Transcript Egypt Today

Egypt Today
World Studies
Egypt
 Official Name: Arab Republic of Egypt
 Capital: Cairo (founded 969 A.D.)
 Location: North Africa, bordering the
Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, and
includes the Sinai Peninsula
 Population: 78.7 million (2006 census)
 Religion: Muslim 94%, Coptic Christian
and other 6%
 Language: Arabic (official), English and
French
 Size: slightly more than 3X times the size of
New Mexico
Egyptian Rule
Mamelukes
1700
639 AD
1900
King Fuad
(monarchy)
1936
1517
1250
Arab Muslims
Ottoman
Empire
France
and
Britain
1922
King Farouk
(Fuad’s son)
Linking the Two Seas
 Egyptian ruler Ismail Pasha (18631879) wanted to build a canal to
make Egypt equal to the Western
nations. He believed it would
increase trade.
 This became the Suez Canal – It
linked the Mediterranean Sea and
the Red Sea
 The canal opened November 17,
1869
 Many Egyptians were not happy
about the canal – it took 10 years to
build and some thought it would
only continue French and British
control over Egypt
 Cost put Egypt into bankruptcy and
Ismail had to sell Egypt's shares in
the Suez Canal to the British
Government. It was the only to
stop an Egyptian financial crisis.
Government
 1922- Became a monarchy
after Britain gave up
absolute control. The first
King was King Fuad.
 1936- Ruled by King’s son,
King Farouk
 A lot of things still
remained under British
control
 An Egyptian army officer
(Nasser)overthrows King
Farouk
Overthrow
 An army officer named
Gamal Abdel Nasser
overthrew King Farouk
 Wanted a stronger
government and to be rid
of British influence
 He changed Egypt from a
monarchy to a republic
 Wanted to unite all Arabs,
with Egypt as their leader
 He was the leader from
1954 – 1970
 Brought Egypt out of
intense poverty
Nasser’s Major Accomplishment
 Nile River floods
frequently
 Nasser approved
construction of Aswan
High Dam to control the
flooding
 Took 15 years and cost
$1 billion to build
 Farmers now have
dependable source of
water
 Allowed Egypt to grow
crops year-round
 11,000 feet long
 Provides electricity &
irrigation for all of Egypt
But…
 In exchange for one
benefit there are always
downfalls – this is
called a “tradeoff”
 Because of the dam, the
river blocks the
depositing of the rich
soil
 100 million tons of earth
settle behind the dam
each year
 Farmers have to use
artificial fertilizers –
these pollute the Nile
Women in Egypt
 Much of Egyptian culture’s view
on women rights came from
Egypt’s main religion, Islam.
 Egyptian women’s movement
started during the revolution of
1919, but still were denied the
right to vote
 Gradually gained the right to
higher education
 1956: New constitution under
Nasser gave women right to
vote and run for office
 2000: Law passed to make it
easier for a woman to get a
divorce
A New President
 1970: President Nasser
dies.
 Anwar Sadat elected
(had been the Vice
President under Nasser)
 Egypt opposed Israel for
many years, but in 1979,
Egypt was the first Arab
state to sign a peace
treaty
 Opposed Iraq’s invasion
of Kuwait in 1990.
Resistance
 Many people were
against Sadat and his
close relationship with
the US
 An extremist group,
called the Muslim
Brotherhood, insisted
Egypt be governed
only by Islamic law
 October 6, 1981: Sadat
was assassinated by a
group of young
soldiers
Muslim Brotherhood
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Militant group founded in 1928
Members in several Muslim countries
1954 - attempted to assassinate Nasser
Believe Egyptian government is being untrue to the
principles of Islam by working with Israel and the US
 They have been underground for many years but have
recently become visible and powerful in the Middle
East
Government today
 1971 –Constitution adopted
 Country led by a President that is elected every six years.
 It is a republic with a parliamentary government with a judicial system
based on British common law and Islamic moral law.
 The People's Assembly is a part of the Egyptian government. 434 of the
members are elected by the people, and 10 are appointed by the President.
They approve new laws and budgets. The members of The People's
Assembly are elected every 5 years.
 The responsibility of ruling Egypt is shared by both a president and a
prime minister.
 The Egyptian President supervises the formulation of laws and policies and
is in charge of Egypt's Armed Forces (the military).
The President, Muhammad Hosni Said
Mubarak (Hosni Mubarak) was elected to office
in 1981 and has been the President ever since.
Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif
was sworn into office in 2004.
Land and People
 Most of the population
live in a narrow strip of
land on both sides of the
Nile
 Some live in cities,
others in villages
 Egypt’s major primary
product and export is
cotton – became a major
export during Civil War in
US because cotton
exports from the south
were interrupted
 More than 90 percent of Egypt is barren desert.
 Life in modern Egypt is pretty crowded.
 It is populated by almost 80 million Egyptians of ancient Egyptian, Arab,
Bedouin and Nubian ancestry who only live on 3% of the country’s land
 Not many foreigners choose to live in Egypt.
 Along the Nile valley, modern Egypt still looks very much like its ancient
past, except for the roadways running along the river and some electricity
towers and lines scattered here and there.
 In ancient days, the papyrus plant grew abundantly along the banks of the
Nile. Now it's almost extinct and grown only for the production of
souvenirs for the tourism industry.
Village Life

Life in modern Egypt for the fellahin is similar to their
ancient Egyptian or early Arab settlers ancestors.
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More than half live in villages
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Those who live in the villages are peasant farmers or
fellahin
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They live in the rural villages along the Nile, living in mud
brick houses or goatskin tents, and tilling the soil with the
same tools of pharaonic times. These people work their
small plots of land and keep livestock.

