Culture
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... »
Canadian singer to perform in the ancient Egyptian language
Robyn Driedger-Klassen is perfectly comfortable jumping from Johannes Brahms’s lieder to Giacomo Puccini’s arias to more contemporary art songs. But when she guests with the Turning Point Ensemble in a rare performance of R. Murray Schafer’s Arcana, she’s going to be faced with what could well be a once-in-a-lifetime challenge: performing in the almost-forgotten... »
Virginity faking in Egypt
A leading Egyptian scholar has demanded that people caught importing a female virginity-faking device into the country should face the death penalty. The device is said to release liquid imitating blood, allowing a female to feign virginity on her wedding night. The contraption is seen as a cheap and simple alternative to hymen repair surgery,... »
Kahk – Then and Now
Kahk is a heavy, sweet pastry made of flour, dairy/vegetable ghee (or butter or vegetable oil), eggs, milk and loads of sugar. Traditional Egyptian kahk is a plain disc-shaped tartlet covered with powdered sugar, but there are also other types of kahk stuffed with a number of different saccharine fillings. Kahk fillings may include pistachios,... »
Reveling in the ancient Egyptian identity
To celebrate the Egyptian New Year – it is now the year 6251, according to Egypt for Egyptians, a non-profit organisation that works to promote a concept of Egyptian identity. – is to commemorate what is fundamentally Egyptian: that spirited national pride and strong sense of place that predates the foreign influences that turned... »
