6^th High School

English

Midaq Alley, by Naguib Mahfouz

This is a map of the alley, describing the characters and situations as the novel begins.

The Two Houses*
		Umm Hamida is a matchmaker, who lives here with her foster daughter Hamida—a pretty, ambitious woman in her 20’sHaA		Kirsha, the café owner and hashish addict with an attraction to young men, lives here with his wife, Mrs. Kirsha, and his son Hussain Kirsha—a clever and ambitious young man. (The 6 Kirsha daughters are married and moved away.)
		Mrs. Saniya Afify, owner and landlady of this building, lives here, and desires to have a husband.		Radwan Hussainy, owner and landlord of this building, lives here with his wife. He is considered to be a man of “happiness, tolerance, and deep faith”. He turned his life’s tragedies into a praise of God.
		Dr. Booshy, not a real doctor, but a practicing dentist to the poor, lives here.		Both Uncle Kamil, the fat, sleepy maker of sweets, and Abbas Hilu, the gentle, good-natured barber, live here.
	THE OFFICE owned and run by Salim Alwan. The company’s business is perfume, but during the war is also trading in some black market goods, including tea. Salim Alwan has 3 sons, a doctor, a lawyer, and a judge.		MIDAQ ALLEY c. 1944-1945		THE BAKERY run by Husniya the bakeress and her husband Jaada	Zaita the cripple-maker lives in a small room behind the bakery.
					KIRSHA’S CAFÉ is the gathering place of many who live in the alley, as well as Sheikh Darwish, and the waiter Sanker
	ABBAS’ BARBER SHOP				UNCLE KAMIL’S SWEETSHOP
Sanadiqiya Street

*NOTE: In Chapter 7, the author says that the Afify house is next to the bakery. But the description in Chapter 1 seems to put both the bakery and Radwan Hussainy’s house on the right side of the alley.