The Muski

Description

A bustling market street in Islamic Cairo, barely wide enough for three donkeys abreast, roofed over in stretches with palm-rib matting that swallows the sun and leaves the lane in a close, shaded dimness. It runs from the Frank houses toward the great bazaars, lined the whole way with small shops. The party walked in from the Bulaq landing along this route to reach the Auberge du Muski, three streets in off the main lane.

Notable Features

• Palm-rib matting overhead — roofs stretches of the lane, cutting the glare and heat.
• Small shops lining the route — the working commercial spine of the district, distinct from Alexandria’s covered souk but serving a similar function.
• Donkey-width lanes — narrow enough to shape how goods, people, and (on arrival) the party’s own luggage and chicken coop moved through it.

The Muski at Eid, 16 to 18 September 1814

For the three days of the feast the lane is fuller than the party has ever seen it and almost nothing in it is for sale.

The shops are shut. Shutters down, counters covered, the tailors and the copper men and the sellers of everything gone to their families. The crowd, though, is worse than usual, because the whole quarter is out in its new clothes and moving between houses, and the lane was only ever three donkeys wide. Children run it in both directions. Somebody has put up a swing. Kahk comes at the party from doorways they have no relationship with, pressed on them by women they have never met, and refusing is not a neutral act.

A party trying to buy something in the Muski this week is going to have a bad time. A party trying to move through it unnoticed is going to have an easier time than they will ever have again, because nobody is looking at the Franks. Everyone has somewhere to be.

Connections

• Cairo — the city the Muski sits within.
• Frank Quarter — the lane runs from the Frank houses toward the bazaars; the two districts are adjacent.
• Auberge du Muski — three streets into the Muski from the main lane; the party’s base.

Appearances

Relationships

• Part of Cairo — A market street/district in Islamic Cairo
• Borders Frank Quarter — Runs from the Frank houses toward the great bazaars; the Auberge du Muski sits three streets into it
• Part of Cairo — A bustling market street in Islamic Cairo, running toward the great bazaars