Luxor: Ancient Egyptian Capital Luxor: Ancient Egyptian Capital By Owen Jarus, Live Science Contributor | June 25, 2013 05:24pm ET MORE Luxor is a modern-day Egyptian city that lies atop an ancient city that the Greeks named “Thebes” and the ancient Egyptians called “Waset.” Located in the Nile River about 312 miles (500 kilometers) south of Cairo the World Gazetteer website reports that, as of the 2006 census, Luxor and its environs had a population of more than 450,000 people. The name Luxor “derives from the Arabic al-uksur, ‘the fortifications,’ which in turn was adapted from the Latin castrum,” which refers to a Roman fort built in the area, writes William Murnane in the "Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt" (Oxford University Press, 2001). A red granite obelisk and two seated statues of Ramesses II guard the entrance to the Luxor Temple. Credit: WitR Shutterstock The ancient city of Luxor served at times as Egypt’s capital and became one of its largest urban centers.

“On the East Bank, beneath the modern city of Luxor, lie the remains of an ancient town that from about 1500 to 1000 B.C. was one of the most spectacular in Egypt, with a population of perhaps 50,000,” write archaeologists Kent Weeks and Nigel Hetherington in their book "The Valley of the Kings Site Management Masterplan" (Theban Mapping Project, 2006). In ancient times, the city was known as home to the god Amun, a deity who became associated with Egyptian royalty. In turn, during Egypt’s “New Kingdom” period between roughly 1550-1050 B.C., most of Egypt’s rulers chose to be buried close to the city in the nearby Valley of the Kings. Other famous sites near the city, which were built or greatly expanded during the New Kingdom period, include Karnak Temple , Luxor Temple, the Valley of the Queens and Queen Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple at Deir al-Bahari.

“Of all the ancient cities, no other city reached the glory of Thebes in supremacy,” writes Egyptologist Rasha Soliman in her book "Old and Middle Kingdom Theban Tombs" (Golden House Publications, 2009). “Thebes is the largest and wealthiest heritage site in the world.” Origins Weeks and Hetherington point out that the area of Luxor has evidence of habitation going back 250,000 years. Soliman notes that during the Old Kingdom period (roughly 2650-2150 B.C.), the time the Great Pyramids were built at Giza, the ancient city at Luxor was a provincial administration centre. It would take on new importance after the Old Kingdom collapsed, a time called the “first intermediate period.” During this period, the ancient city at Luxor became the capital of a local kingdom, one that in time succeeded in uniting the country. The king who accomplished this reunification, named Nebhepetre Mentuhotep (who reigned about 4,000 years ago), is believed to have accomplished this feat in his 39th year of rule.

Soliman notes that a mortuary temple for him was built near the city at a place called Deir al-Bahari. “The mortuary complex includes an unexcavated valley temple and a causeway 1,200 meters (4,000 feet) long,” writes Soliman. “It ended at the temple’s garden where statues of the king were placed.” The king’s tomb was located in the nearby hills and contains a passageway descending 490 feet (150 meters) into the ground. Although Mentuhotep’s successors would move their court north, away from the city, construction at Karnak Temple appears to have picked up at this time. Pillars of hieroglyphs line the Medinet Habu, or Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III. Credit: EastVillage Images Shutterstock New Kingdom renaissance Construction near the city would flourish during Egypt’s New Kingdom period, between roughly 1550 and 1050 B.C. Most of the kings who reigned during this time chose to be buried in the nearby Valley of the Kings and a number of queens, princesses and princes were buried in the nearby Valley of the Queens.

The pharaohs also built nearby mortuary temples and greatly expanded Karnak Temple. [ Related: Ancient Shoes Turn Up in Egypt Temple ] Luxor Temple, located on the east bank of the Nile River, was built to celebrate Egypt’s Opet Festival. “Most of the temple of Luxor in its present state was built by Amenhotep III (c. 1410–1372) in three phases,” writes Murnane. This temple would later be connected to Karnak through an avenue of “700 sandstone human-headed sphinxes,” writes a team of UCLA researchers working on the Digital Karnak project. This avenue ran for about two miles (3 kilometers). During the Opet festival statues of Amun, Mut (his wife), Khonsu (their son) and the king were carried between the two temples writes Egyptologist Pat Remler in her book "Egyptian Mythology, A to Z" (Chelsea House, 2010). “When the procession reached Luxor Temple it was greeted with a joyous reception by various groups of dancers, singers and musicians,” she writes.