Eat a simple diet of bread and beans – often leads to
malnutrition

Tuberculosis very common and very few are treated by
doctors

Many children do not go to school

The men wear a long flowing robe called a galabiyah and
many women wear the veil.

The women also wear silver and gold jewelry, necklaces,
and bracelets on their wrists and ankles. This is not vanity,
however, but the dowry a husband must pay for the right
to marry her. Women keep jewelry as a form of economic
security.
CAIRO
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Life in modern Egypt is a study in
contrasts, especially in Cairo, the capital
city. The constant blasting of the car
horns and the loudspeakers of its
thousand minarets show people both the
hectic present and the quiet past.
There are modern skyscrapers,
highways, a subway system, hotels,
restaurants, advertising and western
clothing blend together with the ancient
ruins of the pharaohs, Islamic mosques,
Coptic churches, Middle Eastern garb,
bazaars and the odor of cattle in a unique
mosaic of life in modern Egypt.
You might even see a huge caravan of
farmers, donkeys and camels making
their way down a major street in Cairo.
Largest Egyptian City
 Over 15 million people –
largest city in Egypt
 Used to have gardens and
trees, but have since been
paved over
 Crowded, polluted, and
high unemployment
 Many housing problems
 Crowded because people
come every year looking
for work
City Life
 Poor people live in the older
sections of the city – some
live in cemeteries or on roofs
 Most work in factories or sell
souvenirs
 Most of the well educated
people live on the west bank
of the Nile near government
buildings, hotels, museums,
and universities
Arab world’s leading
country
 1829: Opened the first
modern school for girls
 1950’s: First to require all
children attend elementary
school
 Information & entertainment
is transmitted to the people
by up-to-date television,
radio, movies, newspapers,
and magazines
 American style food, sports,
music, arts, cinema and
theater.
Cities of the Dead
Naema Zaki and her five children have been forced to make the cemeteries
in Cairo’s City of the Dead their permanent home because of the country’s
chronic housing crisis shortage. ”We came to live in these cemeteries
because they are inexpensive and practical for a starting point. However
soon we realized that its not a temporary house and that we want to
continue here… these people are kind and all of us here care for each
other, unlike other Cairenes.” said Zaki, a widow who lives in a tomb room
in the Northern Cemetery with her children.
For many Cairenes the City of the Dead is a mysterious, foreboding area.
Many Cairenes are aware of its existence but few understand this group of
vast cemeteries that stretches out along the base of the Moqattam Hills.
Among these cemeteries lives a community of Egypt’s
urban poor, forming an illegal but tolerated, separate
society. “More than five million Egyptian live in these
cemeteries, and have formed their own enterprises,”
said Malak Yakan, an anthropologist and tour guide.
“There are five major cemeteries in this city there, the
Northern Cemetery, Bab el Nasr Cemetery, the
Southern Cemetery, the Cemetery of the Great, and Bab
el Wazir Cemetery,” said Yakan.
From the Salah Salem Highway, the City of the Dead
appears to be organized and proper, a match for the
beige, sandy landscape of the distant Citadel. Inside,
however these cemeteries bear witness to the centuries
of Cairo’s history.
Previously, Cairo rulers chose the area for their tombs
outside the crowded city in a deserted location. “This
area was used as a burial ground for the Arab
conquests, Fatimids, Abbasids, Ayyubids,Mamlukes,
Ottomans, and many more,” said Yakan.
The historic belief in Egypt is that the cemeteries are an
active part of the community and not exclusively for the
dead. “Egyptians have not so much thought of
cemeteries as a place of the dead, but rather a place
where life begins.” said Yakan.
In modern times, because of Egypt’s housing crisis, a
lack of satisfactory and affordable housing for a rapidly
growing population, many poor Egyptians have made
these rooms their permanent homes.
These invaders have adapted the
rooms to meet their needs. They have
used the grave markers as desks,
and shelves. They have hung strings
between gravestones for their
laundry to dry out.
“We have brought in the electricity by
wires over the roofs coming from the
nearby mosque to be able to be able
to live properly,” said Zaki.
The City of the Dead seems to its
inhabitants ideal because it is already
built, affordable, and partially
equipped. However there are many
disadvantages of living there. “They
are joined by even a greater number
of cockroaches, mosquitoes, flies,
and vermin of all sorts", writes
Nedoroscik in The City of the Dead, A
History of Cairo’s Cemetery
Communities.
The rooms are also filled with the overwhelming smell of the garbage piled
outside their doors and sewage leaking out of the un-drained tanks.
In addition, “The residents settling in the City of the Dead are insecure about
their living status because they are living there against the law,” said Yakan.
It was the French occupation from 1978-1801 that began changing the image
of the vast cemeteries of the City of the Dead.
“It has brought a more westernized attitude towards cemeteries in the Egyptian society,
making the presence of people living and carrying out activities in the cemeteries ignored,
condemned and shamed by the majority of Cairene society,” writes Nedoroscik. The
cemeteries built in the City of the Dead are much different than the western idea of
cemeteries. This is because traditionally, Egyptians buried their dead in room-like “burial
sites” so they could live in them during the long mourning period of forty days.
Today, the population of the City of the Dead is growing rapidly because of rural migration
and it’s complicated housing crisis that is getting worse.
But the future of the City of the Dead remains uncertain. The residents of the city will not
deliberately agree to relocate unless the government provides other housing for them.
“I will not move from this house after all these years to go out in the streets,” said Zaki,
“Of course I want to leave the depressed mood in this place, but that doesn’t mean I want
to live in the street. We deserve proper houses.”