Our guide, Masud, took us to the Muhammad Ali Mosque. It was our last stop for the day. He had taken us to the pyramids in the morning, and then to Saqqara, lunch at the Khan el-Khalili, a visit to Coptic Cairo. It was a full day full of sights and information to digest.

Masud had suffered an indignity earlier in the day. Upon visiting the Coptic Cairo we were allowed to enter one of the churches. Security stopped him, searched him, and gave him a hard time. The basis for this, according to Masud, was profiling. White tourists were welcome, but Egyptians were suspicious. He explained that the churches get threat regularly and security must be tight.

History

Masud, an archaeologist by trade, insisted Egyptians were dedicated facts. He discussed the popular myth that the Jews were slaves in Egypt. He explained that the Jews, like all non Royalty in ancient Egypt were part of a rotating workforce. Workers were conscripted to build and were were allowed to return to their lives. He spoke of the discoveries large towns for workers where evidence of health care, commerce, and village life that were inconsistent with slavery found near large build sites.

He also spoke of the antiquity of Egypt. How the ancient language were lost for thousands of years, and only rediscovered a hundred years ago. Egyptians know they have a treasure in their history: “Egypt represents one of the oldest civilizations on the planet, and we are proud of that.”

Politics

The conversation turned to recent political events.
We discussed 9/11 and the world trade center bombings.
“Americans don’t seem to understand that people believe in different things that they do.”

In our culture we treat men and women differently. They sit at the back of the mosque. If they were to sit in the front, when we bow, we would see their backside and our minds would be on something other than Allah and his teachings. Woman wear scarves and hijabs to keep men from their lustful ways. And when America comes to my country and puts a scantily class woman on an advertisement drinking Coca Cola, it makes me so made I want to blow something up.

A moment of silence passed and we explored the idea of freedoms and choices and their consequences. Eventually, our day ended and he dropped us back at our hotel.

Our conversation stuck with me for the trip and later one throughout my life.

It made me ponder the actions people are willing to take when they feel they’ve exhausted every other measure.

So many

 

Our worldview was different, and our co.  Dress lines in western civilization have inched up. School dress codes

 

Yet hearing his passionate arguments helped me understand the effect of capitalist and free market hegemonies

Was this only an accident of birth geography