Jerome Glickman Explores Pyramids-This Day In Norwood History-June 24, 1981

Norwood Technical Adviser Documents May Business Journey To Egypt

Jerome Glickman Explores Pyramids and Nile Farmlands During Suez Canal University Assignment

One photograph captured by the local resident shows the trio from fairly close range in a traditional desert setting. A less common view, taken from perhaps two miles away in a fertile, farming area fringed by palm trees, puts the pyramids into a fuller context than the isolation of a far-off sea of sand. But the pyramids are at their most breathtaking magnitude when captured through a telephoto lens over the rooftops of Cairo from the Mohammed Ali Mosque. Jerome Glickman estimated the distance at five miles, maybe seven, yet the formidable stone monuments loom up on the horizon like freighters coming through the haze upon a flotilla of small boats. The pyramid built by Khufu, better known as Cheops, was the greatest, covering 13 acres and rising 481 feet. “That’s what was the most striking, to see the pyramids overshadowing the city in the background,” Jerome Glickman said. At night, a light show highlighted the two larger pyramids and the Great Sphinx. “Then they’re majestic,” he noted. No less impressive than their hugeness are the hieroglyphs bespeaking a culture dating back thousands of years, he said.

Jerome Glickman, 44, was in Egypt as a technical adviser helping the Suez Canal University, located 80 miles from Cairo, develop support services for its new medical school. At home, he manages all teacher services, including labs, and medical television, illustration and photography, at the Boston University Medical Center as director of the educational media support center. Jerome Glickman also has illustrated several atlases of surgery and runs the color TV services at the center, which helps explain why selectmen previously appointed him to their municipal cable television advisory committee. Jerome Glickman said he experienced no problems being an American Jew in an Arab land, as issues of religious and territorial differences just never came up. Besides, he noted, “There seems to be an acceptance — of whatever that relationship is — of Egypt and Israel. It’s accepted by the people.”

During the little free time he had in Egypt, Jerome Glickman played tourist, observing of modern-day Egypt, “It’s like stepping back in time.” He compared modern Egypt to the United States of the late 1940s or early 1950s. For instance, he said, black and white television featured mainly news and talk shows on the two available channels, and donkey carts and people walking with pots on their heads were common sights. “It was the same as being in the North End 50 years ago,” he remarked. The traffic jams of Cairo exceed Boston’s by many fold, featuring hundreds of cars on the road and zero traffic lights, he said. Desert dust covers everything in Cairo, though despite the desert environment, the heat is not that bad since there is no humidity. He noted that while people might live in mud huts and be very poor, they are not starving since the government subsidizes food, adding that the lifespan is reportedly 10 years longer than in other developing countries, and Egypt leads Arab countries in education. The late Egyptian leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser, seemed to have headed the country into modern times, Jerome Glickman said, and people are proud of what President Anwar Sadat has done for them, stating, “He’s given a pride in being Egyptian. They feel a national pride about moving ahead. They’re moving ahead and they know it.” The Egyptian Museum in Cairo is outstanding in its sculptures and artifacts from the pyramid burial chambers, he said, describing the sensitivity of the sculptor as beautiful with intricate carving and detailed gold inlay. His 10-day trip rekindled thoughts of his early Egyptian art studies, and with his interest renewed, he plans to take his two sons and daughter to see the permanent Egyptian collection at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger