| |
Back
EGYPT
900 Years of Peace
By Jheri St. James
“The cradle of golden civilization and a masterpiece of human
ingenuity,” said Sushil Chaturvedi, describing the Giza Pyramids
in Cairo, Egypt—his home, and site of soil collection for Common
Ground 191. In describing some countries that would be big talk,
but not Egypt. To this writer’s knowledge, Egypt may be the
only country in the history of the earth to ever maintain 900 years
of peaceful coexistence—3100 B.C. to 2200 B.C., in the Old
Kingdom period. The pyramids at Giza were built; writing and paper
were developed; and Egyptian commerce flourished. This was just what
happened above ground. Egypt has much subterranean wealth as well.
Every so often in our time another tomb is discovered, revealing
more about her ancient mysteries. Egyptologists thrill to add to
their knowledge of this venerable land of royal dynasties. Do any
other countries even have “ologists?”
Egypt is an Arab nation in northeast Africa, bounded north by the
Mediterranean Sea, east by Israel and the Red Sea, south by the Sudan,
and west by Libya. Two
important construction projects— the Suez Canal, which links the Mediterranean
and the Red Seas, and the Aswan Dam, which increased the available amount of
farmland along the Nile River—have furthered Egypt’s progress. The
4,000-mile Nile River is the largest in the world, and most of the population
resides along its delta. Egypt is a largely agricultural nation, whose main export
is cotton; also wheat, corn, millet and rice. Tourism and the Suez Canal are
also big sources of foreign currency.
Our images of Egypt—pyramids, the sphinx and royal sculptures of pharaohs
. . . Cleopatra, Ramses, Tut . . . feluccas (sailboats) floating on the Blue
Nile and the White Nile . . . hieroglyphics on tomb walls, golden artifacts in
museums—are all peaceful pictures. Cairo, Egypt’s capital city is
hot, dry and sunny, and this is where Sushil lives, where he wrote, “God
bless you in your noble endeavor.” We pray that the DNA of Egypt’s
soil, infused with vibrations of that long peaceful 900 years during the “Cradle
of Golden Civilization”, will color all the soil of Common Ground 191 and
then, by extension, infuse the earth with the ideals of the Arab word for peace: “Salaam”
Top | Back
|
|
|
