The Mokattam ( arz, المقطم , also spelled Muqattam), also known as the Mukattam Mountain or Hills, is the name of a range of hills and a suburb in them, located in southeastern

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

Etymology

The Arabic name ''Mokattam'' means cut off or broken off and apparently refers to how the low range of hills is divided into three sections. Paul Casanova advocated the idea that it's a corruption of an older name

Maqaduniya Maqaduniya () is a region in Medieval Egypt comprising Fustat, Ain Shams, Giza and Memphis. Name It is unknown if Egyptian Maqaduniya is related to Balkan region of the same name. Yaqut al-Hamawi in his Kitāb Mu'jam al-Buldān says:''"Maqa ...

(), mentioned in Medieval Arabic sources.

Landform

The highest segment is a low mountain landform called Moqattam Mountain. In the past the low mountain range was an important ancient Egyptian quarry site for

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

, used in the construction of

temples A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

and

pyramids A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

Settlement

The hills are in the region of ancient

Fustat Fusṭāṭ ( ar, الفُسطاط ''al-Fusṭāṭ''), also Al-Fusṭāṭ and Fosṭāṭ, was the first capital of Egypt under Muslim rule, and the historical centre of modern Cairo. It was built adjacent to what is now known as Old Cairo by t ...

, the new capital founded by

'Amr ibn al-'As ( ar, عمرو بن العاص السهمي; 664) was the Arab commander who led the Muslim conquest of Egypt and served as its governor in 640–646 and 658–664. The son of a wealthy Qurayshite, Amr embraced Islam in and was assigned impor ...

after the

Muslim conquest of Egypt The Muslim conquest of Egypt, led by the army of 'Amr ibn al-'As, took place between 639 and 646 AD and was overseen by the Rashidun Caliphate. It ended the seven-century-long period of Roman reign over Egypt that began in 30 BC. Byzantine ru ...

in 642 CE. The

Zabbaleen The Zabbaleen ( arz, زبالين ', ) is a word which literally means "garbage people" in Egyptian Arabic.Assaad, Ragui. (1996) Formalizing the Informal? The Transformation of Cairo's Refuse Collection System. ''Journal of Planning Education & R ...

people, who are an integral part of collecting and processing Cairo's

municipal solid waste Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste ...

, live in

Manshiyat Naser Manshiyat Naser ( arz, منشية ناصر ; , "the Christian suburb", ) is a ward (''kism'') of Cairo, Egypt. It covers 5.54 square kilometers, was home to 262,050 people in the 2006 census, up from 168,425 in 1996 census, and borders Nasr Ci ...

Garbage City Manshiyat Naser ( arz, منشية ناصر ; , "the Christian suburb", ) is a ward (''kism'') of Cairo, Egypt. It covers 5.54 square kilometers, was home to 262,050 people in the 2006 census, up from 168,425 in 1996 census, and borders Nasr Cit ...

, at the foot of the Mokattam Hills. Un coin du Mokatam

Simon the Tanner

Mokattam is widely known in the

Coptic Church The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي� ...

, as it is believed that the mountain has moved up and down when the Coptic

Pope Abraham of Alexandria Pope Abraham of Alexandria, was the 62nd Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark. He is considered a saint by the Coptic Orthodox Church. He is also referred to as Efrem or Ephrem.Cerulli, Enrico. 1943. ''Il libro etiopico dei ...

, following the advice of Saint Simon the Tanner, performed a mass near it in order to prove to the Caliph that the Gospel is true when it says that "if one has faith like a grain of mustard one can move a mountain". The name "Broken-off Mountain" may be related to the fact that in the story the mountain breaks off from the underlying rock and rises up, before coming back down again.BBC Newshour The Angel of Garbage City
October 11, 2014, 20:00 UTC.

References

External links