Alexandria
On the north coast at the mouth of the Nile, lies Alexandria. There had been settlements of one type or another from 1000 to 800 AD, and when Egypt was conquered by the Macedonians under Alexander the Great, it was turned into a city and named after him. It holds the Library of Alexandria, though this has never fully recovered after being partially destroyed by Julius Ceaser's troops during the civil wars of the Roman Empire some time later. A large Jewish community had lived here for some time, though the numbers have dwindled over the years after the rise of Islam. There is also a large Coptic & Greek Orthodox Christian community present, and seen as a headquarters of such for both. It is part of Egypt, and originally subjected to Pharaonic rule, then the Greeks under Alexander, followed by the Romans, and now has passed from the Umayyad Caliphate, to the Abbasid Caliphate.
Alexandria is also a port city, and part of the job of the Library there is to collect information from travellers. This covers all topics such as the sciences to religious practices & folklore. The port is highly important here for this, as it acts as a trading hub, with traders coming down the Nile, from all over North Africa, the Arabic Peninsula, and by ship. Secrets are known and can be bought & sold at the right price. Goods of all kinds can be traded freely, including slaves. More exotic items can also be traded, and not all are openly bought & sold. Theses would need someone in the know, or some type of contact to be found for sale.
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