Cruisin' Coptic Cairo

I hear a veggie tales song "Cruisin to Coptic Cairo for a cup of steamin Joe..oh oh!" Sorry, not all of you can appreciate my odd sense of musical talent! ha!

HELLO EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!! I have 2 things to straight out!

First - our Australian friends have read the blog and said "what? tea doesn't mean drink, it means dinner" So there ya have it! Tea does not mean drink, it means to have dinner together. :)

Second - I'm officially married!! Whew!! Hopefully now a lot of my "problems" will cease with the locals! Rob picked this out at the Coptic Church Museum Store. It is real silver, it isn't worth hardly anything, but I am **so** happy to be sportin a wedding ring that my beloved has chosen and that fits ;)


(oh and yes, that's a Bird of Paradise, even in Arabic that's the direct translation; the red plant, no idea! THANKS! and yes, Melanie, Joshua's health is a HUGE reason to stay!!!)

These are the lovely pink flowers I mentioned the other day, I think these are acacia trees. I did look online, it appears they are, but I'm not betting my good foot on that answer ;)



The bright pink is a photo from the kids for my mom! I thought all of you might enjoy it actually. The yellow, no idea, but just brilliant!



And this banana tree w/ blossom or flower - REALLY stunning today!!! The trees were on our walk, the banana tree was outside the first synagogue I ever visited....in an Islamic country - that cracks me up! My first Jewish exposure is in an Islamic country! ha!


Jasmine and Bob in the elevator with me today...here's proof of the local craziness! Cats in elevators...sounds like a horror movie for blind people ;)


Now for the tour......

Babylon Fortress - the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George - we could not take photos "inside." you will notice there are photos looking "down" at something outside. This is the original "street level" of the city itself. This part of town is called "incorrectly" as Coptic Cairo or Old Cairo but is called FaStaD by the Egyptians because of the "fortress."












the photo above was actually taken from the bus we rode in together on our guided tour with 2 Indian families, one English family and one American man..it is the outside of a Christian cemetery.




Jasmine got a necklace similar to the ones the monks wear, Joshua got a key chain (he'll use for an ornament at Christmas he said) with the Coptic Cross displayed.

Some interesting features of the structures.....
First of all, the Coptics - it is wrongly the word the Greeks used to call the Egyptians because they could not pronounce the word. Then when the Egyptians wouldn't convert to their paganism, they made it a "religion" of Copts or Coptics. The Egyptians here who are Christians are either Coptic Christians (sort of a Catholic religion more than a protestant one, in my understanding today) or there are just "plain" Christians. Before the Arabs took over, 80% of the population was "Coptic Christian"

The crosses have 3 pts on each tip to represent the Trinity. Since there are 4 ends, that's 12 pts symbolizing the 12 apostles. They're HUGE into symbolism and even kept some of the Pharonic gods in their drawings, etc as "heritage" not as religion...which is obvious now that I've seen both. Every thing has 12 pillars or 12 posts or 12 this or that ;) Or 15....3 extra for the Trinity. There is always one that is less ordained, or different colored or smaller..this represents Judas, the betrayor.



Above is not only some great architecture, but also the Coptic language. The Greeks tried to create a language instead of the heirogliphics (spell?) it's called Coptic and it is NOT Arabic, it is now a dead language..it is not Greek either. But you can see it here!


The Lebanese Cedar that was handcarved into the ENORMOUS and INTRICATELY ORNATE ceilings was well preserved! Stunning! Symbolism such as the Ankh (the key of life from Pharonic times that we sometimes even see now in the US, the cross with the circle at the top), Ankh is said to be Jesus on the cross w/ the halo around. St Mark brought Christianity to Egypt! HOW COOL IS THAT?! Maybe some of you Bible scholars aren't as goosebumpy as me ;) but I am! He healed a blind man and that man spread Christianity. The symbolism in the carvings are the garland wreaths (Christ's halo), peacocks (the constant loosing and regrowth of feathers represents the resurrection), the fish (I think this is obvious?).

The paintings were given color by metal oxides...lead, copper, etc.

The stained glass windows - STUNNING! The stained glass windows are made from wet stucco/gypsom with stones applied/fired/etc. STUNNING!!

They removed "window boxes" from old homes of wealthy Egyptians. They are made such that from the inside, you can see out, but from the outside you cannot see in...this is due to a time when NO woman was to be seen at any time. By the way, at the mosque, at least the women can be seen even tho they worship separately, I was shocked that at the synagogue, they had to enter outside and never be seen by the men! Anyway, the window boxes allowed air and light in, and also create a place to hang a pot for collecting water if it did rain...or keeping it cool under shade and out of the hot home during the day.

Water! We saw water filtration! The pots for collecting water (rain or ground sources) had filters! They were ornate themselves, tho invisible inside the pot when it was "whole." It kept out the chunks of course, not any toxins.

