Cairo -- medieval

Cairo -DA20-Bellum Horarium: Arcanam Medieval

Quote (استشهد)

Mistress of broad provinces and fruitful lands, boundless in profusion
of buildings, peerless in beauty and splendor, she shelters all you will of the
learned and ignorant, the grave and the gay, the prudent and the foolish,
the noble and the base...like the waves of the sea she surges with her throngs
of folk...her youth is ever new despite the length of days. Her reigning star
never shifts from the mansion of fortune. (sic)

-- Ibn Batuta, Rihla (The Journey)

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Admonition (تحذير)

Older than time itself, Cairo sits as a gleaming gem amid
the Egyptian sands. But is its glitter a beacon of hope or the
harbinger of something more terrible?

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History of the City Triumphant

Sins of the Fathers: A Secret History of Cairo

Time.

Long before my seminal mortal work, the Kitab al-Ibar, I was fascinated by its very concept -- where it comes from, what it signifies and, most importantly, what it (and its shortage) drives men to accomplish or ignore. When my sire first brought me into this world of eternal night, some six centuries ago now, my presumptions about time and "immortality" were, understandably, those that only a mortal could presume. Only now, having come this far through the long fog of history, do I even begin to see...

Time and the land of Egypt are, with little measure of overstatement, linked -- as brother and sister, as husband and wife. I pen this historical record as a living testament to them; to their scope, their ravages, their patience and deceit and, above all, the awesome power that is theirs to share. If it is a comprehensive history of either that you seek, be it mundane or otherwise, seek it elsewhere. I make no excuses about my designs for this brief account.

A strange mirror-tale to my work on humanity, it is equally as much the story of my kind as I have come to understand it. Cairo has borne the heavy load of the Damned for so long, and I believe that to learn from that suffering is a debt that is owed. Kindred find that many lessons can be learned in time...

I have heard it said that history is written by the victors. Alas, among the undead this is a curious fallacy: To the Children of Caine, history is truly written by those who have shaped its course -- and they are not always the victors.

May Allah bring ever-lasting peace and prosperity upon you.

-- Abd al-Rahman Ibn Khaldun, Walid Al-Muntathir

City of the Gods

Despite the early Egyptian belief that Creation began here in the form of a mound called benben, birthed by the gods eons ago from the void of nothingness, a more pragmatic (and less spectacular) view is more likely the case. Long ago, the land that was to become Egypt was, ironically, buried under an endless sea. Water, modern Egypt's most scant resource, was everything and everywhere. In time, the area gradually became a tropical forest, teeming with an abundance of flora and fauna. Life of all shapes and varieties, including many tribes of early humans, flocked to this budding paradise.

The first mortal inhabitants of the land they came to call Khem soon found that the price they would pay for Heaven on Earth was to live as obedient subjects to a host of deathless masters. In their wisdom, the gods had chosen to make the most beautiful land in Creation their home on the living plane. And it is in this place that their city arose, dotted with dazzling palaces and monuments of flawlessly worked stone. Here the gods rested long, hot days in private luxury, rising after nightfall to walk freely among their living worshipers.



Although the kine lived to serve (and, indeed, often served with their lives), the gratitude bestowed upon them for faithful service were wondrous indeed. From the gods themselves the mortals were taught new and more efficient way to make their living community thrive. Their sovereign lords instructed them, fittingly, on the arts of domestication and husbandry. These techniques were applied to everything possible, and thse ancient Egyptians had soon domesticated wheat, barley, sheep, goats, and cattle. Donkeys were put to use for transport, and pigs were kept in farms outside the city. One god in particular taught his subjects a deep reverence for all animals, and it is believed that from him that they learned to keep them as sacred aspects of the cycle of life. Some animals, such as the greyhound and the cat, were then given to the faithful as companions of their own -- to be taken in to live with them in their homes.

From the other gods, the mortals learned of community, love, early science and design. One game unto them the secret of flax, which was grown, spun into thread and woven into linen for the city's clothing. Another, presumably the designer of their own spectacular palaces, taught the people ways to live more securely, and soon their homes took on and even, rectangular shape, constructed of a much better brick. Another god poured his metalworking genius into their tools, which soon included harpoons, hoes, spindles, looms and drills for hollowing out stone vases. The people's use of flint for blades became more refined, and he assisted them in securing copper and other rare metals of the day. Yet another, one of the most favored among the kine by all accounts, took an active interest in their sense of community and pride. She encouraged recreation time to balance the heavy workload placed upon them, and was the most vocal proponent of leniency whenever transgressions occurred. One of her greatest gifts to them was a powerful oral tradition -- a method by which their songs and stories could live on through the ages -- and the many incarnations of this gift remain to this night.



