Culture
Egyptian music’s ancient past resurrected
Last Wednesday, ancient met modern at El Sawy Culture Wheel when the band Welad el-Faraana (Children of the Pharaohs), wearing jeans and t-shirts and playing pharaonic and Nubian instruments, resurrected the music of their Egyptian ancestors. Welad al-Faraana signals a trend in contemporary Egyptian music, which has steadily begun welcoming pharaonic and Nubian music back... »
Who serves the best street food – the Egyptians or the Turks?
Image by effeietsanders via Flickr The bustling, frantic streets of Turkey and Egypt’s towns and cities are home to hundreds of street hawkers who excel in delivering mouth-watering ... »
Slowly changing Egypt’s old stereotypes
After February’s vote by the State Council for Administrative Judges against female judges, the council’s vice president was quoted by Egyptian media as saying he didn’t think women could handle the workload of cases. Another top official added that having female judges could violate Islamic proscriptions against meetings between unrelated men and women. The... »
Caricature Museum in the Fayoum Oasis
The small artist colony of Tunis is located at the western end of the Fayoum oasis on a small elevation overlooking the lake. It is home to a number of writers, painters, and, above all, potters, whose work has made the village famous. Five years ago, Mohamed Abla opened the Fayoum Art Center. Courses in... »
Sale of Zabaleen handicrafts
Suzan and Nimet Habachy have been selling handicrafts made by women from an impoverished community of garbage collectors in Cairo for the past 15 years. The items are an ever-changing assortment of brightly hued rag rugs, patchwork quilts and other crafts pieced together out of unused, donated fabrics. The money from their sale returns... »
The Library of Alexandria: “House of Muses”
Image via Wikipedia It was remarkable and extraordinary that this soldier (Alexander the Great) built one of the greatest academic institutions in history. It was called the House of Muses (from which we derive the word “museum”) and contained all the elements of a modern residential university. It comprised four schools — mathematics, letters, astronomy... »
Zahi Hawass appointed deputy minister of culture
Dr. Zahi Hawass has been appointed to the position of Deputy Minister of Culture. He will also stay on in his current post as secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), a post he was supposed to be pensioned off this coming May, as he will be 63-years-old. Hawass has published 15 books... »
Two more Egypt sites officially endangered by WHF
This week the World Heritage Fund (WHF) added two Egyptian sites to its watch list of endangered places: New Gourna Village in Luxor and the Old Mosque of Shali Fortress in Siwa, bringing the total number of sites in Egypt to 14. The Gourna Village The Gourna Village is one of the youngest sites recognized by... »
Who wears what, and why in Egypt
Image by Ginas Pics via Flickr Egypt has a long history of clothing-related controversies, all of which reflect shifts in how Egyptians see themselves and wish to be seen by others. Recent consternation over the veil is but one example. For most urban Egyptians, the galabiyya – long the unofficial uniform of Egypt’s fellahin (farmers) –... »
Characters of Egypt Festival
Tombs and temples attest to Egypt’s storied past, but the dozens of tribes still traversing its sands are living monuments to the country’s cultural heritage – yet few know much about them. There are an estimated 300,000 tribesmen inhabiting Egypt, with some of them living in the same way their ancestors did thousands of years... »
