悠久の歴史を感じる都市

　エジプトの首都カイロは、約１６００万人が暮らす、アフリカ大陸並びにイスラム世界最大の都市です。ナイル川対岸のギザは紀元前２５００年ごろに建設された巨大なピラミッドで有名ですが、肥沃なナイル・デルタの要の位置にあるカイロに本格的な要塞（ようさい）都市が建設されたのは１０世紀のこと。市内には、きらびやかなモスクなどイスラム文化にもとづく歴史的な建造物が数多く残っています。

　筆者がまず訪れたのは、アイユーブ朝時代（１１６９〜１２５０年）に建設が始まった　Ａｌ−Ｑａｌａａ　という城塞です。内部には、アラバスターと呼ばれる半透明の岩石を使った　Ｍｕｈａｍｍｅｄ　Ａｌｉ　Ｍｏｓｑｕｅ（別名：アラバスター・モスク）や博物館があり、上階からはカイロの市街地を一望できます。晴れた日には遠くにギザのピラミッドも見ることができるそうです。

　史跡よりも筆者の目を奪ったのが、まるで歴史と現在が交錯するように近代的なビルと昔ながらの路地や住宅が立ち並ぶ、現在のカイロの生き生きとした姿です。迷路のような旧市街や活気に満ちた市場を歩き、水タバコをふかす人々や手作りのパン屋さんと出会った筆者は、古き良きカイロにタイムスリップした気分になったようです。悠久の時を流れ、エジプトの繁栄を支えてきたナイル川も、夕暮れ時になると家族連れやカップルが訪れるカイロっ子の憩いの場になっているようです。（Ｓ）

　A beat-up, old black-and-white taxi heads down the road at night without its lights on. Every few seconds the driver toots his horn to let others know where he is. He passes within centimeters of people crossing the street in the middle of the road, but nobody seems to mind.

　Welcome to Cairo, Egypt, a city with few traffic lights, faded lines on the roads and lots of missing street signs. Many cars drive at night without their lights on.

　Yet despite all this, traffic seems to flow without any supervision and without many accidents. There are almost no police on the street, yet there is very little crime.

　Cairo is the largest city in the African continent and the heart of the Arab world, with a metropolitan population of more than 16 million. Here there are a number of very old sites, one of them perhaps the most recognizable site in the world, the Great Pyramids in Giza, located just outside Cairo.

　No postcard or television documentary can compare to a close-up view of them. They are so much bigger than one can imagine, and it is one of the few sites in the world that really feels "old."

　Three huge pyramids were constructed about 4,000 years ago as tombs for the pharaohs, with the construction being a very sophisticated job that took great planning.

　But along with the famous pyramids, there are other impressive sites in Cairo for visitors to see.

　The Citadel, in Arabic called Al-Qalaa, was built by Saladin between 1176 and 1183 to fight off the Crusaders. The mosque inside the compound, dubbed the Muhammed Ali Mosque, was built in the 1800s by the Ottoman Turkish ruler of Egypt, Pasha Muhammed Ali. It is entirely Turkish in style, but still a symbol of Egypt.

　Nearby is the Mosque of Sultan Hassan and the Mosque of Ar-Rifai. On a clear day, you can see all of Cairo and the distant pyramids.

　One of the most interesting sites in Cairo is not a historic attraction, but a nighttime visit to an area along the Nile River called the Corniche, a waterfront promenade. After sunset, it comes alive with friends, families and many couples.

歴史と現在が交錯する町

　El Fishawy, located in Cairo’s old town, is the city’s most famous cafe for smoking shisha, the glass water pipe, a popular stop for tourists and locals.

　Two young women wearing head scarves find a table in the corner. They order tea and a shisha to smoke. When their order arrives, they lean back and enjoy a leisurely smoke.

　El Fishawy looks like a movie set, as old dusty mirrors adorn the walls, and the walkway is as narrow as an airplane aisle. And it is always crowded.

　Meanwhile, the rest of the market is very busy, and it is almost like what you encounter when you walk out of a Tokyo subway at rush hour. Only the people are not moving all in the same direction or at the same speed. It would be very difficult to stop, kneel down and tie your shoe-laces.

　In every capital throughout Asia, there is a sense of urgency to develop the economy as quickly as possible. Cairo does not have that same sentiment, and today, it seems content not to change.

　That was not always the case. The entire central part of Cairo was built in a European-style city in the early 20th century with wide streets, public squares and large apartment buildings. Zamalek is an island in the middle of the city, and most foreigners who have apartments live here. Here, the roads are very narrow, but they are filled with shops. And the streets are lined with shade trees, a city design from Europe ― not from Arabia.

　Other large tracks of land were developed into modern apartments in the 1960s. But very little has changed since then, and Cairo almost seems to be returning to ancient history.

　One neighborhood still thriving and very popular is in the old town where, it seems, life has not changed much for centuries. The narrow streets are still crowded. Bread is still baked by hand, and delivered by workers carrying the loaves like huge boards. There are no clocks anywhere; just the call to prayer five times a day, which reminds everyone what time of day it is.

　Because, it can be so unbearably hot during the day, most activity in Cairo takes place at night. Even children can be seen running around at all hours, and no one seems to be in a rush to go home.