Cairo
In the sweltering heat of 1936, this chaotic metropolis serves as the high-stakes staging ground for Raiders of the Lost Ark, transforming Professor Henry Jones Jr. from an academic into a desperate hunter racing against Nazi agents to secure the Ark before it falls into Hitler's hands.
Lore & Background
Here, history bleeds into the present day. The Cairo street scene ends with Indy shooting at a Jeep loaded with explosives.
Reader's Guide
In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jones and Marion travel to Cairo with the medallion and meet Jones's friend Sallah, an excavator who lives there; he tells them that Belloq is assisting the Nazis, who have made an incomplete replica of the medallion. Nazi soldiers and mercenaries attack Jones there, a swordsman is shot by Jones, and Marion is seemingly killed; an imam then deciphers the medallion. The Cairo village was filmed in the Tunisian city of Kairouan, and Spielberg had a miniature set of the Cairo marketplace built to plan the scene.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are the main villains operating within the city?
Nazi forces, with the Gestapo agent Arnold Toht and Colonel Dietrich, work with the French archaeologist René Belloq to find the Ark.
What is the Well of Souls in this setting?
The Well of Souls is the Ark's resting place, beneath the Nazi dig at Tanis.
Who assists Indiana Jones during his time in Egypt?
Indy relies on Sallah, a friend who lives in Cairo; together they infiltrate the Nazi dig at Tanis.
How does the Cairo storyline end?
The Egyptian part of the story ends when Belloq and the Nazis seize the Ark at Tanis and Jones captures the truck carrying it; the Ark is then taken by sea.
More in Locations & Expeditions
Elsewhere in Indiana Jones
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