Home of Amun While the city did serve as Egypt’s capital for parts of the New Kingdom period its use as a place for royal burials, and great temples, appears to be largely due to religious reasons. The city was considered the home of the god Amun and so close was the relationship between this god and Egyptian royalty that Egyptian queens actually credited the deity with fathering their children. “Amun was often credited by the queens of Egypt as having fathered their children. When Queen Hatshepsut came to power, she inscribed the story of her divine birth, from the union of Amun and her mother Queen Ahmose, on the wall of her mortuary temple at Deir al-Bahri (near the city),” writes Remler in her book. Valley of the Kings The Valley of the Kings was the burial place for most of the New Kingdom rulers. All of the royal tombs appear to have been looted to some degree with the most spectacularly well-preserved being that of King Tutankhamun, discovered by Howard Carter’s team in 1922.

The Valley of the Kings “was chosen as the burial place for most of Egypt's New Kingdom rulers for several reasons,” writes the Theban Mapping Project team on their website. “As the crow flies, the Valley is very close to the cultivated banks of the river. It is small, surrounded by steep cliffs, and easily guarded. The local limestone, cut millions of years ago by torrential rains to form the Valley, is of good quality. And towering above the Valley is a mountain, al Qurn (‘the horn’ in Arabic), whose shape may have reminded the ancient Egyptians of a pyramid, and is dedicated to the goddess Meretseger.” New tombs are still being discovered today with two, KV 63 and 64, being unearthed within the last decade. Additionally former antiquities minister Zahi Hawass said in a recent lecture at Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum that there are more tombs yet to be found. "The tomb of Thutmose II, not found yet, the tomb of Ramesses VIII is not found yet, all the queens of dynasty 18 [1550-1292 B.C.] were buried in the valley and their tombs not found yet," he said.

In addition to tombs the royal rulers built great mortuary temples close to the valley, the most well known of these mortuary temples was built at Deir al-Bahri by the female pharaoh Hatshepsut and contains three colonnaded terraces , which lead to a sanctuary. The temple’s decoration including scenes of the Egyptians voyaging to a distant land, probably located in Eritrea or southeast Sudan, called “Punt.” Valley of the Queens The Valley of the Queens, located near the Valley of the Kings, was known to the ancient Egyptians as ta set neferu “the place of the children of the king,” writes Alessandro Bongioanni, an adjunct professor at the University of Turin, in his book "Luxor and the Valley of the Kings" (White Star Publishers, 2004). It contained the tombs of princes, princesses, court dignitaries and, later on, queens, about 100 burials in all. The more spectacular tomb is that of Nefertari, the wife of Ramesses II, the pharaoh who is known for the temples he built at Abu Simbel .

“Nefertari’s tomb, similar in structure to those of the pharaohs that have been excavated in the Valley of the Kings, presents an admirable example of refined relief painting on a white background that magnifies both its freshness and liveliness,” writes Bongioanni. The ceiling has astronomical motifs and on the walls “most of the iconographic and textual repertoire appears to have been taken from chapters of the Book of the Dead,” Bongioanni notes. One particularly interesting illustration shows Nefertari playing a board game called “senet,” with “the aim of winning otherworldly salvation.” Deir el-Medina Located between the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens is a village we call Deir el-Medina and which the ancient Egyptians called Set Maat “the place of truth.” In this village “lived a number of civil servants, stonecutters, and draftsmen/artists who prepared the tombs of their kings and queens,” writes Leonard Lesko in the book "Pharaoh’s Workers: The Villagers of Deir el Medina" (Cornell University Press, 1994). These skilled laborers, some of them foreigners, might have been what we would consider middle class.

The place they lived in, however, did have a harsh environment. Deir el-Medina has no trees and the “barren hillsides that surround it reflect the heat of the desert sun on it,” writes Lesko. This walled village was in operation until close to the time the New Kingdom ended and has yielded a number of papyri and ostraka, indicating that a sizable proportion of the population could write. The Guinness Book of World Records notes that it was the location of the first recorded workers strike in history which occurred during the reign of Ramesses III (reign 1186–1155 B.C.). The strikers were not the only ones unhappy with the pharaoh as recent research has confirmed that he was later assassinated. Cairo photo gallery - 220 pictures. Egypt Licensing Lightbox About Contact Guestbook The city of Cairo lies on the Nile river in northern Egypt. With 6.8 million inhabitants Cairo is the largest city of Egypt and its capital. Cairo's history dates back to 2200 BC, when Memphis, the capital of Lower Egypt, was founded there.