As is also fitting, the gods gave unto their people a deep pandect of beliefs centered upon a strong religion. The dead, they were taught, were seen as holy -- to be treasured and revered by the living. Their were taught to sacrifice of themselves to those who passed on, and they supplied food and other items to the dead in their graves.

They chanted dirges to their fallen loved ones and observed holy days and nights in their names. Reverence for the lords of eternity and the afterlife that awaited them became paramount, and it is from this greatest of traditions that the greatest struggles would arise. This struggle -- would come to be known as the Jyhad.

A Brief History of Egypt

The history of Egypt has been long and rich, due to the flow of the Nile river, with its fertile banks and delta. Its rich history also comes from its native inhabitants and outside influence. Much of Egypt's ancient history was a mystery until the secrets of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs were deciphered with the discovery and help of the Rosetta Stone. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing. The Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the other Seven Wonders, is gone. The Library of Alexandria was the only one of its kind for centuries.

Human settlement in Egypt dates back to at least 40,000 BC with Aterian tool manufacturing. Ancient Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh of the First Dynasty, Narmer. Predominately native Egyptian rule lasted until the conquering of Egypt by the Achaemenid Persian Empire in the 6th century BC.

In 332 BC, Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great conquered Egypt as he toppled the Achaemenids and established the Hellenistic Ptolemaic Kingdom, whose first ruler was one of Alexander's former generals, Ptolemy I Soter. The Ptolemies had to fight native rebellions and were involved in foreign and civil wars that led to the decline of the kingdom and its final annexation by Rome. The death of Cleopatra ended the nominal independence of Egypt resulting in Egypt becoming one of the provinces of the Roman Empire.

Roman rule in Egypt (including Byzantine) lasted from 30 BC to 641 AD, with a brief Sassanid Persian interlude between 619-629, known as Sasanian Egypt. After the Islamic conquest of Egypt, parts of Egypt became provinces of successive Caliphates and other Muslim dynasties: Rashidun Caliphate (632-661), Umayyad Caliphate (661–750), Abbasid Caliphate (750-909), Fatimid Caliphate (909-1171), Ayyubid Sultanate (1171–1260), and the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt (1250-1517).

Timeline

• 1st century BCE - Babylon Fortress built (approximate date).

• 4th-5th centuries CE - Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church (Abu Serga) built.

• 6th century - Church of Saint Menas established.

• 642 - Mosque of Amr ibn al-As built.

• 879 - Mosque of Ibn Tulun built.

• Church of St. George built (approximate date).

• Church of the Virgin Mary (Haret Zuweila) built (approximate date).

• 970

• Misr al-Qahira settlement founded by Fatimid Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah.

• Al-Azhar University established.

• 972 - Al-Azhar Mosque established.

• 978 -The Hanging Church rebuilt (approximate date).

• 979 - Saint Mercurius Church in Coptic Cairo rebuilt (approximate date).

• 992 - Al-Hakim Mosque built.

• 11th century - Church of the Holy Virgin (Babylon El-Darag) built.

• 1016 - Lulua Mosque built.

• 1073 - Saint Barbara Church in Coptic Cairo restored.

• 1085 - Juyushi Mosque built.

• 1092 - City wall and Gates of Cairo built (including Bab Zuweila and Bab al-Nasr).

Medieval Cairo

Following the Islamic conquest in 639 AD, Lower Egypt was ruled at first by governors acting in the name of the Rashidun Caliphs and then the Ummayad Caliphs in Damascus, but in 747 the Ummayads were overthrown. In 1174, Egypt came under the rule of Ayyubids, which lasted until 1252.

The Ayyubids were overthrown by their bodyguards, known as the Mamluks, who ruled under the suzerainty of Abbasid Caliphs until 1517, when Egypt became part of the Ottoman Empire as Eyālet-i Mıṣr province.

The Muslim conquest of Egypt

n 639 an army of some 4,000 men were sent against Egypt by the second caliph, Umar, under the command of Amr ibn al-As. This army was joined by another 5,000 men in 640 and defeated a Byzantine army at the battle of Heliopolis. Amr next proceeded in the direction of Alexandria, which was surrendered to him by a treaty signed on November 8, 641. Alexandria was regained for the Byzantine Empire in 645 but was retaken by Amr in 646. In 654 an invasion fleet sent by Constans II was repulsed. From that time no serious effort was made by the Byzantines to regain possession of the country.

