Here I show a variety of the sightings in Cairo (in order of discovery, from the areas of Dokki, Giza, Maadi, the American University in Cairo, Gezira Island, and Heliopolis, and are grouped as such. (Other sightings, such as Cairo airport (no pictures available), of the City of the Dead (for copyright reasons) are not pictured.) The pictures are shown in three different ways, essentially at whim:
Although broadly the pictures essentially do not need comment, on occasions this is added to clarify certain aspects. Primarily, the pictures are from Helen Donnelly, with additional photos from Gregg De Young and Pam Garnett, who are both in Cairo at the moment, and who have joined with me in investigating the occurrence. 'Occasional instances' from other correspondents are included as well. As a simple statement, there are broadly two types of the tiling, of pentagons in a square matrix, with a smooth surface (which when translated form an overall tiling), and individual pentagons, largely with a noticeably textured surface, subdivided symmetrically into many smaller polygons. Within each category, variations in colour ensue:
Such multiplicities open up a variety of colour permutations of placement, of which just about every combination can be seen, including occasionally non-repeating placements of the tiling. For example, for the square matrix, typically seen are strips, with differing unit thickness, and chequerboard. Another arrangement, less seen, is of a rectangular placement. The individual pentagons are more commonly seen with four colours, although there are arrangements with fewer colours (that violate the maps colouring rule, but still remain orderly). Of course, mathematically the most interesting are those with an orderly nature. As regards the sizes of the tiles, for any one type, two different sizes are seen, but these differ in the frequency of usage. The square matrices most frequently measure approximately 21 cm (8½ inches sides), although occasionally a larger size is seen, approximately 27 cm (11 inches). The individual pentagons are most frequently of a base of 27 cm (10½ inches), with sides of * although occasionally a smaller size is seen, with a base of 18 cm, with sides of* Dokki   Figures 1, 2 © Helen Donnelly Figure 1: Detail at El Behooth Metro station. A feature of this tiling is its undoubted great age. Indeed, in places the tiling, through years of use, has been completely worn away. An open question is to how old the tilings are. 50 years? 100 years? Perhaps they are even older. Would anyone care to speculate as to a possible age?
Figure 2: Detail outside El Behooth Metro station  Figure 3: © Helen Donnelly
Figure 3: The plainest possible arrangement, of monocoloured tiles, in a square matrix, here in grey. (Other monocoloured sightings include burgundy and yellow). One aspect of note is the relative recent appearance of these tiles, with these obviously in more or less pristine condition (in contrast to other, much older ones, which show considerable signs of wear). Residential area
  Figures 4, 5 © Helen Donnelly Figure 4:Residential area Figure 5: A chequerboard arrangement of the square matrix type, here with two colours, burgundy and tan.
  Figure 6 © Helen Donnelly
Figure 7 © Helen Donnelly
This shows single pentagons, of different colours, arranged in a likely regular 4-colouring, although strictly this is not so, in that one of the tiles is misplaced, but beyond all reasonable doubt a regular 4-colouring is intended. Note that this is not the only 4-colouring possible, there are others.  Figure 8 © Helen Donnelly
Detail of the square matrix type. Of note are the decidedly wide grooves that separate the pentagons, of which it would appear that the designer has been somewhat neglectful in the stricter mathematical sense here. Presumably identical pentagons are intended, in that when shown as a tiling, the interior grooves do not marry in width with the exterior grooves as they should otherwise do with this ideal in mind.  Figure 9 © Helen Donnelly Detail of the individual pentagon. Of note is the curious interior decoration, with mirror symmetry, of many irregular polygons, which seem to be arbitrary in intent.  Figure 10 © Helen Donnelly
Helen Donnelly pictured with the pentagons
Giza
 Figure 11 © Helen Donnelly
Outside the entrance to Giza Zoo
Maadi
 Figure 12 © Pam Garnett
El Golf Street
 Figure 13 © Pam Garnett
El Golf Street
 Figure 14 © Pam Garnett
Of note here is the usage of the tiles, of private property to tile a driveway, as against the more frequently seen municipal use with street pavings.  Figure 15 © Gregg De Young
Canal Street Road 86-87
Aside front the tiling issue per se is the one of coloration, with many colourations being possible. An open question is to what guidance is given with the tiles upon purchase. As such, as a generality, to compose a regular colouration is not a straightforward task. Many of the colorations violate the map colouring rule. That said, it is still possible to tile in a regular way, but the designer here seems to have lost his way, or patience (given that most people would not be mathematically inclined), it that various combinations of contiguous 2-colour are seen here, of a non regular way.
