Last year, after returning home, I finished three posts about tombs in the City of the Dead. As I searched the Internet for some information, I realized that this 1879 picture, from Wikipedia Commons, was one that I should have sought out to reproduce in the current era.
On Tuesday, we were returning to Old Cairo to visit another historic house and it seemed like a nice day to pass through the City of the Dead and take some pictures. Our good friend and reliable guide, Roshdy Khatab was happy to oblige. We turned south from the main road and began working our way through the labyrinthine streets of the cemetery. I kept a sharp eye out for views of the Muhammad Ali Mosque to get the proper angle of minaret versus dome.
It's interesting to speculate as to just where that old donkey trail ran in 1879. The neighborhood is more built up now and current day grave markers are being added regularly.
We made our way on foot for the last few hundred yards, climbing over a few walls and avoiding intruding into some tombs which serve as homes for local residents. The final result was a good approximation of the view I wanted.
We could only have improved the picture by moving back a bit and gaining some altitude. There was a minaret nearby that would serve the purpose but we were unable to find anyone who had the key to the door. Perhaps I'll try again next year.
With that accomplished, I took a couple of pictures that will help the appearance of two previous blog posts and we moved on to the Al Azhar parking ramp and walked down toward the Khan and el-Moez street.
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