Battles and books of Egypt

My first day in Egypt, I took a day trip to El Alamein to see the battlefields, museum, and cemeteries. For those not up on their history, El Alamein was the focal point of the WW2 battle for Egypt and the Suez Canal. The Italians and Germans were attacking Egypt to try to gain access to the Suez and cut off the Allie’s supply and oil shipments. They were repulsed back to Libya by the Egyptians, Brits, Kiwis, and Aussies in 1942.

El Alamein is a really pretty area about 2 hours out of Alexandria. The road to it ran along the Mediterranean Sea where there were huge developments of condos and suburb type compounds. The other side of the road was Bedouin homes and military camps.

The museum was cool, they had lots of stuff that had been left behind after the battles and a large map so you could see how the fighting moved.

I think the most interesting part for me though was the cemeteries in the middle of the Egyptian Desert. Our first stop was the Ally Cemetery. It was so peaceful, just rows of tombs and a beautiful cross and memorial at the back. It was really nice. The hard part was looking at the headstones though and seeing names and ages that were close to ours. A lot of the boys who fought there were 23-28 years old. A lot of people on this boat are about 23 years old. I can’t even imagine these people fighting a war. Does that sort of setting make you grow up fast? Does it give you a sense of purpose and honor that doesn’t come from college and work?

We went next to the German mausoleum, which was a mini fortress for the soldiers. It was also really nice. It thought it was interesting that at the gates of this one there was a sign that explained the history and significance and said at the end, “the soldiers within admonish for peace.” The prayer engraved inside the building also ended with a prayer for peace. Funny how hindsight is.

Lastly, we went to see the Italian mausoleum. It was beautiful, a big white building with the whole inside made of while marble. I think the hardest part of looking at war cemeteries is seeing the stones that say “Unknown.” Someone knew them. Seems to me like they should at least put someone’s name on the grave, or acknowledge those who they know died but can’t identify somehow. Unknown just seems so impersonal, and it’s easy to forget them.

Later that afternoon I met up with some friends and we caught a cab to the Library of Alexandria. In the time of Cleopetra, the Library of Alexandria was a center for thought and learning throughout the ancient world. It housed documents from the early Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, and so much more. It was kind of like a university in some respects. Unfortunately, there was great fire that destroyed the building and all the incredible knowledge it housed. It’s been called one of the greatest tragedies of all time. The building I went to was not the original library, but a library they built more recently in the hopes that it will become what the old Library once was, a center for learning and knowledge.

I don’t know how else to explain it other than to say it’s HUGE! It’s like 11 stories tall, but they aren’t stacked on top of each other, they’re tiered, so you can see all the way from the 10^th floor down to the 1^st. It’s so cool! And they have such interesting books. We were walking around pulling some out. For instance, we found this book called “A world guide to organizations of Islamic Activities” which was basically a phone book of Islamic organizations. Mailing addresses included. I was pretty tempted to copy some down and write to them just to see what would happen. It also had an antiquities museum, a rare books collection that was unfortunately closed when we got there, planetarium, children’s section, and more. It was pretty amazing.

We got to be pretty good friends with our cabbie. He was a cool guy, took us all around and had dinner with us. It was interesting to talk to him, and learn some of the Islamic customs. For instance, we didn't really understand the call to prayer that echoes around the city 5 times a day. And he explained the Egyptian Muslim's view of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict to us. We really enjoyed his company and learned so much!

Cairo’s next!!