Due to its strategic location just upstream from the Nile delta, the area continued to play a key role over the centuries. Present day Cairo dates back to the 10th century. Near Cairo are the famous pyramids of Giza and Saqqara and in the city itself there is the Egyptian National Museum, full of archaeological artifacts. Cairo suffers from high levels of pollution and traffic. Cairo, capital city of Egypt All... Cairo, capital city of Egypt The choreographed chaos of Cairo often hits first-time visitors like a ton of bricks. The capital is vibrant jumble of sounds, sights and smells, a wall of noise surrounded by the snarl of traffic and the cries of hawkers selling exotic spices and bootleg electronics. Even in the midst of all of this, it is easy to be hypnotized by the city's pulsating, metropolitan charm. More than 20 million residents call the city home, and modern Cairo is a hodgepodge of new growth resting on a long history. Islamic Cairo transports visitors to the medieval era, while just outside the city lies a time warp that takes you back thousands of years.

The city's premier museum is nearly bursting at the seams with ancient Egyptian treasures, but the biggest draw of Cairo lies in the places between these highlights. It is in the hookah bars, cafes, gardens and plazas that one really feels the allure of the city. Although the city streets are often crammed with careening buses and dusty cars, Cairo is surprisingly walkable. It is especially good for unplanned, mapless wonderings because the districts are quite compact, there are no hills to trek and the scenery quickly changes, making even short walks endlessly interesting. Throw yourself into the history of the city with an early morning walk through Islamic Cairo, ambling to the south in the direction of Al-Azhar Park, a lovely oasis with beautiful landscaping, plenty of paths to explore and one of the most impressive views of the city. From the park, follow the ancient walls built by Salah ad-Din in the 12th century until you come across many workshops, where locals are busy creating mother-of-pearl inlay boxes, leather shoes, parquet flooring and other treasures. Then, wander down to the Citadel, home to the country's rulers for over 700 years.

Only a small section of the original complex survives today, but visitors can walk through the complex's three distinct mosques. The Muhammad 'Ali Mosque is the most impressive, dominating the skyline of Cairo for over a century and becoming an icon of the city. The interior design is an interesting mix of French and Middle Eastern styles, outlined in ornate lines of gold, red and green. The mosque's spacious and lush courtyard provides respite from the hot Cairo air, and it features a gilded clock tower given to the Egyptians in exchange for the obelisk that towers in the center of Paris. The Egyptian Antiquities Museum is another must-see for history buffs, art lovers or really anyone visiting the capital. The huge neoclassical building houses more ancient artifacts than any other in the world, including such prized possessions as New Kingdom pharaoh Ramses II's three colossi, a superb statue of Khafre, artwork from the reign of Akhenaton and the famous Tutankhamun collection, featuring the pharaoh’s sarcophagus and beautiful funerary mask. When the sun sets and the air cools, stroll through the streets in search of a sidewalk cafe or sheesha house.

You won't have to go far, as the city is a playground at night and most places stay open until at least 2 am. The cultural scene is multi-layered, like the rest of the city, and visitors can attend classical Arabic music concerts in medieval houses, wonder at whirling dervishes outside old palaces or enjoy a an Italian opera performed by the Cairo Opera Company. In many places, Western and Middle Eastern styles combine in sometimes unexpected ways, ensuring that visitors feel welcome no matter where they spend the night in the capital. Cairo Geographical Location Cairo is located in the northeast of Egypt on the Nile River and is its largest city. The approximate population of Cairo is 19,500,000 in the metropolitan area. Cairo Language Arab is the official language of Egypt but English and Frencombre common among the educated and within tourist areas like Cairo. Cairo Predominant Religion 9% Coptic 1% Other Christian Cairo | national capital, Egypt | Britannica.com national capital, Egypt Yasser Arafat Cairo, Arabic Al-Qāhirah (“The Victorious”), city, capital of Egypt , and one of the largest cities in Africa .