Administration of early Islamic Cairo

Following the first surrender of Alexandria, Amr chose a new site to settle his men, near the location of the Byzantine fortress of Babylon. The new settlement received the name of Fustat, after Amr's tent, which had been pitched there when the Arabs besieged the fortress. Fustat quickly became the focal point of Islamic Egypt, and, with the exception of the brief relocation to Helwan during a plague in 689, and the period of 750–763, when the seat of the governor moved to Askar, the capital and residence of the administration. After the conquest, the country was initially divided in two provinces, Upper Egypt (al-sa'id) and Lower Egypt with the Nile Delta (asfal al-ard). In 643/4, however, Caliph Uthman appointed a single governor (wāli) with jurisdiction over all of Egypt, resident at Fustat. The governor would in turn nominate deputies for Upper and Lower Egypt. Alexandria remained a distinct district, reflecting both its role as the country's shield against Byzantine attacks, and as the major naval base. It was considered a frontier fortress (ribat) under a military governor and was heavily garrisoned, with a quarter of the province's garrison serving there in semi-annual rotation. Next to the wāli, there was also the commander of the police (ṣāḥib al-shurṭa), responsible for internal security and for commanding the jund (army).

The main pillar of the early Muslim rule and control in the country was the military force, or jund, staffed by the Arab settlers. These were initially the men who had followed Amr and participated in the conquest. The followers of Amr were mostly drawn from Yamani (south Arabian) tribes, rather than the northern Arab (Qaysi) tribes, who were scarcely represented in the province; it was they who dominated the country's affairs for the first two centuries of Muslim rule. Initially, they numbered 15,500, but their numbers grew through emigration in the subsequent decades. By the time of Caliph Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680), the number of men registered in the army list (diwān al-jund) and entitled an annual pay (ʿaṭāʾ) reached 40,000. Jealous of their privileges and status, which entitled them to a share of the local revenue, the members of the jund then virtually closed off the register to new entries. It was only after the losses of the Second Fitna that the registers were updated, and occasionally, governors would add soldiers en masse to the lists as a means to garner political support.

In return for a tribute of money and food for the troops of occupation, the Christian inhabitants of Egypt were excused from military service and left free in the observance of their religion and the administration of their affairs.

Conversions of Copts to Islam were initially rare, and the old system of taxation was maintained for the greater part of the first Islamic century. The old division of the country into districts (nomoi) was maintained, and to the inhabitants of these districts demands were directly addressed by the governor of Egypt, while the head of the community—ordinarily a Copt but in some cases a Muslim Egyptian—was responsible for compliance with the demand.

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Districts of Al-Qāhirah

Аrea around present-day Cairo, especially Memphis, had long been a focal point of Ancient Egypt due to its strategic location just upstream from the Nile Delta. However, the origins of the modern city are generally traced back to a series of settlements in the first millennium. Around the turn of the 4th century, as Memphis was continuing to decline in importance, the Romans established a fortress town along the east bank of the Nile. This fortress, known as Babylon, remains the oldest structure in the city. It is also situated at the nucleus of the Coptic Orthodox community, which separated from the Roman and Byzantine church in the late 4th century. Many of Cairo's oldest Coptic churches, including the Hanging Church, are located along the fortress walls in a section of the city known as Coptic Cairo.

Babylon Fortress

There is evidence of settlement in the area as early as the 6th century BC, when Persians built a fort on the Nile, north of Memphis. The Persians also built a canal from the Nile (at Fustat) to the Red Sea. The Persian settlement was called Babylon, reminiscent of the ancient city along the Euphrates, and it gained importance while the nearby city of Memphis declined, as did Heliopolis. During the Ptolemaic period, Babylon and its people were mostly forgotten.

It is traditionally held that the Holy Family visited the area during the Flight into Egypt, seeking refuge from Herod. Further it is held that Christianity began to spread in Egypt when St. Mark arrived in Alexandria, becoming the first Patriarch, though the religion remained underground during the rule of the Romans. As the local population began to organize towards a revolt, the Romans, recognizing the strategic importance of the region, took over the fort and relocated it nearby as the Babylon Fortress. Trajan reopened the canal to the Red Sea, bringing increased trade, though Egypt remained a backwater as far as the Romans were concerned.

Under the Romans, St. Mark and his successors were able to convert a substantial portion of the population, from pagan beliefs to Christianity. As the Christian communities in Egypt grew, they were subjected to persecution by the Romans, under Emperor Diocletian around 300 AD, and the persecution continued following the Edict of Milan that declared religious toleration. The Coptic Church later separated from the church of the Romans and the Byzantines. Under the rule of Arcadius (395-408), a number of churches were built in Old Cairo.[8] In the early years of Arab rule, the Copts were allowed to build several churches within the old fortress area of Old Cairo.

