Is there any canon material on Cairo and Egypt? Can anybody point me in the right direction?

There is a brief blip in SoA when they are talking about the Middle East but not much more.

According to http://wiki.dumpshock.com/index.php/Egypt Egypt has only been mentioned in Sprawl Survival Guide, p. 72, Feral Cities, p.72 and somewhere in State of the Art 2064.

Lars

Actually, yes. Here's some paraphrasing from Sprawl Survival Guide, which concerns Cairo and environs:

Northern Africa, "the Maghreb", is generally a diverse and sometimes chaotic place, owing to the sheer number various groups packed in with each other: traditional and westernised, secular and fundamentalist, along with everyone else stuck in the middle. There are a number of ethnic movements that are gaining some real power now, but the strongest one is the Islamic Unity Movement. (Unfortunately, I am unable to find much about them right now.) A few of these factions are hostile to each other or to foreigners, so there are always dangers to be considered when traveling in the area. (Apart from the usual environmental hazards, of course.)

Now then, Cairo. The Egyptian leadership has always worked hard to appease both the secular and fundamentalist populations, and to generally keep peace between them. The Mullahs "held significant sway" over the population until 2061, when the Islamic Unity Movement started to take a harsh attitude toward westerners and began to rally the more radical groups in the area. As a result, Cairo has become a refuge for anyone who does not agree with the IUM's actions. The city has grown since then as people move in from neighbouring nations. What of the native populations? Well, the Bedouin and Nubian minority populations, (who still live the nomadic desert lifestyles of their ancestors) have since renounced their Egyptian citizenship as they continue to move further toward their ethnic roots. This has caused some sparks between them and the Arab population, but they are still in friendly territory- Cairo boasts one of the better markets in the world for the trade of goods from the Sub-Saharan and Central African regions. The passing of the comet also caused some interest when astral constructs appeared at millennial sites up and down the river. Although the flood of tourists, researchers, and mystics brought a great deal of business and nuyen to the country, the ensuing activity prevented the government from reigning in old faith cults and curtailing internal dissent. (This is all c. 2061-63, so perhaps things have cooled down by the 2070s. It's probably not likely, as the cults have numerous bolt-holes all over the city.) Also during this time, unknown forces began to conduct organised sabotage on the facilities of megacorps. (Saeder-Krupp and its subsidiary Fatima Petrochemicals in particular.

There's also some information in the recent Feral Cities: 2070s Egypt is still a moderate country. The cults are still presumably active, but the government is having more trouble dealing with tribal politics. The Desert Wars sport has become increasingly popular, and mercenaries often hire themselves out as participants at the growing Cairo merc market. (This has also been cause for alarm for the government.) Also, the Pope of Copts formally welcomed technomancers into Egypt back in December 2070, and their population has grown steadily since.



Well, hope that at least helps somewhat. It's not much to go on, but I can relate to that. Perhaps we should try to get something together sometime to collect information on lesser-covered parts of the world and brainstorm for new ideas.


EDIT: Dagnabbit, forgot to mention that the Apep Consortium, formed in 2060, is headquartered in Cairo. They are a relatively new player in the Archaeology field and are still a little behind the Atlantean Foundation and DIMR, although their influence is growing.

SR's Egypt looks way different on a map than today - it annexed the territory formerly known as Libya in 2014 (after Israel had nuked it in 2004).