Cairo has stood for more than 1,000 years on the same site on the banks of the Nile , primarily on the eastern shore, some 500 miles (800 km) downstream from the Aswān High Dam . Located in the northeast of the country, Cairo is the gateway to the Nile delta , where the lower Nile separates into the Rosetta and Damietta branches. Metropolitan Cairo is made up of the Cairo muḥāfazah (governorate), as well as other districts, some of which belong to neighbouring governorates such as Al-Jīzah and Qalūbiyyah. Area governorate, 83 square miles (214 square km). Pop. (2006) governorate, 7,786,640; (2005 est.) urban agglom., 11,128,000. An introduction to Cairo, including discussion of its population and views of its Nile riverbank, … Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Character of the city Cairo is a place of physical contrast.

Along the well-irrigated shoreline, lush vegetation shares the landscape with tall skyscrapers. In the older inland quarters to the east, however, beneath the foothills of the Eastern Desert and the rocky promontories of the Muqaṭṭam Hills and the Al-Jabal al-Aḥmar (Arabic: Red Mountain), browns and ochres are the dominant hues of land and buildings. The city juxtaposes ancient and new, East and West. The Pyramids of Giza , near Memphis , stand at the southwestern edge of the metropolis, and an obelisk in the northeast marks the site of Heliopolis , where Plato once studied; modern landmarks of Western-style high-rise hotels and apartment buildings overlook the Nile River. Between these extremes are other architectural monuments, dating from Roman, Arab, and Turkish times. In addition to department stores, cinemas, hotels, and town houses, Cairo contains a large functioning bazaar and an extensive, semi-walled medieval city endowed with more than 400 registered historic monuments—including mosques, mausoleums, and massive stone gates—dating to 130 ce. Pyramids of Giza, southwest of Cairo, Egypt.

© Digital Vision/Getty Images West Bank In most quarters, commercial and industrial workshops are scattered among the dwellings; this is particularly the case in the poorer neighbourhoods. Houses on the rural fringe areas of Cairo are typically built of mud or fired brick, resembling traditional village housing in the hinterland. People Cairo’s population, once both ethnically and religiously diverse , is now predominantly Muslim. A significant number of Egyptian Christians, the majority of whom observe the Coptic Orthodox faith, continue to dominate certain districts in the city. Remnants of the old Italian, Greek, Syrian, and Sudanese communities are still found in some locations. Differences of status within the Egyptian population depend largely on one’s place of origin (many residents of Cairo were born in rural Egypt), class, and degree of modernity. About half of the city’s population live in the city proper, while half live in the suburbs. Economy Manufacturing From its inception, Cairo’s economy has been based on governmental functions, commerce, trade, and industrial production. The modern productive sector has expanded dramatically since the middle of the 20th century.

Since the 1952 revolution, large-scale industrialization has built upon previous developments in textiles (utilizing the long-staple cotton for which Egypt is famous) and food processing (which consists of canning and freezing the wide variety of fruits and vegetables grown in the fertile delta), as well as the processing of sugarcane grown in Upper Egypt . In addition to the production of iron and steel, consumer goods, particularly appliances, are manufactured in nearby factories. Finance and other services Cairo is the country’s primary centre for economic production and financial control. It still contains many of Egypt’s important banks, hotels, restaurants, entertainment venues , and cafés. About half of Cairo’s predominantly male labour force works on the assembly lines and in the auxiliary commercial and financial institutions in the expanding formal sector of Cairo’s modern economy. Nevertheless, substantial informal and traditional sectors still survive in which craftsmanship and personal relationships play an important role. By the 1990s, with an improving infrastructure and a growing tourist industry, Cairo had begun promoting itself as a premier conference and convention centre. Numerous international events are held in the city. Transportation Egypt’s extensive transportation network, laid out by the British, connects most of the country’s urban centres with the capital.

