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The Cretan house is very well known in Egypt, and outside of
Egypt as the set for a
tryst and murder in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me.
It is situated behind Ibn Toulon mosque in historic Cairo, and was turned
into a museum some 70 years ago. This museum holds all the belongings of an
English Pasha who worked as a doctor. Dr. Gayer Anderson pasha worked
for the Egyptian government as a physician and he loved the Egyptian
culture. He rented two houses, one of which was owned by a Cretan woman who
once served the rich Ottomans. Dr. Gayer joined the two houses by a veranda
above both gardens of the houses. He then sought to furnish and decorate the
houses with rich Egyptian cultural antiques like carpets, paintings,
statues, utensils, musical instruments, lanterns and bread baskets. Dr.
Gayer even collected old weapons of war. He collected items from all over
Egypt and from all eras of Egyptian history. These included artifacts
from ancient pharaonic Egypt, others from the Roman period and from the
Coptic and Islamic periods. On leaving Egypt, Gayer Pasha donated his house
to the country as a museum. Each room is elaborately furnished thematically
according to the British colonial fascination with Orienentalism. There is a
Persian Room, a Chinese Room, a Turkish Room, a Harem, etc. There are
excellent carved wooden mushribiyya work over the windows and even the roof
area.
Dr. Gayer drawn as the Sphinx
 One
of the most interesting item that Gayer obtained is the 14 legends of the
Cretan woman (known to the Egyptians as the “Kredleyah Woman”).
The people of Toulon, which was one of the oldest district in Egypt, created
these legends. They were then passed on from one generation to another. The
legends were then told to Dr. Gayer by the last of the “Kritley” family,
Sheik Soliman El Kritley. He was the sheik of a small mosque and an unknown
sepulcher. The sheik was also a neighbor of Dr. Gayer. Parts of the legends
were even carved in brass by Moalem Abd El Aziz Abdo also known as “Abu
Shanab”. Gayer then translated the legends into the English language and
published, “Legends of the Cretan Woman” in London in 1951. Gayer Pasha
left the house to the Egyptian government as a museum but he took with him
the original copy of the book. The Arabic scripts of the legends have never
been found.
The Gayer-Anderson Museum is a wonder and should not be
missed especially if you are visiting the Ibn Toulon Mosque. It is
also known as Beit Al-Kritliya.
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