Julian Barnett
Egypt, Part 4: Pan-Arabism and Today’s Cairo
Summary
Casting his eye back over this series of lectures, Julian poses questions on the past, present and future of Cairo and Egypt. He assesses Egypt’s role in the affairs of the region and the direction of travel in which this crucially important but often overlooked political power is moving.
Julian Barnett
Julian Barnett is a teacher, collector, tour guide, and writer with a specialist interest in ultra-orthodoxy within the various faiths. For the last 35 years, he has been investigating and documenting the most extreme sects of the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim worlds. His experiences and travels were serialized in the Jerusalem Report and also broadcast on BBC Radio Four Religion. Outside of his full-time history teaching post at Southbank International School, Portland Place, London, Julian lectures at numerous venues around the UK and beyond. In 2013 Julian was a joint winner of the National Teacher of the Year Award.
100%, Mecca and Medina are relatively small towns. Cairo is a giant of a metropolis. Infinitely more, well, not infinitely, because no numbers are infinite, that point of view. Massively amount more mosques in Cairo than lie in Mecca and Medina, yes.
Well, there have been earthquakes in Cairo, actually, lots of them. The most recent I think was 1993. Nothing happened to them, because those pyramids are pretty solid structures. They are I believe still… I wait to be corrected. I believe they are still the largest stone structures ever created. Maybe now that is slightly out-of-date, but it might not be. But they’re not only stone structures, they are solid. Bear in mind, as I said before, you have to imagine the pyramids as absolutely block-solid structures, but with a few gaps for chambers, which are relatively tiny, and corridors to get to those chambers. Nothing’s going to shift those structures, believe me. Well, I hope I’m right.
Yes, if you use your common sense, if your sensitive to local sensibilities. I haven’t heard of people having difficulties and problems. I wouldn’t hesitate personally. Each person has to do what they feel comfortable. And of course, if local people feel that a tourist is uncomfortable, the Egyptians are very, they’re a very visceral people. They’re a very … They sense things, very much so. If they sense someone’s uncomfortable, they will feel uncomfortable, and they’ll start to ask questions why. Only go to Egypt if you feel that you’ll be comfortable going? That would be my advice on that question. Delighted you enjoyed it for those people that have said that, too.