Within metropolitan Cairo, the transportation network is made up of both formal and informal sectors. The Public Transport Authority runs a bus network, which was introduced in the 1950s. In addition, a far-reaching system of authorized, licensed cabs operates in the city. Informal transportation services include minibuses and taxis, which sprang up in the late 1970s and ’80s; these continue to predominate, particularly in areas that serve the expanding informal neighbourhoods. The Cairo Metro, a citywide subway system, began service in 1987 and has since been significantly expanded. Traffic congestion is a serious problem in Cairo, particularly as both imports and local assembly plants have provided greater access to automobiles. To combat congestion and pollution, the Egyptian government built a substantial number of bypass highways and overpasses. Donkey-drawn carts, though technically outlawed, are also a common sight on Cairo’s streets, operating among the city’s automobiles, minibuses, buses, streetcars, and trolleys. Administration and society Government Throughout its history, Cairo was administered by a combination of national policy makers and local administrators.

In 1949 the municipality (baladiyyah) of Cairo was created; it was inaugurated, together with a town council, in 1950. In the following decade, Cairo was designated a governorate, with which the municipality was merged. The boundaries of the Cairo governorate encompass only half of the urbanized metropolitan area; Ḥulwān, an industrial satellite in the extreme south, is included, but industrial satellites in the far north, such as Shubrā al-Khaymah , and the heavily developed quarters on the west bank form parts of other governorates. At the head of the governorate of Cairo is the governor, who is appointed by the president. The governor is assisted by an executive committee, which includes undersecretaries from the major national ministries, such as the ministries of education, housing, health, social affairs, finance, and the interior. The Municipal Council of Cairo (Majlis Muḥāfaẓat al-Qāhirah), consisting of both elected representatives and ex officio members, was dissolved in 1971 and replaced by the Popular Assembly (al-Majlis al-Shaʿbī).

The national government still maintains financial control over local programs and budgets, but the governorate’s policies are directed by an Assembly (al-Majlis al-Shaʿbī al-Maḥalī [Majlis Maḥalī]) consisting of a number of elected representatives. Municipal services Gas and water systems have existed since the 1860s and electrical and sewerage systems since the early 20th century. Most of the city’s formal housing is connected to the electrical grid and the water and sewage networks. Cairo has a significant informal housing sector, however, and many of these structures are not served by utilities. Drinking water in the city is generally Nile water that has been filtered and purified. The telephone network was introduced in the 1920s, and a new telephone grid was integrated in the mid-1980s. Health Many of Egypt’s health and medical facilities are concentrated in Cairo. During the 1950s and ’60s, public hospitals were introduced under Pres. Gamal Abdel Nasser’s socialist regime.

Private hospitals proliferated in the 1980s and ’90s, though much of Cairo’s urban poor continue to have limited access to public health care services. Education Primary education is compulsory. In addition to primary and secondary schools, the city’s educational facilities also include technical institutes. Foreign schools, common in the 1940s and ’50s, were largely taken over by the government in the ’60s. In the 1990s private schools proliferated, largely responding to the failures of state-run education. Cairo is a major centre of higher education. The various faculties of Cairo University (1908) produce the country’s largest number of college graduates and specialized professionals, including doctors, lawyers, and engineers. ʿAyn Shams University (1950) is also a notable institution, and al-Azhar University , founded in the 10th century and previously specializing chiefly in language, literature, and religious subjects, has begun offering a number of additional courses of study, including engineering, commerce, and the social sciences. The American University in Cairo (1919) offers instruction in English in many disciplines .

Miṣr University for Science and Technology (1996) was one of several private universities that opened during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Cultural life Cairo has long been a cultural capital of the Middle East , as well as the region’s chief mass media centre. For many centuries it was also the site of the region’s major religious and cultural institutions. During the 19th century a number of European cultural institutions, such as theatres, were introduced. The original Baroque Opera House , situated on Opera Square in downtown Cairo, was destroyed by fire in 1971; it was replaced by a modern structure on the southern tip of Jazīrah, completed in 1988. Egypt has long been known for its musical and dramatic talent and as the site of a renaissance in Arab theatre. The majority of Arabic films are produced by Egyptian companies in Cairo, and leading cinema stars and many popular musical entertainers of the Arab world make Cairo their headquarters. Egyptian radio and television series are broadcast throughout the Arab world, and a number of important newspapers are published in Cairo.