 Junction of Road 12 and 85
A seemingly random 4-colouring  Figure 17 © Pam Garnett
A configuration of the 'Macmillan' type, but of three different colours, of a arbitrary arrangement
 Figure 18 © Gregg De Young
Port Said Victoria Square
The pentagon in context with its surroundings. Of note is the plain nature of the pentagon, without surface decoration as normally found. Also see detail below.  Figure 18 © Gregg De Young
Detail of Port Said Victoria Square
Detail. This sighting is of note as regards the pentagon, this being of a single tile, without colour, but without the interior surface decoration.  Figure 20 © Gregg De Young
Road 15
4-colouring type, of one orientation, one colour, again in a private driveway. This is by far the most frequently seen colouration, likely as this is considered the simplest means of laying the tiles, in that for any one orientation of the tiles, these are of the same colour.  Figure 21 © Gregg De Young
Sharia al-Nahda
A 'Macmillan' type colouring and ordering, in red and yellow
 Figure 22 © Gregg De Young
A minor colour variation of the chequerboard type, of a 2 x 2 arrangement  Figure 23 © Gregg De Young
Another minor variation of the monotype, in strips of different thicknesses  Figure 24 © Gregg De Young Chequerboard arrangement  Figure 26 © Gregg De Young
Of interest here is the unusual colouration, with a 'regular' colouration of contiguous (non-mapped) tiles
American University in Cairo (AUC) The AUC sightings, being of a significant nature, are discussed in more detail on separate pages, see:
 Figure 27 © Gregg De Young
Detail of AUC administration building, of a 'butterfly' configuration, in a black and white colouring
 Figure 28 © Josie Hendrickson
Panorama of AUC Greek campus, with a Macmillan colouring and ordering. Of note is the sheer extent of the tiling, many hundreds of square yards
Heliopolis
 Figure 29 © Craig Scott
The Craig Scott picture from Heliopolis is interesting as regards its colouration, consisting of a five colours, a feature not seen elsewhere. However, whether this is a regular colouring or a random assortment arranged ‘any which way’ is uncertain due to the ‘few in number’ of tiles of this patch. Upon preliminary investigation, it would appear random. If a regular five-colouring was indeed discerned, this would be significant, as it would suggest a mathematician is behind this; beyond all reasonable doubt, a lay person would not go to the time and trouble for such an involved colouring. Also, exactly where in Heliopolis this was seen is unclear, as well as the extent. Upon contact with Craig asking for more details, he could provide little more; the picture was taken, in 2007, as a typical tourist snap, the paving having just caught his eye, and so he didn’t pay this undue attention at the time. Does any reader know of Heliopolis and know exactly where this is?  Detail Gezira Island, Gezira Sporting Club A correspondent, Doris Shoukri of the AUC upon a general Cairo paving query, told me that the pavings may have appeared at the Gezira Sporting Club, possibly of early 1960s. However, details are decidedly sketchy. A picture search for the club found a sighting, at the pergola at the Golf club, link below:
However, whether these are
indeed of the 1960s remains conjecture. That said, the possibility of notable
age remains; the Sporting Club was founded in about 1883 (the exact date is a
little hazy).
Certainly, the paving is a
spectacular sight, one of the largest in extent.
As ever in this enquiry, if anyone
has details of this, pictures, modern day or ‘old’, or background history I
would be pleased to hear from. Created 25 October 2011. Revised 27 January, 24 July 2012: Gezira Island sightingHeliopolis, |
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