Tell el-Kabir Historic

Tell el-Kabir Historic Tell el-Kabir is no more than a place name in the novel, the site of the British Army based where Abbas Hilu finds employment as a day laborer.

Vita’s Bar A working-class bar located in the Jewish Quarter of Cairo, Vita’s Bar becomes a favorite haunt of Hussain Kirsha after he is laid off and forced to return home to Midaq Alley. Hussain takes his old friend Abbas Hilu there and introduces him to wine. Outside Vita’s, Abbas accidentally crosses paths with his ex-fiancée, Hamida, and races off to his bloody fate.

Wafd Party After World War I, a “delegation” (wafd) seeks international approval of independence for Egypt but is rebuffed by the British. Leaders organize a nationalist political party, led by Saad Zaghlul, who is mentioned in the novel. Mustafa al-Nahhas is also mentioned as Prime Minister of Egypt. He serves many times. This reference helps set the novel in late 1944. Fictional character Ibrahim Farhat runs under the Waft banner, and Kirsha during his earlier political days supports the Waft.

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