In the 11th Century AD, Coptic Cairo hosted the Seat of the Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria, which is historically based in Alexandria. As the ruling powers moved from Alexandria to Cairo after the Arab invasion of Egypt during Pope Christodolos's tenure, Cairo became the fixed and official residence of the Coptic Pope at the Hanging Church in Coptic Cairo in 1047.

The Ben Ezra Synagogue was established in Coptic Cairo in 1115, in what was previously a Coptic church that was built in the 8th century. The Copts needed to sell it, in order to raise funds to pay taxes to Ibn Tulun.

Important Sites of the Fortress of Babylon

• -- The Hanging Church -- Home to the Coptic Patriarch.
• -- Church of St. George in Cairo
• -- Coptic Orthodox Church of St. Barbara (or Sitt Barbara)
• -- Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church (AKA: Abu Serga)
• -- Saint Mercurius Church in Coptic Cairo
• -- Coptic Orthodox Church of Saint Menas (kenīset Mar-Mīna)
• -- Church of the Holy Virgin (AKA: Babylon El-Darag)
• -- Ben Ezra Synagogue

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Al-Fustat

In 968, the Fatimids were led by General Jawhar al-Siqilli with his Kutama army, to establish a new capital for the Fatimid dynasty. Egypt was conquered from their base in Ifriqiya and a new fortified city northeast of Fustat was established. It took four years for Jawhar to build the city, initially known as al-Manṣūriyyah, which was to serve as the new capital of the caliphate. During that time, Jawhar also commissioned the construction of al-Azhar Mosque, which developed into the third-oldest university in the world. Cairo would eventually become a centre of learning, with the library of Cairo containing hundreds of thousands of books. When Caliph al-Mu'izz li Din Allah finally arrived from the old Fatimid capital of Mahdia in Tunisia in 973, he gave the city its present name, al-Qahira ("The Victorious").

For nearly 200 years after Cairo was established, the administrative centre of Egypt remained in Fustat. However, in 1168 the Fatimids under the leadership of Vizier Shawar set fire to Fustat to prevent Cairo's capture by the Crusaders. Egypt's capital was permanently moved to Cairo, which was eventually expanded to include the ruins of Fustat and the previous capitals of al-Askar and al-Qatta'i. While the Fustat fire successfully protected the city of Cairo, a continuing power struggle between Shawar, King Amalric I of Jerusalem, and the Zengid general Shirkuh led to the downfall of the Fatimid establishment.

In 1169 Saladin was appointed as the new vizier of Egypt by the Fatimids and two years later he would seize power from the family of the last Fatimid caliph, al-'Āḍid. As the first Sultan of Egypt, Saladin established the Ayyubid dynasty, based in Cairo, and aligned Egypt with the Abbasids, who were based in Baghdad. During his reign, Saladin also constructed the Cairo Citadel, which served as the seat of the Egyptian government until the mid-19th century.

In 1250 slave soldiers, known as the Mamluks, seized control of Egypt and like many of their predecessors established Cairo as the capital of their new dynasty. Continuing a practice started by the Ayyubids, much of the land occupied by former Fatimid palaces was sold and replaced by newer buildings. Construction projects initiated by the Mamluks pushed the city outward while also bringing new infrastructure to the centre of the city. Meanwhile, Cairo flourished as a centre of Islamic scholarship and a crossroads on the spice trade route among the civilisations in Afro-Eurasia. By 1340, Cairo had a population of close to half a million, making it the largest city west of China.

• -- Fustat -- Medieval Cairo

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Al-Askar

al-‘Askar (Arabic: العسكر‎) was the capital of Egypt from 750-868, when Egypt was a province of the Abbasid Caliphate.

History

After the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 641, Rashidun commander Amr ibn al-As established Fustat just north of Coptic Cairo. At Caliph Umar's request, the Egyptian capital was moved from Alexandria to the new city on the eastern side of the Nile.

The reach of the Umayyads was extensive, stretching from western Spain all the way to eastern China. However, they were overthrown by the Abbasids, who moved the capital of the Umayyad empire itself to Baghdad. In Egypt, this shift in power involved moving control from the Umayyad city of al-Fustat slightly north to the Abbasid city of al-‘Askar. Its full name was مدينة العسكري Madinatu l-‘Askari "City of Cantonments" or "City of Sections". Intended primarily as a city large enough to house an army, it was laid out in a grid pattern that could be easily subdivided into separate sections for various groups such as merchants and officers.

