The City of the Dead, Cairo [Egypt, 1996] Today Cairo is the largest city in the Arab world, with a population of perhaps some 15 million. Of those, an estimated 3 million live in the "cities of the dead", Cairo's ancient cemeteries. The cemeteries provide living space for some of Cairo's poorest inhabitants and have become cities in their own right with shops, tea houses and even factories. This elderly tomb dweller offered me tea and insisted on having his photograph taken.