History

Egypt’s photographic archiving needs to shape up

Reading History exhibition at CULTNAT: from Na'ima al-Misriya collection
08 Aug 2012
An increasing awareness of Egypt's photographic heritage may be damaging that very legacy, as flawed archiving systems benefit those in power at the expense of the public, argued Egypt-based social historian and Oxford University...
Yes

Remembering Sheikh Naqshabandi in the month of spirituality

03 Aug 2012
For decades, Egyptians listened on the radio during the holy month of Ramadan to the beautiful voice of Sheikh Sayed Mohamed al-Naqshabandi as he recited prayers every evening before they broke their fast. The late munshid, one of the...
Yes

Update: Oldest Pharaonic boat discovered

In this undated picture provided by the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities an archaeologist is seen working on the skeleton of a wooden boat at the Abu Rawash archaeological compound, west of Cairo. French archaeologists discovered the roughly 5,000-year-old pharaonic solar boat.
25 Jul 2012
French archaeologists have discovered a roughly 5,000-year-old pharaonic solar boat in an expedition in Abu Rawash, west of the Egyptian capital, the antiquities ministry said on Wednesday.  The boat dates back to the era of King Den...
Yes

Let the music play on: Arab music from the turn of the century finally finds a home

AMAR’s music archive has expanded to include thousands of old music records.
22 Jul 2012
In the mountainous Lebanese village of Qurnet al-Hamra is a musicians’ haven: a state-of-the-art studio specialized in digitizing, researching and archiving forgotten treasures of Arab music. As for Arab music lovers who can not make...
Yes

Critic’s pick: Ramadan jingle is 6,000 years old

20 Jul 2012
“Wahawy ya wahawy/Eyaha/We kaman wahawy/Eyaha” — these are the introductory lyrics of our most popular Ramadan jingle. My brother and I have been singing them since we were 3 years old. But, as in English, “wahawy...
Yes

Egypt retrieves rat mummy from Germany

مطار القاهرة الدولي
18 Jul 2012
Cairo International Airport’s cargo terminal received an ancient ptolemaic casket including the mummy of a rat on Tuesday, which had been in Germany for more than 50 years. Ahmed al-Rawy, a customs official at the airport, said the...
Yes

Paper trail celebrations

  Since the ‘50s, wedding invitation designs have developed significantly as new printing techniques have been introduced in Egypt.
10 Jun 2012
Sayed Ali Salem Effendi, head of the Nile Cotton Ginning Company, set up a huge colorful pavilion in the garden of his villa for the wedding ceremony of his eldest daughter, Mahassen. For three whole days, the many guests would come in to...
Yes

Cosmopolitan Alexandria endangered

  Demonstration in front of Cicurel Villa on 3 May 2012Photo: Mohamed Adel Dessouki
29 May 2012
“The city of Alexander,” “The second Egyptian capital,” “The cosmopolitan city,” “The bride of the Mediterranean;” so many are the names given to Alexandria. In the old quarters of the city,...
Yes

Iraqi ancient Christian city of Hira lies neglected

An Iraqi excavation official walks across the archaeological site of a pre-Islamic Christian monastery in the central city of Najaf on 23 April 2012. Foreign exploration teams have largely avoided Iraq entirely over security fears, even though levels of violence in the country are significantly lower than their peak in 2006 and 2007.
28 May 2012
A stone's throw from Iraq's Shia holy city of Najaf's airport, the remains of the celebrated ancient Christian city of Hira lie neglected and moldering, because funds for excavation have dried up. Three sites, discovered five...
Yes

Independent heritage initiatives: A first step to linking communities to their own histories

The Belgium publishing house “Fond Mercator” has recently published “Heliopolis”, a 240-pages richly illustrated coffee table book that studies the different historic stages of the Heliopolis neighbourhood.
09 May 2012
  Since the 18th century, Egypt has had a public authority responsible for the registration, inventory and security of its antiquities in museums and archaeological sites — currently the Ministry of Antiquities. But it has...
Yes

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