Among the oldest and most widely circulated of these is Al-Ahrām , established in 1875, although other dailies headquartered in the city—including Al-Jumhūriyyah, Al-Akhbār, and Al-Masāʾ—enjoy large readerships as well. Cairene and Egyptian heritage are represented in the collections of the city’s rich series of museums. Located on Al-Taḥrīr Square, the Egyptian Museum displays a vast collection of antiquities, among them the treasures of Tutankhamen ; the Coptic Museum in Miṣr al-Qadīmah specializes in pre-Islamic icons, textiles, and stones, and the Museum of Islamic Art in Bāb al-Khalq displays Mamlūk Qurʾāns and objects of wood, brass, inlay, and glass. The War Museum, located at the Citadel, is also in Cairo, and the Turkish-style Manyāl Palace Museum stands on the island of Al-Rawḍah. The mosques of Cairo themselves often offer as rich a historical store as the city’s museums. The Cairo Zoological Gardens , in Al-Jīzah, contain extensive collections of rare tropical animals in a garden setting.

In addition to the sporting facilities on Jazīrah, including racetracks, swimming clubs, and gardens, there is a racetrack at Heliopolis. Naṣr City is the site of the Cairo Stadium and has numerous playing fields. Other recreation and entertainment options include sailboat trips up the Nile, as well as numerous riverfront cafés, restaurant boats, and nightclubs. History The early period Some 5,000 years ago Memphis —today lying mainly in ruins approximately 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Cairo—was a thriving metropolis; about 2,000 years ago the Romans occupied a town on the site of present-day Cairo called Babylon (later the Miṣr al-Qadīmah quarter). The seed from which contemporary Cairo later sprang was the town of Al-Fusṭāṭ , founded as a military encampment in 641 ce by ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, an Arab general and administrator who brought Islam to Egypt.

Successive dynasties added royal suburbs (including Al-ʿAskar, founded in 750 by the Umayyads , and Al-Qaṭāʾiʿ, founded in 870 by Aḥmad ibn Ṭūlūn ) to the increasingly prosperous commercial and industrial port city of Al-Fusṭāṭ. Little remains of these early developments in the southern part of the city, except the tower of Trajan (dating to 130 ce), the mosques of ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ (founded in 641–642) and Aḥmad ibn Ṭūlūn (completed in 878), and the partially excavated mounds covering the site of Al-Fusṭāṭ. Mosque of Aḥmad ibn Ṭūlūn, Cairo, Egypt. Bright/M. Grimoldi In 969 the Fāṭimids , adherents of a Shīʿite sect (see Ismāʿīliyyah ) and opponents of Sunni ʿAbbāsid rule, invaded Egypt.

The conquering general, Jawhar, established a new, rectangular, walled city to the northeast of the existing settlements. Initially named Al-Manṣūriyyah, the city was given its present name, Al-Qāhirah (“The Victorious”), in 973/974 in celebration of the arrival of the Fāṭimid caliph al-Muʿizz , who made the city the capital centre of a dynasty that lasted for two centuries. Al-Qāhirah and Al-Fusṭāṭ coexisted until 1168, when the unfortified city of Al-Fusṭāṭ was set on fire to protect Cairo from the Crusaders. The Crusaders were driven off by a Sunni army from Syria, after which the victorious commander, Saladin , founded the Ayyūbid dynasty , subsequently controlling a vast empire from Cairo. Although Al-Fusṭāṭ was partially rebuilt, it was Cairo that was transformed from a royal enclave into an imperial metropolis.

Saladin further extended the city’s 11th-century walls, of which the northern and southern walls and three main gates—Bāb al-Futūḥ, Bāb al-Naṣr, and Bāb Zuwaylah—are still extant; he also constructed a citadel on the Muqaṭṭam spur (now dominated by the Muḥammad ʿAlī Mosque). After Baybars I became the first Mamlūk sultan of undisputed legitimacy in 1260, Cairo served as the capital of the Mamlūk empire, which governed Egypt, much of the Levant , and parts of the Fertile Crescent until 1517. Citadel of Saladin, Cairo, Egypt. Katherine Young/EB Inc. CAIRO CAIRO Friday, 15 April 2011 Cairo Cairo lies along the River Nile stretching up to 40 km from north to south. The citizens of Cairo proudly call their city as the 'Mother of All Cities'. Cairo or Al Qahirah is not only the capital of Egypt but also the largest city in the Middle East and Africa.

