Hi Michela,

Well, your thread is getting many hits! Let's hope that someone is able to help. My money's on Excoriator - if anyone knows, I suspect he does!

I'd certainly be very interested in the result of your researches regarding the Scarlet Women. Were you able to confirm the 1976 (?) death date of Leah Hirsig?

Regards,

Paul
@lashtal.com">webmaster@lashtal.com

Hi Paul,
Lea (without "h") Hirsig died in Meiringen 22th February 1975 at 6.15 PM.
We have the official documents from the "Zivilstandsamt Oberhasli", near Meiringen. We had contact with a man, a hotelier, who´s grand-aunt was Lea. He told us, that Lea was a "very important" aunt for his father. He told us, if he could find photos from her, he would send it.
Last year we travelled in that wonderful region of switzerland, searching for Lea´s grave. The grave was opend 8 years before. (graves in that region only exist for 20 years.)
But we could find all other informations and the contact with Lea´s "bloodline".
A few month ago a lady, "Mrs. Hirsig" from the "Zivilstandsamt" in Amsolding CH (near Trachselwald, Lea´s place of birth) called me to give more information about Lea. I was perplexed, hearing the name Hirsig from a lady with typical swiss - pronounciation. But it was "only" by chance (C.G. Jung would liked it).
OK. That´s for today. Two years ago, we travelled to Cefalu. Last year to Meiringen. This year ?.
Please excuse our English.
Regards
Kurt & Michela

Hi Paul,
sorry for mistake: Lea died 6.15 AM!
Regards
Kurt

I have very good reason to believe that it was in Sharia Kasr el Nil (i.e. Kasr el Nil street). And there is a fair chance that it was in the Midan Soliman Pasha, a.k.a. Place de Soliman Pasha, a.k.a. Soliman Pasha Square; now known as Midan Talaat Harb (a.k.a. etc.).

And it is possible that it is a building in a photograph on this website:

http://www.egy.com/landmarks/

Go down the index on the left to this one:

99-03-18 MIDAN SOLIMAN PASHA

On that page there is a photograph, taken within two decades of 1904, of the Michel Ayoub Pasha Building; a curious, curved building that still exists. It was built around the turn of the century and it is my prime candidate. Unfortunately, I haven't quite clinched it. If anyone would like to pay for me to go back to Cairo, and/or London, I might be able to confirm it for y'all. If it is that building, it wasn't called that then. It is also possible it was a previous building on that site.

Interestingly, the Midan is generally regarded as the centre of Cairo (though it has some competition in the much larger Midan Tahrir, which the museum is on). I even once had a tout approach me in the Midan Talaat Harb using as his opening line that it is the centre of the city.

CSM

Thanks very much for that, Excoriator.

Let's hope that someone is able to help. My money's on Excoriator - if anyone knows, I suspect he does!

Paul
@lashtal.com">webmaster@lashtal.com

Hi Excoriator,
thank you very much for this information. I am very happy.
If you are interested in it, I will send you a copy of Lea´s family-record.
Regards
Michela & Kurt

This one also might be of interest. It is circa 1900 and one of the distinctive cupolas of what is now known as the Michel Ayoub Pasha Building is visible to the right. The statue of Soliman Pasha is also visible in the middle of the place.

CSM

Chapter II 76

I've been waiting a few days for someone else to take this bait... but I'll chomp on the hook:

Are you saying that details about the specific hotel in Cairo might contain clues to the letter/number cipher in the above verse? There's no Hotel Algmor around the corner, is there...? 🙂

Chapter III 4

Ok, Faustian...

II:76

4 6 3 8 A B K 2 4 A L G M O R 3 Y
X 24 89 R P S T O V A L. What
meaneth this, o prophet? Thou knowest
not; nor shalt thou know ever. There
cometh one to follow thee: he shall
expound it. But remember, o chosen
one, to be me; to follow the love of
Nu in the star-lit heaven; to look forth
upon men, to tell them this glad word.

III:4

Choose ye an island!

Do you want to give us a hint where this is leading, or are you just throwing out references at random?

II:76 Gives you a name

III:4 Narrows the location

You already know the city.

