6 October 1981, in Luxor, Egypt

Last updated on: January 31, 2020 at 10:26 pm by Dan Peterson

6 October 1981, in Luxor, Egypt 2020-01-31T22:26:28-07:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A political map of Egypt, from the Nations Online Project. Asyut is slightly more than half of the distance from Cairo to Luxor along the Nile River.

My wife and I took the overnight train from Cairo to Luxor on Monday night, 5 October 1981. When we arrived in Luxor fairly late the following morning, we instantly sensed that there was something odd in the air, but we couldn’t tell at first what it was.

We eventually found out that Egyptian radio and television had been broadcasting the annual “victory” parade that was held in Cairo to celebrate Operation Badr. What was Operation Badr? It was a military effort at the beginning of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War — aka the Yom Kippur War or the Ramadan War — during which the Egyptian Army had crossed the Suez Canal and taken a portion of the Sinai Peninsula back from Israel. After the humiliation of the 1967 Six Day War under the late Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser — when Egypt had lost the Sinai — this had been a significant psychological moment for Egypt and Nasser’s still relatively new successor, Anwar Sadat. It restored their pride and their confidence, and I believe that it enabled Sadat to undertake his historic and heroic November 1977 visit to Jerusalem and the Israeli-Egyptian peace negotiations that followed thereafter.

Anyway, the broadcasting suddenly stopped, and radio and television began to play classical and military music, instead, with only static images. That was what was happening when we arrived in Luxor.

It took us quite a while to find out, and then to confirm, that President Sadat had been assassinated.

It took us even longer to figure out the extent of what had happened, which, fortunately, was less than we had feared. Not to say that the death of President Sadat wasn’t terrible. It was. Like many Americans, I regarded him as a hero, and I still do. But initial rumors suggested that a full-scale coup or revolution had taken place in Cairo. (And, in fact, an insurrection did take place in the Upper Egyptian city of Asyut — right along the railroad route between Luxor and Cairo — where rebels took control for several days. Fully 68 policemen and soldiers were killed in the fighting, and government control was not restored until paratroopers arrived from Cairo.) We were hours away from our apartment, not sure, at least for a day or two, whether it would even be safe to return home.

In the end, things were okay. For us, anyway. Life went on. (Traveling back through Asyut after several days in Luxor, we noticed nothing. Nothing about troubles there had been mentioned in the Egyptian media; we learned about them much later.)

I still very distinctly recall the first time I heard the surprisingly deep voice of President Hosni Mubarak. For some reason, I remember a fragment of his first sentence: Argu an tismahu li (“I hope that you will permit me”), he began. His voice shocked me a bit.

I’ve always regretted that I never met Anwar Sadat. I was in a class at the American University in Cairo with his daughter Noha. And I’ve since met his widow, the very impressive Jehan Sadat. But I never met President Sadat, whom I regard as one of the great figures of the twentieth century.

Previous Post

January 31, 2020

"Light Began Once More to Grow"

Next Post

February 1, 2020 In the wake of the Senate vote on witnesses (I)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

According to Paul, nothing in all creation can separate you from me—not death, not life, not angels or demons. What am I?

Select your answer to see how you score.

God's grace The love of God God's mercy Salvation