CAIRO: Former Nobel committee member Allen Store this week toured the heart of Old Cairo, which was an inspiration for most of the novels of acclaimed writer Naguib Mahfouz. Mahfouz received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988, and Store was a member of the committee that selected him. Store, a professor of linguistics, is visiting Egypt this week to mark the centenary of Mahfouz's birth. Store began his tour at Cairo's famous al-Fishawy coffee shop, located in the heart of the Khan el-Khalili bazaar. The Egyptian novelist Gamal Ghitani accompanied Store during his tour, which included a visit to the Mosque of Mohammed bin Qalawun, Sultan el-Malik al-Zahir Sayf al-Din Barkok, a school, the dome of al-Nasir Muhammad, the house of the judge, the house of Naguib Mahfouz at al-Gamalya, the house that was mentioned in Mahfouz's novel ‘Between Two Palaces,' and the Mosque of Muhammad Abu-Dahab, which will be transferred to the Museum of the same name soon. Ghitani, through his explanation of these cultural and historic landmarks which Mahfouz gleaned for his writing, declared how the novelist had a sense of humor, beyond drawings and engravings. He spoke about Mahfouz's unique way of linking between the places he mentioned in his novels. Swedish Ambassador to Egypt Malin Karr participated in the tour along with Store's wife and Nabila Akl, information manager for the American University in Cairo Press. Stored had breakfast, on Sunday morning with the late Mahfouz's wife and daughters and also had launch with them at the Swedish Embassy in Zamlek. Store was the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy and a member of the Nobel Prize for Literature committee in 1988, the year in which Mahfouz won the prize, making him the first Arab writer to receive the prestigious award.
