From Traditional Islamic Sights to Neglected Dumpsites
In many of Cairo’s slums, Children play amid crumbling 15-century tombs and Mausoleums blackened by burning trash. What was once a graveyard with intricate historic monuments are now ruins, a testament to the crushing poverty that surrounds it. The monuments construct a part of the Egyptian culture. Egyptians have been known to be builders; from the Pyramids to the Mosques and churches, it is how their culture is shaped. Since they are not maintained, they are dissolving and a concern of who is at fault has been growing.
During an interview with Motazbellah Kotait, an Egyptian architect who has extensive experience restoring numerous Islamic architectural sites in old Cairo, said that the best way to understand the Egyptian culture is to take a thorough look at the cultures that impacted and shaped it over the years. “Starting from the Pharaohs, the Romans, the Turks, the British, and the French, monuments or artifacts that had a religious function always had the upper hand in defining the urban plot where they [the monuments] were placed.”
He added that places of worship such as temples, churches and mosques were always a central part of urban or city life. Mosques, specifically, are known by locals as “mosques from old Cairo” as there are some that have endured the test of time, dating as far back as hundreds of years.
“Mosques being explained individually as stand alone structures is an incorrect way to display our variety of mosques, if mosques are to be explained to tourists and local inhabitants, they shall be displayed and explained as series of events on a timeline,” he said.
Chahinda Karim a professor at AUC that teaches the history of Islamic architecture in Cairo also agrees, “It is part of our history. It is part of our culture. When Islam entered Egypt, it brought with it its clothes. It brought to a certain extent a way of life. It is not just a religion; it’s a complete way of life. So automatically it mingles with the ancient Egyptian way of life. It shaped our culture today. We are living an Islamic Culture.”
Kotait stressed that the importance of mosques lies not only in their intricate architecture, but also in their impact on the fabric of urban life. In the way that people go to pray there and use these monuments as daily facilities,“They are living monuments,” as Karim describes, “It is not like the Pharaonic cites that have become monuments that you go and visit to remember your history and they are far away from urban life. The Islamic monuments are part of your urban life.”
These Islamic monuments, such as Mosques, Mausoleums, madaris [schools], and khanqa’s [places for sufi spiritual retreat], do not only serve as tourist attractions, Kotait explained, but also as “story tellers explaining and displaying the cultures of the occupants and the cultures we embraced back in the days”, adding that Al Azhar, which was once the symbol of Shiite belief was eventually transformed into the symbol of Sunni belief in modern Cairo.
He also added “Some mosques due to their location and stories behind building them gained a huge popularity from the locals, on the other hand some mosques with greater architectural and cultural influence are forgotten and occupied by the habitants of their location.” His comment on the negligence towards these sites is a topic touched on by Sally Soliman, the co-founder of a campaign called ‘Save Cairo’.
Save Cairo is a campaign, co-run by Omneya Abdel Barr and Sally Soliman, Egyptian conservation architects and activists, amongst many campaigns, its sole purpose is to save monuments and a slew of other historical sites in Old Cairo that face looting and destruction.
Activist Soliman, told Egyptian news outlet Ahram Online that she is particularly concerned about the rise in construction of illegal buildings around historic sites. In Manshiet Nasser, for example, the mausoleums are surrounded by towering half-built buildings that will be used as apartments.
The question to be asked here is: “who is to blame for the destruction of these mouments?” The answer to this question becomes more and more complicated throughout this investigation. Motazbellah Kotait, says that it is not the government’s fault nor the people living there’s fault it is a socio-cultural problem, where poor people living in these areas do not understand the importance of these monuments, and thus do not help maintain them.
However, AbdelBarr told the Amercian news outlet Huffington post, “ We have conservation laws and we have protection laws, but nothing is being respected.” She believes that the government is at fault for their carelessness in maintaining these monuments. They are failing to protect history and in some cases advocating for its destruction. She added « Of course, the government is doing nothing whatsoever to repair them, it’s a disaster. »
She and around 10 other activists asked Egypt’s public prosecutor to take on their case against the heads of Cairo's historic districts and the Cairo Governorate, a municipality of more than 8 million people that includes the area surrounding Cairo. « They are failing to protect history, » she says, « and in some cases, advocating for its destruction," According to Ahram online.
A top view of Al-Refaie and Al Sultan Hassan Mosque, in Old Cairo, Egypt. [Menna Abbas]
Front view of AL-Aqmar mosque, Old Cairo. [Menna Abbas]
“Now that we see the neglect of our historic buildings, the infringements on them, even the destruction of parts of them, now that we see the utter disregard for the law of some officials and of the land and real estate mafia, we have decided to act,” the petition reads. “We will use all legal and judicial means and if we have to use our bodies to shield Egypt's material heritage and to protect its history we will use them," she continue to say to Ahram online.
