Law and Order in Cairo

Egypt – Maybe the first country you learn about – other than your own – in elementary school. Where most, if not all, of it began. You cannot talk about Egypt without mentioning its capital and largest city – Cairo. And you cannot talk about Cairo without mentioning its most obvious feature – chaos. 

10 million people. A government with authoritarian tendencies. Nonfunctioning traffic lights. A striking wealth gap. Military vehicles on most corners.

Cairo is chaos – and it is a decidedly beautiful city. 

If chaos is Cairo’s most obvious feature, the Cairene are its most treasured. Egyptians, and the Cairene in particular, have not had an easy ride by any measure. Independence, war, coup, war, spring, coup. A timeline of 20th century Egypt’s power struggles looks like a phone book. Despite their uneven and fatiguing past, Egyptians are graceful. You may not find kinder people anywhere on earth. 

The rule of law and who administers it in Egypt is delicate. Al-Sisi became president after a 2013 coup. Some Egyptians of a more freedom-loving cloth are willing to put up with his negatives – quelling of dissidence, jailing opposition, illegitimate elections – because of his positives – Egypt-first mentality, infrastructure policy, security focus – for now. The use of traffic lights was discontinued in Cairo some years ago. It can be hard to discern whether someone is actually a police officer or government official when they directly tell you they are one. 

Order, however, is a much more defined concept in Egypt. The notion of community is strong - it’s not uncommon to see a ‘stranger’ reach out to touch a baby’s hand or interact with a wandering toddler – things that might be considered unsettling, at the very least, in other places. The traffic lights don’t need to work – crossing the street is only difficult if you’re a bad dancer. There is a flow to Cairo.

Naguib Mahfouz’s Egypt is the definitive Egypt - complex and sometimes at odds with itself. Traditional, revolutionary, romantic, angry, new, old. 

Law and order – who knows what these two concepts should mean. The people of Cairo, at least for now, have their version.

Camera: Fujifilm X100T
Location: Egypt (Cairo, Aswan, Kom Ombo, Edfu, Esna, Luxor)
Cover Photo: Outside of Abou Tarek