Mukattam 5.76

The Mokattam, also known as the Mukattam Mountain or Hills, is the name of a range of hills and a suburb in them, located in southeastern Cairo, Egypt.LandformThe Arabic name Mokattam, which means cut off or broken off, refers to how the low range of hills is divided into three sections. The highest segment is a low mountain landform called Moqattam Mountain. In the past the low mountain range was an important ancient Egyptian quarry site for limestone, used in the construction of temples and pyramids.SettlementThe hills are in the region of ancient Fustat, the new capital founded by 'Amr ibn al-'As after the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 642 CE. In direct contrast to Zamalek, an affluent, nearby city, in Mokattam, residents living in the midst of the city's garbage-the garbage collection system for Cairo is located on the road that leads to the Coptic church in the quarry. The Zabbaleen people, who are an integral part of collecting and processing Cairo's municipal solid waste, live in Manshiyat Naser, Garbage City, at the foot of the Mokattam Hills.