CITY ON THE NILE

[Music] [Music] The crescent of Islam waves above Cairo, metropolis of Egypt, the city on the Nile. Worldrenowned Shepherd's Hotel serves as focal point for all social and tourist activities. The famous terrace at Shepherds is almost deserted in the midday sun, but during the later hours, it is crowded with all the mly nationalities of the east. Like most old cities of the Mediterranean, Cairo presents many striking contrasts to the eyes of the visitor, the modern city has its great office buildings, thriving business areas, and broad avenues. In this section, the slow tempo of eastern life has been slightly accelerated. But even here encroach many reminders of the hodgepodge coexistence of old and new, east and west. The streets of Cairo furnish endless amusement and enjoyment. One may sit for hours on the terrace at shepherds, absorbed with a surge of the multicolored throngs passing by. A few streets away, one is carried back in time to the immemorial orient where life reverts to the purely eastern mode. Egypt today is the most mysteriously fascinating land on earth. And in the oldest portion of Cairo, the spirit of the east is manifest. Large domes and graceful slender minates adorn Muhammadan mosques. These lofty heights echo with voices of priests calling the faithful to prayer at sunrise and sunset. Unchanged throughout the centuries, these reminders of the Orient transport us in magic flights of thought back to the fabulous days of the Arabian Knights. Behind the temples lie the crooked streets of the native quarter. Existence for the average Egyptian fella has been much the same for thousands of years. He has his favorite coffee shop and there are storytellers to spin yarns, fakers to mystify, snake charmers to amuse, and dancing girls to divert. Bizaars and markets are the great magnet for all visitors. Most shops are nothing but holes in the wall from which fill forth into the streets a myriad of nondescript articles. The merchandise displayed is beyond description. Scenes of much animated bargaining may be witnessed at any hour of the day. The River Nile threads its way through the middle background of Cairo. The shores are lined with thousands of houseboats. Down through the centuries, the Nile has given life to the Egyptian nation. And from the Valley of the Nile, the career of man may be traced back to a remoter age than elsewhere on Earth. Swarming with boats bearing triangular sails, the river carries a wealth of commerce as it has for ages. The Nile created the 4,000mile long valley home of the ancient Egyptians, and the marvelous productivity of the soil is due to the annual inundation of the river. Nowhere on Earth have the witnesses of a great but now extinct civilization been so plentifully preserved as along the broad banks of the Nile. Surveying the past, our mind's eye sweeps backward along the corridors of time to a period 5,000 years ago when the splendor of Egyptian pharaohs proclaimed the wealth and power of forgotten ages. The desire to create a permanent abiding place for the royal dead exerted a powerful influence in the development of the Egyptian art of building. This is exemplified by the great pyramid of Giza. In all the world, no such colossal tombs as the pyramids are to be found. Seen from Mina village just outside Cairo. The greatest of a group of pyramids towers nearly 500 ft into the sky. It was built by the pharaoh Kufu. The pyramid contains 2 million 300,000 blocks of stone averaging 2 1/2 tons each. For 20 years, 100,000 men labored to build it. The ponderous masonry amazes the beholder by the finess of its workmanship. The pyramids tower above and overlook the sphinx which timelessly and inscraably peers out over the desert floor. Only the Sphinx and the group of pyramids at Giza remain as imperishable witnesses of an epoch that has passed away as all others must. Counted in classic times among the wonders of the world, these are today the only surviving wonder of the [Music] seven. [Music] Surely there is no other scene more unique, no sight more oriental, amazing, weird and enchanting. Invariably, visitors have their pictures taken by itinerate photographers, and amateur snapshots record for posterity one's visit to the pyramids and the Sphinx. [Music] The sphinx is an oft recurring picture of an Egyptian king. The lion's body symbolizing the pharaoh's power. Contending with technical difficulties which no modern sculptor encounters, ancient artists gave a real sovereign imperishable form, showing us with incomparable skill that divine and impassive calm with which men of that day endowed their kings. In spite of the partly ruined face, the head is one of the strongest portraits to survive from antiquity. But our admiration for these monuments to a bygone age should not obscure their real and final significance. These are the earliest and most impressive witnesses of an ancient world. They mark society's final emergence from prehistoric chaos. Enduring milestones on the highway of history. [Music]