The peak of the Abbasid dynasty occurred during the reign of Harun al Rashid, along with increased taxes on the Egyptians, who rose up in a peasant revolt in 832 during the time of Caliph al-Ma'mun. Local Egyptian governors gained increasing autonomy, and in 870, governor Ahmad ibn Tulun declared Egypt's independence (though still nominally under the rule of the Abbasid Caliph). As a symbol of this independence, in 868 ibn Tulun founded yet another capital, al-Qatta'i, slightly further north of al-‘Askar. The capital remained there until 905, until the city was destroyed, and the administrative capital of Egypt then returned to al-Fusṭāṭ.

Al-Fusṭāṭ itself was destroyed by a vizier-ordered fire that burned from 1168 to 1169, at which time the capital moved to nearly al-Qāhirah (Cairo), where it has remained to this day. Cairo's bounds grew to eventually encompass the three earlier capitals of al-Fusṭāṭ, al-Qatta'i and al-‘Askar, the remnants of which can today be seen in "Old Cairo" in the southern part of the city.

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Population

• Annual Census, 1100 A.D.:

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Bazaars

• -- Khan el Khalili bazaar

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Citizens of the City

Cairo is a city of communities. The city's residents both mortal and Kindred, often band together to accomplish individual and common goals, and the vampire who walks the streets of Cairo alone may well find herself at a distinct disadvantage. Within these assemblies lie various subsects, heresies and and fringe groups, and, when inspected in depth, their relations with one another can seem somewhat convoluted. To outsiders and those encountering them for the first time, their ancient and often traditional dealings with one another can appear peculiar, insular or unfamiliar.

Criminals

• -- Qadir Ali -- Experienced Smuggler

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Fortifications

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Private Residences

How shall I go in peace and without sorrow? Nay, not without a wound
in the spirit shall I leave this city; long were the days of pain I have spent within
its walls, and long were the nights of aloneness, and who can depart from his
pain and his aloneness without regret? (sic)

-- Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

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Dead Among the Dead -- The Damned of Cairo (القتلى من بين الأموات - وملعون من القاهرة)

God Appears and God is Light
To those poor Souls who dwell in Night
But does a Human Form Display
To those who Dwell in Realms of day
-- William Blake, Auguries of Innocence

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Banu Yashkur (سبط هيل) -- Assamites of Egypt

• -- Antara -- The Shepherd of Wolves

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Banu Ahl ar-Raya (قبيلة من رمال الزمن) -- The Cold Brujah

• -- Al-Muntaqim - The Avenger
• -- Al-Muntathir - God's Witness

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Qabilat Al-Mawt (قبيلة الموت) -- The Cappadocians of Cairo

• -- Lazarus -- The Prodigal Son of Cappadocius
• -- Angelique -- Guardian of the Necropoli.

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Banu al as-Sa'idi (قبيلة من المصلين الثعبان) -- Followers of Set

• -- Bilaal the Guide -- Setite Entrepreneur
• -- Kahina -- Kahina is a powerful Setite Sorceress and one of the two heads of the Dream Court.
• -- Bek -- The Spice Merchant

Future Events: When Al-Fustat was destroyed in 1168 to prevent the King of Jerusalem from taking it for the Christians, so too fell the first and only legitimate domain ever held by the Followers of Set in Cairo. After that, they continued much as they always had, but without the benefit of an ancestral home and its attendant feeding rights.

Place of Note

• -- The Mosque of Amr Ibn al-As
• -- Dream Court

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Banu al - Lam'a (قبيلة من الليل) -- Lasombra

• -- Sharif Al-Lam'a -- Monarch of the Light
• -- Fatimah Al-Lam'a -- Pious Princess
• -- Suleiman ibn Abdullah -- Mullah of the Ashirra

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Banu al - Hajji (سبط حجي) -- Muslim Nosferatu

• -- Wahid Al-Mufti -- The Sacred Legalist
• -- Fahim Hussain -- Scholar of Prophesy
• -- Tayyib -- The Good Samaritan
• -- Zaahir Najm -- The Hallowed One

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Ventrue: Antonii cum Sanguine

• -- Antonius of Cairo -- Sultan of the City Victorious

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Laibon (أبو الهول) -- The Sphinx of Cairo

• -- Jubal -- Advisor to the Sultan

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Cainites of Lesser Blood

• -- Rambert -- Merchant of Dreams {Icelus}

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Shadows in Dust -- The Hidden Host

• -- Angelique -- Guardian of the Necropoli.
• -- [[]] --
• -- Maiden of Plagues -- The mysterious Sleeping Lord of the Cairene Court of Dreams.
• -- [[]] --
• -- Abu Al-Intiqam -- Child of Osiris

Ghouls and Future Cainites

• -- Mukhtar Bey
• -- Izzat Al-Khunzir Ibn Al-Balad

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