Coptic Orthodox Liturgical Chant & Hymnody
The Ragheb Moftah Collection at the Library of Congress
Detail from Cairo and Environs (1925) --
showing El Giza on Nile and, moving lower left
(southwest) on red line to Mena House Hotel
near the Pyramids. [view full map]
Map Detail: Cairo & Environs (1925)
This map shows Cairo as it is situated in the Nile delta with deserts on each side. It is a good general view of Cairo and the area around it, the landscape colored in oranges, greens and beiges on either side of the blue Nile. The pyramids are at the lower left (in the brown desert just beyond the green area). In 1996, when Ragheb Moftah was in his late nineties, he recalled in an interview the demonstrations in Cairo on January 26, 1952. That day, Moftah had been at the Higher Institute of Coptic Studies in Anba Ruweiss in the Abbassiyah area of Cairo. All transportation in the city had been disrupted, but he apparently found some means to get to Giza. From Giza, Moftah walked to his home near the Mena House Hotel in the Pyramids District, a distance of about 15 kilometers, or nearly 10 miles. (This information was kindly provided by Laurence Moftah on July 1 and 2, 2009, citing Ragheb Moftah’s interview with Raymond Stock at the Library of Congress, videotape 3, conducted November 19, 1996.)
View Full Map - Cairo & Environs (1925)