Cairo in December 1928 is a colonial city of the Nile Valley, known as the city of a thousand minarets, where empires trade secrets. It is the setting of the opening of the chronicle, from Shepheard’s Hotel to the penthouse of Paul Morand, before a train carries everything south.
| Type | Place |
| Era | December 1928 |
| Location | Egypt, Nile Valley |
| Chronicle | ldc |
| Spanish entry | El Cairo |
Description
Cairo bustles with international activity: minarets and mosques, European colonial buildings, palm trees, streets of automobiles, carts and camels, crowds in Western and traditional dress, and, in the background through the haze, the pyramids of Giza.
It is winter, the season of excavations and parties. The archaeological fever set off in 1922 by Howard Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamun keeps the black market in relics boiling.
It is a city of negotiation and whispers. The electrical infrastructure is unstable, with frequent cuts. Hotels have ears, and jazz plays on the terraces while plots are laid.
Relationships
- Carlo Monteverdi and Paul Morand are the allied and enemy poles of the city.
- Brutus Alcusi brings the group here with his card from the Hermetic Institute.
- The dagger pushes them on afterward to the Red Desert.