Old Cairo, which has more than 600 historical sites ranging from the seventh to the 20th century, has been on UNESCO’s World Heritage List since 1979. Many of the sites are located in sprawling slums and face destruction from an ever-growing population, while others are missing priceless artifacts after heavy looting during the 2011 revolution.
In addition to Omneya's group, other local groups have also begun campaigning to save at-risk historical sites. The “Save Alexandria” campaign is working to restore the coastal city’s rich history, and “Save Mansoura” is doing the same in the Nile Delta. Omneya said to huffington post, that she also hopes to reinvigorate the conservation movement through the Egyptian people themselves. She plans to launch a campaign to rally private Egyptian donors to buy and renovate old buildings and sites before they're destroyed forever.
Omneya adds conserving history is essential to Egypt’s future, particularly since the country has long relied on tourism, which has reportedly declined due to unrest. “I hope to encourage Egyptians to invest in their own heritage,” Omneya said. “We have to make heritage sell.”
Many reasons are given on weather the people living in these areas should not be blamed. Another initiative called Al Athar Lina [The monument is ours] initiative started in 2012 in al-Khalifa Street between the mosque of Ahmad ibn Tulun and the shrine of al-Sayyida Nafisa. It is a participatory research design, in other words all stakeholders (residents, government and civil society) are involved in the decision making process in all its details and stages.
This is to narrow the gap between the monument and the community and allow it to assume ownership of the monument and to protect it through use. “The assumption is that if people benefit from the place they won’t turn it into dumps,” said May Al Ibrashy director of Al Athar Lina initiative. In other words, she believes that if people gain something from these monuments, such as an income, then they might thrive to protect it.
Al Athar Lina is a collaboration between the Ministry of Antiquities and the Danish Egyptian Dialogue Institute. The project is a series of workshops, debates and meetings to discuss the relationship between the monument and the surrounding neighborhood, the entities responsible for it and those with a vested interest in it or even those inconvenienced by it.
El-Ibrashy added “ You cannot put this down to people being unaware or ignorant, for me the problem is that it’s been the governments policy for years to disconnect people from this heritage as much as they can.” She continues by explaining that Al Athar Lina’s works with the people in order to restore these monuments and protect them.
The government’s ill concern for these places encourages poor people to live there since they know they will not be bothered, by neither the government nor the potential tourists, who do not know it exists. Many tourists aren’t aware of the location of many Islamic sites for the simple reason that some of these monuments are found amid slum areas, where tour guides will never introduce tourist to or according to Karim some of these monuments are closed due to lack of funds.
By the governments ill-concern, we mean that the high ranked government responsible keeps it’s area surrounding their buildings clean in order to keep it professional and easy on the eye for anyone working there. According to Kotait, “ For example, Heliopolis is very clean because the people that lived there, at the time of King Farouk where all either nobles or had royal blood, therefore they kept the place clean, for there own sake.”
Moreover, poor people choose to live in such areas because they are adjacent to their workplace. “They do not have any option, they look for a cheep place near work, because they lack money,” said Kotait. Because of the government’s disregard of these areas many illegal houses were built around these monuments. In other words slums were built, therefore a cheaper environment around these monuments was created.
Additionally, people who live in these areas do not really care about maintaining a clean and healthy environment. “The people living in the slums only have one priority, and that is: what are they going to eat,” explained Kotait.
Activists say that the government, like past regimes, is suffering from a gross lack of management to adequately protect them. However the government also has priorities.
For Kotait the government is not really the problem as does contribute to the problem because of its set of priorities. For example, the government’s primary concern is to provide security for the country and therefore has no eyes on these monuments. “ It’s a vicious circle, since the government needs to provide security first in order for tourists to come and economically it is not really possible to provide security,” Kotait explained.
Yet if there is no maintenance of these areas shortly there will be none for tourists to visit. The assumption is that security is more important at this point.
One may challenge the fact that saving the culture is more important since it will help Egypt’s economic status and attract more tourists. A plausible solution from Kotait’s point of view is for the government to interfere and provide these people with a better place to live in, in the same neighbourhood. Also to clean and maintain these monuments, even though they have other priorities; they need to take these sites into consideration. “ They [People living there] need to feel as if they are human not trash like the trash on the streets,” he said.
One must always keep in mind, that historical Cairo is not a set of historical roads and dead monuments, it is a life interaction between humans and their environment and history, it is a spirit that lives inside each of its sons and lovers. Historical Cairo is the stage where the great works of Nagib mahfooz were played and where life never stops, day or night! For it to be disregarded by the government, in such a way, is a shame.
From Inside a Saqakhaneh (public water fountain) in Al-Moaz Street, Old Cairo. [Menna Abbas]
Side of a building in Al-Moaz Street, Old Cairo. [Menna Abbas]