Next is the Coptic Church - we were allowed to take photos. This is the "hanging church" which sounds horrible cuz like most people (even us) thought it meant where PEOPLE were hung/hanging. It is a "suspended" church.

Above is the Virgin Mary Monalisa - she really does watch you in the entire Coptic Church!! Cool!


The Coptic Churches have holy of holies that separates the "sinners from the saints". Scripture is read from behind the holy curtains. Infants are fully submerged at 6-8 weeks old, whenever the mother is well enough to attend. You have to be a member of the church to take communion, etc.

see the red curtains above? that are "behind" me ahead of the row of pews? that's John the Baptist holy sanctuary, to the Left is Virgin Mary holy Sanctuary

You can see that every pillar top is different - because they recycled them from different parts of the "old" city. The church is under renovation after a fire. The marble stairs are the "pulpit" you can see there are 15 pillars on this. We saw one area that had marble pillars together, but one was granite...this was for Judas.







Like the not-so-gentle reminders to make sure never to give satan a foothold in my life!

the ceiling is "inverted Noah's ark". AND THE LIGHT FIXTURES!! TOTALLY WOWZERS!
(awesome shot, Rob!)






The stairwell is in the suspended church, this is how the women got upstairs...but now the women are allowed to worship on the same level as the men, but they do not sit together.

Here you can actually "see" how it was suspended. it's obviously now reinforced, but look past it to the pine tree trunks and the street below! I did ok here, actually ;)


Afterwards, we got coupons for free goodies at the cafe where we started from. I thought you might enjoy this fun girls shot..just for giggles! The way I am facing in the photo, my class that starts tomorrow daily for 3 weeks, is on the other side of that wall.







We also saw the 'crypt' - underground passageway/basement - where Mary and Joseph are said to have lived when God instructed Joseph to get Mary and Jesus to Egypt. COOL! even if it's not "the" spot - just COOL!

Now the synagogue, no photos were allowed. It was beautiful tho, the 10 Commandments were inlaid with mother of pearl in Hebrew in one wall and in gold on another! The synagogue is no longer in use, I believe there is only one in Egypt. During WWII, there was a huge flight of the large Jewish population.

The Mosged (Mosque) was last. This is the oldest mosque in all of AFRICA. It is not the original building, same foundation, etc, but it was all rebuilt after an earthquake. Some interesting Islamic notes from today...

Ok so do you remember the crescent moons on top of the minerets? The crescent on the "towers"? ok so it is the new month....right? Ok - so Islams believe heaven is green...Islamic origins are obviously desert origins - life from the Nile, etc....so heaven is green - and the holy color is green - any shade of green.

So the leaders (forgot their specific name, sorry, so I'll say Islamic leaders) would go read the stars and the moon on the 29th day of the month and determine if it was a 30-day month or a 29 day month. When the candles were lit and they saw green flame, they knew they could end the fasting or start it - depending on the month - and know a new month began or a holy time began or ended (Ramadan, etc). There are no 31 day months.

Nowadays they still light the candles BUT they cast GREEN lights at different areas in the cities, to inform the Muslims. So yes, this is a practice still going on and it's just that it's easier with lights.



The carpeting itself has "small rugs" do you see the design? This is so each person has their rug..they each point towards the "niche" in da mosged, the niche is where the pray-er or the read-er stands with his back to the crowd but facing Mecca. There is a stairway/pulpit for Friday noon readings and such.

I think you can see one niche and the pulpit itself in one of the photos very well! Hala and I in our coverings! Hala is a Coptic Christian, she is Egyptian. I didn't know I had to have my arms covered - GOOD THING I HAVE A HUGE SCARF!! Because....the alternative was for me to miss this part of the tour - oh they have entire head-to-toe "dresses" they let women borrow and our women borrowed them, but NEVER would I wear one! When she said "oh Wendy, we have to cover your arms" Rob said "oh, crap, she won't go in!" HA HA HA!! yes, we are in our stocking feet. But I knew that too already.

You can also see the "center" area with the washbasin - it used to be a "pool" that was maybe 3' deep - we see them around in "ritsy" areas. But now it is all automated so they can wash properly - I believe it's feet, hands, face, mouth...not sure of the order tho.





I must confess I stood in there and prayed to the Risen Christ to bring salvation and peace to the Middle East!!! :)

and now for the least interesting note, but cuz I know a gazillion and a half of you will ask - this is the first day I've been walking and I did well! Joshua called me "big foot" since one foot IS so big ;) I sat when I could and rested my foot on Rob's leg next to me. He got me up and down all the flights of stairs (countless!!!) without railings and all slippery marble of course or rugged broken misc crud, after 1 hr of icing, I am back to the progress I had upon waking today! No major set backs!! I have a girlfriend taking me TO school every day, another taking me to get Jasmine and Joshua FROM school every day and a taxi picking me up out front to get them TO school. I have 2 hrs between their school start and mine.