In an Antique Land: History in the Guise of a Traveler's Tale

The narrative resumes with Ghosh in Egypt in 1980, hearing his landlord Abu-‘Ali shouting in another room and wishing that he could leave for Cairo. Abu-‘Ali was a hated, feared, and secretly-mocked figure in Lataifa. He was known for his heavy weight, gained as a child while avoiding field work. Instead, he went to school and used the contacts he made to get himself set up in a government-subsidized shop, selling essential commodities at controlled prices. As this shop was the only one of its kind in the area, Abu-‘Ali had become one of Lataifa’s wealthiest residents and lorded his wealth over others.

Ghosh had not known about Abu-‘Ali’s reputation or character before he moved in with him. The preeminent anthropologist Doctor Aly Issa, who had brought Ghosh to the village, had been fooled by Abu-‘Ali’s promises of good treatment. Now Ghosh was trapped and hoping to escape to Cairo.

Ghosh launches into a description of Cairo, calling it “Egypt’s metaphor for itself” (32). The Egyptian name for the city, and the name that most, non-western languages use, is Masr, the same word that is used for Egypt itself. The city is more like a series of towns, spread out across the area, Masr meaning “the south of the city,” or called “Old Cairo.