Photograph of Zeitoun apparition - Cairo, Egypt - 1968
Farouk Mohammed Atwa, a bus mechanic who worked across the street from the church, thought that the apparition was a woman attempting suicide by jumping from the structure.
Despite the police, the street was packed with the faithful and curiosity seekers. "There were Muslims and Christians, and everyone was as one, one religion together."
"Some anthropologists suggest that Mary's popularity in Egypt is a vestige of the Isis cult, itself an incarnation of primeval mother-goddess worship. Virgin sightings may be among paganism's contributions to monotheistic mysticism."