The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2023 - Issue 33

bitetravel unified state to their absorption into the classical world of Rome and Greece. The beautiful objects, day-to-day tools, and funerary artefacts typified by the famous contents of Tutankhamun’s tomb allow you to study and understand various key symbols and architectural devices seen across the temples, pyramids and tombs. On the Mugattam Hills in Cairo, the citadel dominates the capital’s skyline. It was the nerve centre of Egypt for al- most 700 years. Its construction started in 1176 by the first Egyptian and Syrian sultan Saladin to protect the city from potential Crusader attacks. It was completed by Muham- mad Ali, whose alabaster mosque occupies the heart of the citadel. The mosque is classically Ottoman, with cascading semi-domes supporting a central dome without requiring substantial interior columns or pillars. Opposite the citadel is one of Islamic Cairo’s finest mon- uments, the Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hassan, covering almost 8,000 squares. It was built between 1356 and 1363 during the Bahri Mamluk period and commissioned by Sultan An-Nasir Hassan. The monumental mosque located in Sabah al-Don Square in the historic district of Cairo has large vaulted ceilings lit by lamps on long chains, a wonder- ful courtyard and the mausoleum of Sultan Hassan. Within the boundaries of the Roman fortress of Babylon, the Copts built their churches in Old Cairo for protection. For 300 years, from the conversion of Emperor Constan- tine until the arrival of Islam, Egypt was a Christian nation, and the Coptic church is one of the oldest communions and pioneers of austere monasticism in the remote desert. Its most famous church is El Muallaqa (The Hanging Church), built over one of the gateways into the old fortress with a nave suspended above the passageway. Services at this intricately decorated church are still held in Coptic, the Egyptian language written with Greek let- ters that evolved out of Ancient Egypt. Coptic Museum, initially founded in 1910, houses several Coptic antiques, one of the world's best collections of Coptic Christian art. Another religious site is the 4th-century synagogue of Ben Ezra, once the home of many Jewish families, with a few remaining scattered throughout Cairo. It houses a Torah on gazelle skin dating to the 5th century BC. The Valley of the Kings and King Tut’s Tomb is the highlight of Egypt. Tutankhamun was the antepenultimate pharaoh of the Eighteen Dynasty who ascended the throne at age nine and reigned until his death at 19. Although he lived a relatively short life due to the effects of malaria and a bro- ken leg, he reversed the religiopolitical changes enacted by Akhenaten during the Amarna period and restored the tra- ditional polytheistic ancient Egyptian religion. He was one of a few kings worshipped as a deity during his lifetime. Theban Necropolis on the West Bank of the Nile in Lux- or was used for ritual burials during the Pharaonic period. Ancient Egyptians believed in the afterlife from the sun's death and rebirth cycle, which they watched daily. As the sun 'died' over the West Bank and then 'born' again over the Eastern horizon, they believed if they were buried in the Cairo - Citadel - Mohammed Ali Mosque