Because Egypt is one of the oldest civilizations in the world, I was excited to see this episode of TravelTalks. Fitzpatrick himself describes its capital, Cairo as the "city of contrast" and the reasons why become apparent the longer you watch this. We see how the ancient heritage of the country appears alongside modern marketplaces, hotels, and methods of transportation, such as cars. It's a strange sight seeing the famous pyramids and Sphinx in the same frame as a 1930s city, but the monuments aren't far from the urban centers at all. We also learn that egypt is much different from how it was several millennia ago, mainly because arabs never used to be a majority in the country. Contrary to popular belief, camels are not native to egypt, since no hieroglyphics exist depicting one. Of course, you can't talk about egypt without mentioning the Nile, the river that has allowed the country to become one of the most important ancient civilizations in the first place. Even though ancient ships are long gone, the concept of trade remains the same, and the nile is an integral part of egypt's ability to trade. Fitzpatrick doesn't mention this, but it's worth noting that egypt is also the world's only "eurafrasian" country, as egypt is the only nation to simultaneously occupy space in Africa, the Mediterranean, and technically the Middle East via its Sinai Peninsula. Moving on with the short, we get to see members of the egyptian military and their uniforms, as well as the king's personal guard stationed at one of his mosques. Finally, we hear about how egypt has been subjugated by Europe for a long time, but is (as of 1938) finally independent, but only on paper because the UK still has control over its military and relations with other countries. This is an interesting short because it gives us a look into a country that can in many ways be considered the origin of humanity. There are only a few nations with an older history than egypt, two of which are Iraq and Iran. Speaking of the latter, I recently discovered by complete accident that the sister of the egyptian king Farouk I (who was leader at the time of this short) later married Reza Pahlavi. I think events like this are why history is so appealing to me, since all countries on earth seem connected in some way.
Review of Cairo 'City of Contrast'
