The Great Nile Bridge, Cairo, Egypt
- Categories
- Special Collections > Keystone Slides
- Type
- tiff scanned file from original glass slide
- Description
- Cairo (ki´r) is the metropolis of Egypt. It is by far the largest city in all Africa. It contains over 650,000 people. This makes it as large as St. Louis. Cairo is a meeting place of the East and the West. Here Turks and Arabs elbow English, French, and Americans. The most interesting features of Cairo to an American are the street scenes, such as you see here. You can readily imagine that this is a view torn out of a volume of the Arabian Nights. The traffic goes every way on the streets. It is a motley procession of men and women on foot, mules, horses, carriages, carts, wagons, camels, and dogs. The noise reminds one of a street fair. The drivers yell out at each other, and the crack of their whips sounds like pistol shots. Camels moan under the goad of their riders. Donkeys lend their brays to the uproar, and dogs bark just to keep up their spirits. At the street corners money changers have their booths, and the sharp clink of coins is added to the clanking of the brass water pots lugged about by water carriers. The dress of these people is as varied as the noises. There are Arabs with fezzes and white robes that look like night dresses. A turbaned Turk in gorgeous colors parades by. Some of the women wear black gowns with black veils over their faces. They also have earrings, beads, anklets, and bracelets of silver, brass, or glass. This bridge crosses the Nile, and is a chief thoroughfare. Every morning the passage way is crowded with people bringing their wares to market. The bridge opens to let ships pass at certain times in the day. Then the waiting crowds at each end of the bridge are noisier than ever. Keystone ID: 9749 Note: All titles, descriptions, and location coordinates are from the original Keystone Slide documentation as supplied by the Keystone View Company. No text has been edited or changed.
- Rights
- Copyright by the Keystone View Company. The original slides are housed in McConnell Library's Special Collections.
