The City of the Dead, or Cairo Necropolis (Qarafa, el-Arafa), is an Arabic necropolis and cemetery below the Mokattam Hills in southeastern Cairo, Egypt. The people of Cairo, the Cairenes, and most Egyptians, call it el'arafa (trans. 'the cemetery'). It is a 4 miles (6.4 km) long (north-south) dense grid of tomb and mausoleum structures, where some people live and work amongst the dead. Some reside here to be near ancestors, of recent to ancient lineage. Some live here after being forced from central Cairo due to urban renewal demolitions and urbanization pressures, that increased from the Nasser 1950s on. Other residents immigrated in from the agricultural countryside, looking for work — an example of rural to urban migration in an LEDC. The poorest live in the City of the Dead slum, and Manshiyat naser, which is also known as Garbage City, a center of recycling and reuse Zabbaleen vendors.
Famous quotes containing the words city and/or dead:
“Hell is a city much like London—
A populous and a smoky city;
There are all sorts of people undone,
And there is little or no fun done;
Small justice shown, and still less pity.”
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)
“Jesus wept.”
—Bible: New Testament John, 11:35.
The shortest verse in the Bible; refers to Jesus’ grief at the death of Lazarus, whom he raised from the dead after four days.