Alexandria!!

Chief Judge Majid must really like us, because he arranged for us to visit the chief courthouse for the district of Alexandria on June 22nd. Not only that, but we got to meet the Chief Judge of that court and the Attorney General for the district of Alexandria. That was fun. Remember what I said about Egyptian hospitality? Well I have really taken a liking to Turkish coffee. It is delicious!!

The conversation we had with the two of them was just as interesting as the conversations we had with the judges in Cairo. We also learned a lot about the Egyptian view of family and social status. What makes you who you are is completely wound up with you family members. Pretty foreign concept for us individualistic Americans. Perhaps a reason why our nations have trouble sometimes? Who knows?

After a morning at the court we did a brief round of sightseeing that included the Qaitbay Citadel, established in 1477 and used until the 1800s.

Another benefit was that I finally got to see the Mediterranean Sea!!

Then we were off to see the Greco-Roman catacombs. Those were pretty cool, but no pictures were allowed. These were the catacombs where the Greek nobles who ruled after Alexander were buried. This included the Ptolemies. One thing I found very odd was the existence of a funerary banquet hall not far from the tombs. I don't think I could go for that, what with the smell and all.

Then it was the modern library of Alexandria. A modern effort to build upon a glorious past. The modern library is the second largest library in the world. The original library of Alexandria was founded under the reign of Ptolemy I Soter. The goal was to collect every written record in the world. Every ship coming into Alexandria had to turn over all written material so they could either be copied or confiscated. Some real gems were included in the collection, but so were a lot of meaningless ship's manifests. Nonetheless, an enormous store of knowledge was kept in the ancient library. Unfortunately, it was destroyed in a fire. When and how this happened is actually debated. There are four or five potential fires we know about, but we don't know which one did the most damage. It has been said that the destruction of that library set back humanity's progress a very great deal, because much knowledge was lost.

The modern library is a nice attempt to recapture the goal of the ancients, but it certainly looks nothing like the original.


I was in the most famous city founded by Alexander the Great!! Even though it sounds like I didn't do a whole lot, it is enough that I can just say that!!