I assume you're referring to Zamalek Island, Cairo, also known as Gazireh. In Crowley's time it was still known by its old name of Gezirat Boulaq (ie Boulaq Island).

But I don't see how this relates to verse II:76...

Intriguing, though!

Oh wow... I hate it when light bulbs go off in head after being bludgeoned.... I think I may see what you're driving at, "faustian". Dammit, I wasn't up for doing research tonight, I've got deadlines creeping. Although, a short story I've been tooling around with might just benefit from this knowledge, at least for giving it a touch more verisimilitude.

Since it never hurts to have a map when looking for something try
http://historic-cities.huji.ac.il/egypt/cairo/cairo.html
Best Wishes Robert.
ps if you click on the maps they enlarge giving more detail.

Bravo!

III:4 == ILE DE BOULAQ

Ah, but what about the II:76?

Exactly. My brain hurts.

First class flats to be let in a modern, up to date building, close to Ghezireh Palace Hotel and Khedivial Sporting Club. Latest perfected system of sanitary installation; automatic electric lift; every convenience. Apply to Anglo-Belgian Co. of Egypt, Ltd., Savoy Chambers, Cairo.
Advertisement Section - The Egyptian Gazette, 5 June 1908

II 76

RSVP TO BALMORAL

Er, is that it?

The latest issue of Ancient Egypt magazine (June/July 2007) is due out very shortly.

Among the articles is...

Cairo 100 years ago: AE looks at the Cairo of the late nineteenth century and into the last century, and at buildings which remain and some which have now been lost.

Balmoral is not a place in England.

No, it's a place in Scotland.

Am I missing something here?

😉

Yes

It's a place in Zamalek

Faustian,

I have to hand it to you -- that's a very interesting discovery...

Over to the other members here to make sense of what it actually means, what its significance is.

Thank you.

Paul

One more clue. Dr. Zahi Hawass likes to hang out in this place - at least once a month. It is not far from the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

They say: the best place to hide something is in plain sight.

So the Balmoral Hotel at 157 26th July Street..?

Not exactly a Hotel. You can check in, but not check out. More a dusk till dawn kind of place...

I was just about to post the same thing...

157 26th of July Street
Balmoral Hotel
Cairo

With no expense spared, the site formerly known as the Balmoral has been transformed into Cairo's hottest bistro and lounge. Prepare to be dazzled. Recreating Belle Epoque design, each room is elegantly done out to recapture the grandeur of the roaring 20s.

There's probably a song in there somewhere, for the more eagle-eyed amongst us . . .

I'm enjoying this "Round Cairo Quiz" and imagine we're being pointed in the direction of a cemetery somewhere on Zamalek.

But... Why?

Once we've established the location that we're supposed to "RSVP" to, what will we be left with? Evidence of the authenticity of the BOTL? Or evidence that it's a hoax? Or...?

Oh, and I do hope that the reference to Mr Hawass doesn't turn out to be libelous!

Hawass . . . Aiwass . . . Hmmm . . .

Damn it Michael... that's not fair, man.... LMAO

I did not mean it to be libelous. He is a famous guy, who I have seen eat there. His restaurant choices are his own.

Wulfram did anyone ever mention that you look like Orson Welles. I hope that isn't libelous.

Ha... it's been mentioned a time or two. A compliment, as far as I'm concerned.

Dr Hawass eats once a month at a restaurant that: "You can check in, but not check out. More a dusk till dawn kind of place..."?

There's something on the wall? "In plain sight"?

The Balmoral hasn't been a hotel in over twenty years - as far as I could tell. It was a real dive back in the 1970s. The Marriot (previously the Omar Khayyam Hotel) around the corner is the place to stay – also a favorite of AC and his wife Rose back in 1904 when it was called the Gezira Palace hotel.

As for the wall of the Balmoral, if you stare at it long enough, you might just see a 666 in the contours of the logo. What else can I tell you? The paté de foie gras is to die for.

Thanks for all the info, Faustian.

Okay, I'll bite... 😉

Why do you think this establishment is significant and why do you connect it with the II:76 cipher (if that's what it is) in the BOTL?

