By Amal Kandeel
Situated in Old Cairo across the street from Al-Azhar Mosque, Khan El-Khalili is one of Egypt’s oldest and most historic bazaars. Some of its outermost sections lead to courtyards with historic buildings dating back to the 12th and 13th century, and some even earlier. This old market houses a medley of mostly small shops, lined up along a web of meandering, narrow, paved alleys.
It is a popular place for Egyptians and tourists alike, where the colors, sounds, and scents of Egypt’s culture weave an intensely alive replica of a segment of life in that country hundreds of years ago. All the traditional Egyptian handcrafts that are gradually facing extinction are on display there: leather goods, wood-work, glass-ware, copper-ware, alabaster, picturesque textile and rugs, timeless Egyptian shell-decorated artifacts from small boxes to the oude (a musical string-instrument), sur commande hand-mixed perfumes, fine silver and gold jewelry, and even jade. more>>
It is a popular place for Egyptians and tourists alike, where the colors, sounds, and scents of Egypt’s culture weave an intensely alive replica of a segment of life in that country hundreds of years ago. All the traditional Egyptian handcrafts that are gradually facing extinction are on display there: leather goods, wood-work, glass-ware, copper-ware, alabaster, picturesque textile and rugs, timeless Egyptian shell-decorated artifacts from small boxes to the oude (a musical string-instrument), sur commande hand-mixed perfumes, fine silver and gold jewelry, and even jade. more>>
(Egypt born Amal Kandeel teaches at Georgetown University. She can be reached at: aakandeel@hotmail.com)
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