This is the Mosque of Amr-Ibn Al-As. The mosque itself is a large square with a central open air plaza flanked on all sides by immense hallways with a wooden roof. Glass oil lamps float from all of the rafters…its a very simple masque…the walls block out the chaos of the buzzing traffic, merchants, and crowds and leave you with quiet and a pleasant breeze. No one is allowed to enter any mosque with shoes and women are required to cover their heads with a scarf.
More of the Mosque. Apparently the general who erected the mosque was an eccentric…one of the laws he tried to enforce was that women were not allowed to buy shoes, so merchants were also forbidden from producing or manufacturing women’s shoes. This is because women were meant to stay in the home.
This is just a guy wearing a traditional galibaya pushing a cart. Galibayas can be seen everywhere in Cairo, but are far more prevalent in Old Cairo/Islamic Cairo.
This is the outside of the Merchant's House. It's basically a very old house which has been maintained over the years. An entire family lived here once upon a time. Really it's just a very pretty house with a lot of traditional furnishings.
Me sitting in the Merchant's house...isn't this room so pretty!
Another room in the Merchant's house. I thought mom would appreciate the antique tile, ceramic bowls, and antiques.
3 comments:
Can you bring any of these pretty things home??
Love the tapestry and colors - must be a bit of Egyptian in me because I am drawn to those things..........
Keep up with the photos, they make it real!
What an adventure......lucky you!
Paul, find your tongue and talk to us :)
i love these pictures! especially the one of you outside the mosque..really pretty
Lauren!!! Ahhh! I'm so glad you're still keeping up on things. Thanks by the way. You should shoot me an e-mail sometime and give me the low down on all the bank stuff (if you haven't already made it out of that hell hole). Stay in touch.
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