Four young male students from an Al-Azhar religious school (madrasa) sit together at a desk in a classroom in Qena, Upper Egypt, wearing the distinctive white taqiyah caps with red tops that identify Al-Azhar students across Egypt. Al-Azhar schools are part of the world's oldest and most prominent Islamic educational institution, founded in Cairo in 970 AD, with branches throughout Egypt providing both religious and general curriculum education. The worn classroom walls and natural dim lighting reflect the everyday environment of public religious schooling in rural Upper Egypt.