Cairo lies in the strategic routes leading to the three continents of Asia, Africa and Europe. At Cairo, River Nile gets divided into two distributaries, Rosetta and Damietta. The 2000-year-old city is a melting pot of Islamic, Christian Coptic and Jewish cultures, which are flourishing even up to this day. MAJOR TOURIST ATTRACTION Memphis and Saqqara Built by King Menes, Memphis is the oldest capital of Egypt and is 24 km from Cairo. The Statue of Ramesses II built of fine-grained limestone is displayed in the museum. The statue is 13 m long and weighs 120 tons. The other interesting monuments at Memphis are Temple for Embalming the Sacred Apis Bull. Saqqara is the ancient Egyptian cemetery on a desert plateau near Cairo. Nearby is the Step Pyramid built for King Zoser by Imhotep, Pyramids of Unas of the Fifth Dynasty Pharaohs, The Serapeum, Greek Philosopher Circle and The Mastabas, of Ptah-Hotep, Ti and Mereruka. Churches in Cairo The churches in Cairo are located mainly near the ruins of Fortress of Babylon in the old city of Cairo.

The churches worth visiting are the Al-Muaallaqah (Hanging) Church, Church of Abu Sergah (St Sergius), Church of Sitt Barbara (St Barbara), Church of Abu Mina (St Mena), Church of Abu Sefein (St Macarius), Church of Al-Adra (The Virgin), Church of the Virgin in Zaytoun, Church of Mari Guirguis (St George) and The Cathedral of Al-Qiddis Morcos (St Mark). The Coptic Museum displays the rare collection of ancient Christian relics like architectural sections, icons, manuscripts and textiles. Mosques in Cairo The important mosques worth visiting in Cairo are the Mosque of Amr Ibn Al-Aas (Al-Fustat), Mosque of Ahmed Ibn Tulun, Al-Azhar Mosque, Mosque of Sultan Hassan, Al-Refai Mosque, Mosque of Al-Moayyed, The Blue Mosque and Alabaster Mosque of Mohammed Ali. The other Islamic sites in the city are the Fortress of Salah-Al-Din (Saladin), House of Gamal-Al-Din Al-Dhahabi, House of Gamal-Al-Din Al-Dhahabi and The Museum of Islamic Art (Bab Al-Khalq).

Modern Structures National Cultural Center (Opera House) is a 7-storey building built to replace the old Opera House burnt forty years back. Inaugurated in October 1988, it is collaboration for Japanese and Egyptian architects. The center is furnished with high tech audio-visual systems and features 3 theaters, rehearsal halls, museum and a library. Cairo Tower (Gezirah) is a 180 m high building with a rotating restaurant and cafeteria on the two upper most storeys. The Pharaonic Village successfully recreates the lifestyle of the ancient Egyptians. Khan-Al-Khalili Bazaar and Sagh comprises of several shops as old as 14th century AD. The area is known for a wide range in gold and silver work, embroidered fabric, leather items and handcrafted woodwork. The Military Museum (The Citadel) is rich in collection of ancient and modern weapons, statues, military uniforms and displays of art of warfare in Egypt from the beginning. Enjoy visit to parks in Cairo including Andalusian Gardens, Kanter-al-Khaireya Gardens, Fish Gardens in Zamalek and International Garden in Nasr City.

Posted by Nile River may be running out of fish FacebookEmail Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Pinterest Nile River may be running out of fish CAIRO, Egypt — A man descends the steps of a jetty where feluccas — Cairo's flat placid pleasure boats — lie docked. Anchored a little further off is a cluster of more utilitarian crafts: fishing boats. Post to Facebook Nile River may be running out of fish CAIRO, Egypt — A man descends the steps of a jetty where feluccas — Cairo's flat placid pleasure boats — lie docked. Anchored a little further off is a cluster of more utilitarian crafts: fishing boats. Check out this story on USATODAY.com: CancelSend A link has been sent to your friend's email address. Posted! A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. Join the Nation's Conversation To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs Nile River may be running out of fish Laura Dean, GlobalPost Published 10:19 a.m. ET Feb. 9, 2015 | Updated 10:54 a.m. ET Feb.

