|
|
Article: The Houseboats of Cairo.
- Article from:
- The Middle East
- Article date:
- September 1, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 IC Publications Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Where the Nile splits around the Cairo island of Zamalek are to be found a couple of dozen rather dilapidated floating sheds, known in Arabic as dahabiyya (houseboats). On first sight they appear to be little more than a detail of the teeming, faded charm of the city that calls itself umm al dunya (mother of the world). Yet the boats tell a small part of the story of Cairo and Egypt in the 20th century, of its freedoms, repressions, intrigues and revolutions.
Today the boats are mostly home to the more bohemian faction of the city's ever-shifting expatriate population. Most of the two-storey boats are split into two or more flats, containing a mixed bag of Arabic ...