamist factions without appearing anti-Islamic, since the latter would not go down so well neither with the large majority of the local population nor with the neighbouring countries whose kings legitimate their position with reference to Islam.

All in all, given the widespread domestic discontent, manifested in the recent strongest wave of worker protests since World War II, the regime has its hands full at home and is not aiming to conduct grand maneuvers abroad. About the latest such move, albeit short-lived, was the Nasserist political merger of Egypt and Syria. While the historical role of Egypt in regional politics is still evident as one walks past the headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo, where one of the region's 'most wanted' man (for whom conference organisers now send helicopters as a sign of respect for his time), Amr Moussa, sits in what is perhaps one of the best maintained and defended castles in the the posh Zamalek neighbourhood of Cairo, the role of Egypt in regional politics in now marginal and seems to have been taken over by the heavyweight Saudi Arabia. The lack of Egypt's political weight may be partially explained by the general lack of respect of its leader, who the locals have nicknamed in arabic 'the Pharaoh', referring to the fact that little Hosni has been in power for the longest in the region, second behind his Libyan neighbour Colonel Qadafi.

More importantly though, the economically impoverished Egypt, with allegedly over 1 million homeless in Cairo alone, cannot punch on the level of the oil rich Gulf states, and Saudi Arabia in particular, which has taken over in all but one dimension - as the authoritative center of fatwas (islamic jurisprudence) in the Arab world. There, the Al Ahzar university and mosque in Cairo is still recognised as a central source, mostly for reasons related to the unpalatability of the Wahhabist islam outside Saudi Arabia. It is true that since the appointment of a reformist cabinet in Egypt in 2004, the place has seen privatisation, liberalisation and financial de-regulation at a record speed, as a result receiving greater foreign investment and improving the conditions for the indigenous private sector. But just a few days in Egypt show the woeful inadequacy of what has been achieved as opposed to what is required to lift this huge country out of absolute poverty and, perhaps even more dangerously, its huge illiteracy. (The current illiteracy rate in Egypt is estimated at over 50%, and is much higher among women, since popping out children does not require any reading or writing skills.)

And even with 6-7% economic growth in Egypt over the last few years, Egypt is still one of the poorest countries in the region, and this is particularly evident outside of Cairo. A short one hour flight to Luxor reveals a complete lack of infrastructure, where the 30 year old Cairo taxis are replaced by tired donkeys, alternating between the ultra-modern tourist buses, carrying the european tourists to rummage through the ruins of the Luxor and Karnak temples and walk down the Valleys of Queens and Kings. Even in Cairo, the humblest western standard corresponds to a single 'up and coming' neighbourhood of Cairo, Zamalek, whose 5 star hotels and embassies are protected by an army of egyptian police, and where I could - almost —imagine myself living, if I ever managed to figure out how to breathe through the cloud of black smoke enveloping the city. I could not help but thinking that given the great inventions of their predecessors and the robustness of the commerce in ancient Egypt, the state of local industry is rather weak and explains why even the tourists who have and want to spend money often cannot find anything worthwhile to spend it on. Egyptian industry is pretty much limited to cotton, light manufacturing and is hugely boosted by tourism, which is doing rather well across the country, despite the periodic bombings and clashes between the police and the disenfranchised Bedouin tribes in Sharm El-Sheikh.

In Egypt, tourism is an ever-expanding sector with formal structures and with let's just call them 'less formal structures' including tourist harassment, practiced by taxi drivers, hotel staff, whoever can ask for money for some sort of a 'service'. This latter category of course includes that very infamous tourist police. In theory, the mission of the tourist police, is to protect tourists, which in reality do not need much protection since the locals are a pretty friendly folk. In reality, I suspect that tourist police just helps the government create employment for uneducated males and since the salaries are ridiculous, like elsewhere in the public service in egypt, their are not shy to ask for 'assistance' from these very tourists they are meant to protect. Left to his own devices for one day, my poor boyfriend got almost arrested a 'tourist police' for...taking photos at the pyramids! He was explained that unless he receives a certain amount about which he was never to speak to anybody, he would take his camera away. Throughout my whole time in Egypt, I had the impression that everything has a price, and at one point I was almost tempted to ask how much for a mummy at the cairo museum. I didn't unfortunately, leaving it to be 'cleaned' by a bored looking lady who was diligently wiping the floors and the statues with the same cloth and chemical solution. This, coupled with the general state of the museum in Cairo made be realise why the British refuse the repeated requests of the Egyptian government to return the treasures from the British museum to their native homeland.

Which brings me to my next and perhaps last point - the culture of the ancient egyptians. And to be sure, there is more of it than one can absorb in a single visit to Egypt. Some of these obedient tourists whom I have seen getting of the ultra-modern tourist buses, often spend a week or two in egypt, in an attempt to get to know more about this cradle of civilisation. The issue is that this rich cultural heritage is not easily accessible. I spent a few hours at the Cairo museum, recommended as the place for the culturally interested, and I have to say that alas, I did not walk out of it any more informed about the Egyptian culture or history than I walked in. Reading a lonely planet guide would have been more useful. This is surely not because there is nothing to see at the Cairo museum, but simply because pieces are arranged like furniture in a warehouse, there are virtually no explanations, except for the rooms that are financed by the development agencies. One finds a similar state of affaires at the pyramids and the ancient temples, where one guide noted that a part of the temple was mounted upside down (!) since it was down probably by construction workers instead of archeologists. If you are interested in seeing the history of ancient egyptians, my advice would be to go sooner rather than later since between the russian tourists who insist on jumping on all top of all the sculptures to take napoleon-style photos and writing something deep like 'Nina loves Boris' ON the statues, and the locals who are willing to sell off any part of their national heritage for a negligible amount of money, I was genuinely surprised there was anything left altogether. The pharaohs, after all, have no religious significance to the new generations of egyptians, who are faced with a religious revival over the the last decade, which places any mosque much higher than any ancient temples which bring hordes of tourists to their country.
Of course, the mosques in Egypt, not least the the Soliman Pasha mosque, hidden behind the Citadel in Cairo, which serves as the burial site for the family of the Pasha, are breathtaking and for a little backshish (equivalent to a bribe or payment in arabic), one can even climb its minaret. But that does not make the lamentable state of historic monuments in Egypt any easier to cope with.

At the end of the trip, I couldn't help thinking that outside the fake oasis of 5 star hotels (which don't get me wrong, I very much appreciated) the real Egypt has declined, as some of the old Cairo bourgeoisie have confirmed to me. A drive through the islamic neighbourhood of Cairo and a walk outside the tourist area of Luxor demonstrate the rate of poverty that is closer to Africa than the Middle East. Politically, economically and culturally, Cairo is no longer the center of gravity in the Middle East. It may be the center of religion, but that may actually be the explanation for the lack in all the other dimensions. In going from the land of the pharaonic gods to the the land of one god, the ordinary Egyptians have won not much that a non-believer can judge as progress, at least not so far.