9, 2015 Um Mohamed and her family live their entire lives on their boats. They cook on a small gas stove, raise pigeons and watch a small television connected by a long cord to a plug on land or hooked up to a car battery. (Photo: Laura Dean, GlobalPost) CAIRO — A man descends the steps of a jetty where feluccas — Cairo's flat placid pleasure boats — lie docked. Anchored a little farther off is a cluster of more utilitarian crafts: fishing boats. He calls out to the small vessels nestled together in the pink and silver morning. "They have great fish," he says. He has come to buy. For as long as there has been a Nile there have been fishermen who lived on it. But now, for those in Cairo at least, many say what has been a family business for generations is coming to an end. The city of Cairo straddles the river Nile with a number of small islands in between. While sitting in traffic on a bridge in central Cairo, it is not uncommon to see a family of fishermen on their boat in the middle of the river.

"There are no fish like there were before," says Um Mohamed, 36, who works alongside her husband. "It's not enough to live on. It used to be enough, before we didn't need anything from anyone." Mohamed has raised four children between two boats, each no more than 12 feet long. Born in a fishing village in Menoufia in the Nile Delta, she moved to Cairo when she was 19 to get married, to a fisherman. She has never slept a night on land. "I've never seen another way of life," she says. But in an increasingly interconnected world, life on a boat can be isolating. "We don't go up," says Mohamed, "except to buy food. Why would we go up?" Neither she nor her daughter has ever used the Internet. They watch a small grainy television connected by a long cord to a plug on land. Sometimes they hook the TV up to a car battery — "then we can go as far from land as we want." Paintings of a dove and a forest scene adorn the inside of the boat. A brown and tan carpet lines the bottom. None of her children have been to school.

"I wanted them to have a better life than this." She gestures around her, "but … I don't want my daughter to marry a fisherman. There's no future." That is a sentiment expressed by a growing number here on the river. Her daughter, 17-year-old May, says she wants to live "above" — this is how the fishermen refer to the land. "I'm not comfortable here," she says. One thing she doesn't mind though is a fish-heavy diet: "It's our favorite food here," she says, smiling. There's very little privacy. On a boat, domestic lives are lived in public space. On a vessel nearby, a young woman in a pink galabeya combs and smooths her hair. "We make a kind of tent in the middle of the boat and change our clothes there," says Mohamed. She says there is a garden nearby and those who own it allow her and May to use the bathroom there. Rashad Hamad, 39, also comes from a long line of fishermen. He fled his native Assiut, in Upper Egypt, 17 years ago due to violence there. He lives in a fishing community on a tiny island in the Nile in central Cairo.

Unlike Mohamed's family, his five children take a ferry to school every morning. "I don't want them to be fishermen. Fishing is not a profession. It has no future," he says. "I didn't go to school at all, because of that I want to educate my children." He says his two girls are particularly good in school and dedicated to their studies. He says that his wife used to stay at home but now, because of "the circumstances and having children in school," she goes to the market to sell his catch. One of the causes of the fishermen's woes, according to those who live on the river, is that there is simply not enough fish. "In the 1980s there were about 400 boats registered to fish on the Nile, now there are more than 4,000," said an official with the Authority for Fishing Resources Development who declined to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to journalists. "Life on the water is hard, but what are we going to do, steal?" asks Hamad. As he talks he folds a net he has made himself out of delicate turquoise line.

On the island itself, most of which is covered in fields away from the din and dust of urban Cairo, life is quite pleasant: "We're all like family," he says, "we have no police here." But when asked about the future he sees for himself, he says, "Zero. I share one room with seven other people. What future?" This article originally appeared on GlobalPost . Its content was created separately to USA TODAY. MORE FROM GLOBAL POST: Cairo - Berndtson Map Cairo/ Al Qahira - Berndtson CITYSTREETS Since ages, humans settled in the lush valley of Nile River, the longest river in the world. Founded in 969 AD, Cairo is relatively young compared to ancient Egypt. The city lies on the banks and islands of Nile River at the beginning of the Nile Delta. From the historic parts of Cairo as Islamic and Coptic Cairo on the east side of the Nile, the city expanded to the east and west. This largest metropolitan area in Africa has an enormous hunger for new lands and its outskirts sprawl deep into the desert. The western banks belong to the city of Giza with its majestic pyramids forming a part of the Cairo Metro Area.

The ancient Saqqara necropolis is just a stone‘s throw (18km/11mi) to the south. Cairo is a vibrant, ancient, and though modern metropolis. Cairo Metro is the only complete metro system in Africa with two operational lines and construction having begun on a third line in 2006. Map:

Question: The city of Cairo lies on which river?
Answer: River Nile