|
Two million Cairenes live in the sprawling beehive known as Shubra , the older part of which is called Shubra al-Balad to distinguish it from the newer outgrowth beyond the Ismailiya Canal, dubbed Shubra el-Kheima. Originally an island (its name, "Elephant", supposedly comes from a ship that ran aground), Shubra became attached to the mainland about the same time as Bulaq, but was given over to orchards and villages until the nineteenth century. In 1808, Mohammed Ali built a summer palace here that caused Europeans to snigger ("The taste, alas! of an English upholsterer"), where he later died insane. Other palaces were erected by Ismail, who also laid a carriage road to the original residence, planted with sycamore-fig and acacia trees, where Cairenes promenaded. The 1891 edition of Murray's Handbook deemed Sharia Shubra "the most republican promenade in the world. No description of vehicle, nor manner of animal, biped or quadruped, is excluded, and the Khedive and his outriders are jostled and crossed in a most unseemly fashion by files of bare-boned and sore-covered mules and donkeys, whipped in by ragged urchins." Nowadays the avenue seems thoroughly proletarian, for Shubra has long since evolved from a garden suburb into densely packed quarters where educated Copts and Muslims rub shoulders with poor rural migrants. Though self-help projects have improved some of the bleak low-rise estates in Shubra el-Kheima, dire poverty inclines a minority towards radical Islam, and reinforces the traditional superstitions that most Cairenes at least half-believe. Baladi folk turn instinctively to magic , whereas educated people will exhaust rational solutions before resorting to a sheikh or sheikha. What psychologists might regard as mental illnesses are treated as cases of demonic possession, possibly caused by deliberate cursing. (One method of hexing is to recite the 33rd sura of the Koran backwards.) While certain moulids feature public exorcisms , most are private, especially those with pagan elements. Joseph McPherson, Cairo's secret police chief in the 1920s, witnessed a zaar where celebrants whirled to ancient and Muslim incantations, cymbals clashed, and a ram, ganders, doves and rabbits were sacrificed, their blood being daubed on the participants, whose frenzy increased: Sometimes they bent their bodies back, till they formed a writhing and vibrating bow, resting on the ground by the heels and back of the head, whilst the muscles of their bodies carried on the dance with unbelievable contortions. When all concerned believe in the ritual's spiritual efficacy, the desired result is frequently achieved
Your Tip for Shubra
Help other backpackers! Write your own guides and backpacking tips to Shubra - they will appear instantly on this page - Please only write a tip/guide to Shubra - visit the main Shubra forum to ask a question!
Please do not post links to your site here (they won't work) - please use the Shubra webguide section below! Thanks.
|
