Cairo / Egypt

Japanese people transliterate the word "Egypt" using two Chinese characters that offer a close phonetic equivalent to the English counterpart. However, the meaning of one of the Chinese characters used in the transliteration means dust. I think this is an interesting co-incidence, because there is really a lot of sand dust in Egypt due to its desert terrain. The abundance of sand dust means the rainfall in the region is very low. Almost every day of the year is fine, except for a few days of rain in winter.

There is a concern over the water shortage. However, the River Nile runs through Egypt from south to north, and there are subsoil flows along the Nile, covering the in green and providing sufficient water for agriculture. Long ago in my history class, I was taught a saying, "Egypt is the gift of the Nile." At that time, I had thought that the word "gift" sounded very outdated. However, when I see the vast flow of the Nile here in Egypt, I am touched because the saying describes exactly what I see.

Egyptian civilization first emerged, and later flourished in the environment blessed with the most wonderful weather in the world. Egypt is famous for its pyramids, and there are about one hundred pyramids in total. All the pyramids except one are located on the west side of the Nile. Although the most widely held theory is that the pyramids are the tombs of the ancient kings, there is a new theory that the pyramids had functioned as a dyke against the flooding of the Nile. Therefore, the pyramids remain shrouded in mystery.
Egypt is also famous for its mummies. As there are too many mummies in the Cairo Museum to display, many mummies are stored in their coffins under dust. Besides the mummies, it is said that only one fifth of the museum's collection is ready for display. Archaeologists are still conducting excavations in many places, and Egypt is a country with an abundant historical heritage.

Thanks to its historical heritage, Egypt receives a lot of aid from many foreign countries, and a new museum will now be built with aid from Japan. It seems that the country is dependent on aid too much, which hinders its economic development. However, the Egyptian people apparently do not care about these concerns at all. They are very optimistic time, saying "Inshallah," or if Allah wills it. It seems to me that the time from eternity has passed this country by.

The Great Pyramid of Giza The Sphinx Luxor Luxor

Marubeni Group magazine "M-SPIRIT" VOL.20 (March, 2004)