You kicked this off by saying:

II:76 Gives you a name... III:4 Narrows the location

And added that you saw the "cipher" to include an anagram of "RSVP TO BALMORAL".

Have you developed this any further? I must say I'm impressed by the possibility of a link, but if we've got as far as we can, then that's disappointing...

I don't see how this carrot on a stick of Faustian's is all that intriguing.

If you gather the anagram you are left with the letters AKGYX. Not to mention the numbers.

Adding further incredibility is his bringing up Dr. Hawass out of nowhere. Whenever someone starts making connections like this 'conspiracy nut' instantly pops into my head.

I have to agree with KCh yet, in all fairness, giving Faustian the shot at revealing something truly mind-blowing beyond the

paté de foie gras

waiting at the end of the line, unless that, too, is an anagram...

Humpttt. Well I disagree with YOU Kidneyhawk (and KCh). I think this is rather interesting albeit draging on far longer than needed. I thought this approach was rather refreshing. Instead of just laying his/her work out there this poster is making us all think a bit which god knows we all do about everything in excess already but you know...magicians love a good mystery. 😉

Have you developed this any further? I must say I'm impressed by the possibility of a link, but if we've got as far as we can, then that's disappointing...

I'm with Paul though. I hope theres more to this.

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Kym

So were the Crowleys staying at the Balmoral or the Gezira Palace Hotel at the time?

Colin Mcleod's excellent Secret Temple site - http://www.duaut.net - includes some cuttings from the Egyptian Gazette:

On Thursday, February 11th, 1904 they are reported as being at the Grand Continental.
On Tuesday, February 16th, 1904 they are reported as recent arrivals at the Eastern Exchange Hotel, Port Said.
On Saturday, February 27th, 1904 they were amongst the latest arrivals at the Tewfik Palace Hotel, Helouan, and were still listed there on Tuesday, March 1st, 1904.
They were still at the same hotel on Thursday, March 3rd, 1904, and had apparently declared their intention to remain until the end of April. They were certainly still there on Saturday, March 5th, 1904, and again in an article dated Saturday, March 12th, 1904.

Of course, Crowley states in The Equinox of the Gods that on or around 14 March 1904 he and Rose moved to a flat in Cairo.

As an aside... I've just noticed that Colin permits the reproduction of his essay online with suitable attribution: "This text version is intended for free distribution but I would prefer that it not be altered and that authorship is properly attributed." For this reason and to provide the essay with the circulation it most definitely deserves, I reproduce it here: http://www.lashtal.com/nuke/module-subjects-viewpage-pageid-142.phtml

So now you know that there is actually no Balmoral Hotel (it has been closed for over 15 years); only a bistro. As far as Zahi Hawass is concerned, there is no conspiracy theory here; simply a famous guy who likes to eat at fine restaurants. And the paté de foie gras is excellent.

You have a location

III 34

AC liked to travel in style. The first stop was the Tewfik Palace Hotel in Helwan. The next stop in Cairo had to be at least as good – if not better. That only leaves the Gezira Palace Hotel on Boulaq Island, not far from the fabled museum. But we know that he stayed in an apartment – on a short term month to month lease – probably an annex of this hotel.

Knowing AC it was probably the haramlik.

This thread reads like Thelema visited by Borges or Eco. More please.

I have always liked the

Hawass . . . Aiwass . . .

similarity - surprised it hasn't been raised more often. If you want to study the Stele of Revealing in depth you have to contact a body headed by...makes you think. [edit - I mean the physical artefact of course]

In my experience suggesting that an archaeologist likes good food and drink (not necessarily in that order) would never be libelous. It goes with the territory - I have even worked on a project for an internationally respected organisation where if you were not prepared for nightly social drinking you didn't get employed.... 😀

Faustian notes that:

It is not far from the Supreme Council of Antiquities. They say: the best place to hide something is in plain sight.

Any LAShTAL.COM members or visitors in Cairo at present and able to to take a look?

I'm visiting Egypt next month but don't currently plan to visit Cairo...

93 faustian

Still waiting for your reply to this one:

Why do you think this establishment is significant and why do you connect it with the II:76 cipher (if that's what it is) in the BOTL?

John

93 93/93