© 2007 Institute of Current World Affairs
The Institute awards long-term fellowships to develop a deep understanding of an issue, country, or region outside the US and to share that understanding with a wider public.
Institute of Current World Affairs - Home Page

Below is a hobbled text version of a PDF document.
In order to read the actual document please click the link below and register if necessary.
(One-time registration is free and very quick.)
Read article

1/14/1951 - Middle East Miscellany I by Richard H. Nolte

INSTITUTE OF CURRENT WORLD AFFAIRS Rq Tayzata Minnesota East scellarF I January Talter S Rogers Institute Current rorld ffairs Fifth venue Dear Rogers In Qur written Show kinluess parents kindred orphans needy neighbor neigh companion wayfarer And about I invited afternoon seven members Egyptian Camel Patrol manning coastal check point Abu Sir twenty miles Alexandria spend November weekend Burg Arab small desert village lying betweenex E1 Alamein shortly after I visit ruins Abu Sir coastal ridge miles North Lake reotis Crossing ridge parallels remains ancient built thousand years before Christ Phar aonic bulwark against nmadic brbarians pressing Then dropping seaward slope joins oastal hignay I turned toward Alex driving checkpoint hundred distant parked A right three scrttffy white Csmels reposing stoical features which Government campaign against s_mugllng Hashish Lebanon commodity illicit trade seems juIging tales Cairo press trade brisk indeed Flourishing Foreign Office permit photographs I I would inspect ruins slope above I proffered rettes EveNjone quite satiable brown skinned young members oatrol their khaki short sleeved slirts shorts along around I nothing subversive I impre partially restored ocZagonal naked Arabs Tower which Burg Arab remains massive walls built fou2th century B C around temple Osiris Ezyptian urleE judge A Cistian church replaced temple fourth century A D disappeared exlored passages square stone rooms temple enclosure dropped rocks through holes stone floor courtyard temple church stood waiting seconds floor msterieus subterranean chambers ompanions became increasingly uneasy ancient hazardous azuxious leave We better stood again outside Temple church enclosure built limestone which stood which spine Alexandria estern ancie Lake distance about fivemiles Along whole length I subsurface storage rooms cisterns chiseled bygone centuries In drier present useless We climbed narro spiral stair built shorter I pitchLblack On chill edged breathed deeply again looked blinding Mediterranean shore stretching Northeastwards Alexandria tufted Lake reotis ielow Eastern distance Thiteish ekanse lalze itself To South villae Burg Arab trees buidings regular darker clump On otherwise unblemished bageneSs Seen tower world semed naked empty unprotected The tower replica scale about famous Con temporary lightho Pharos Island seven wonders ancient world which built Ptolemy II third BC The small surviving combination signal tower station heliograph signal route conectin E daughter kingdom Cyrenaica Well stony slope highway I about goodbye thankyou I forestalled invitation Now canons hospitality require offered equal require acceptance tradition Abdullah Umar related The Messenger Allah peace blesslngs Allah erson invited accept disobeys Allah His Messenger ithout being invited enters thief forth rainier Haiith collection Abu Damd So pleasure anticipation I acceDted RHN I ushered rectangular lding which I corrugated indow either which apparently served house kitchen office everything A ooden framed saddle rested crner In another small kerosene burners heaing water under least seven formed menial tasks Such laugh jokes offered cigarettes others share Probably Eptin equiwlent private Three Of unyielding boards coveredth mattress lookin blanket aluminum bucket fighter plane others squatted floor leaned against helped There Arabic spspers scattered about comics around barracks pilots ready durin Thebe paper English which because soldiers English An fashioned crank telephone attached connected Abu Sir Alex other check points along coast If sibly efficient modern system communication seemed picturesque ancient ridge A phone horseplay boisterous amusement these jockeys although corporal sergeant cmroe seemed taciturn The first breing serve ready Served piping small jelly glass thick sweet greenish yellow color palatable refresnzn It seems lying areas Turkish coffee recent years Coca Cola towns cities grace every social occasion sipped gossiped laboriously Arabic rsorting writing order convey meaning They Ept think Lower E They months remain tutil Spring The officer mmaming photograph I limited colloquial Arabic I devil plaining color developed States quite before could At length I madeg departure Je trooped smoked shook round private another cigarette Looking I drove I could standin hands still raised farezell They frienLV cheerful impulsive generous likesble things about typical It pleasant eerience It until I gotten Btg A settled beach I first Bosell classic phrse unaccountable slarm u_uexpected either gmptoms RHN cause truth enough A quick check disclosed areas covered clothing I heavily populated minute hopping feasting insects Fleas Hospitality rceived hospitality By however I literally thing philosophy I prepared these unbidden thieves raiders Retreating after liberating shoes socks shirt I striped khaki trousers hunted elusive little jumpers crevices ighted hanging window while couldn their flight And Qur written Pelent pursuit enemy If suffer hardship suffer suffer Allah which cannot And Allah Knowing Wise escaped however until after I endured hardship after hours I asked admirable restraint English across engaged I ready Just coming I gasped gingerly trousers again knowing termined rearguard fleas lurked Bitten unbowed I Yours sincerely R H Nolte