By Islam El Shazly
This week we mark the finale of this series of Wednesday Nostalgia, hopefully we accomplished what we set out to do, which is reconnect the people in Egypt with their past and their heritage. Something that was lost to us for far too long, but now since the thick veil of 60 years of tyranny has been lifted, we are free to dig and find that which has been lost, and relish in the memory of our predecessors and build on it. Read more…
By Islam El Shazly
Tradespeople, craftsmen, artisans, farmers, and people who are handy with their hands and with a tool are all but extinct in Egypt. Same as people who have pride in the work they do, they too are all but extinct. Over the generations, less and less youth became interested in the trades, or in learning a craft, they were misguided into thinking that anything other than being an employee in a company is beneath them. And the ones who end up working in a trade, end up just doing a job, they want it over and done with, so we get sloppy work and shoddy workmanship. Even the clothes they wear are usually unkempt and dirty. Read more…
By Islam El Shazly
Less than 48 hours from now (Wednesday, January 23, 2013) Egypt will mark two years since the Jan25 2011 revolution, and looking at the state of affairs in Egypt it seems that it hasn’t really proceeded any further after the euphoria of the 18 days that toppled Mubarak and his horrid NDP and State Security forces (Amn Dawla).
Then again it all depends on one’s point of view and whether one is a glass-half-full-person or a glass-half-empty-person. Read more…
By Islam El Shazly
One of the main reasons for starting this series of Lantern Slides was—and still is—to educate myself and reader about Egyptian heritage, so us as Egyptians would not lose sight of what made up this country, and what can still make it again. So we don’t forget who we are and where we came from.
History was distorted tremendously after the 1952 Coup d’état in favour of the Free Officers Movement that led the coup. Charisma alone would not entrench them in power, they had to demonize the previous era in its entirety. Read more…
By Islam El Shazly
There’s a lot to be said about progress, mankind has been to the moon, the internet, fast food, etc.. But what have we lost along the way?
In this modern age of speed, all nighters, and cities that never sleep, I believe we lost a very important thing; serenity. In the rush that followed the Industrial Revolution we wanted everything at once, as if time was running out and we had to do everything faster and faster Read more…
By Islam El Shazly
There’s a long history behind the Suez Canal that goes back to Pharaonic times. Even millennia ago the same logistic nightmare existed: how to bring essential goods and trade from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea?
The only way to do it at the time was dig a canal from the Nile to the Red Sea. Boats laden with goods would come in from the Mediterranean or Red Sea, travel through the canal and the Nile and get out the other side. The ancient Egyptians maintained one for a long time, then it was re-dug by Amro ibn Al-‘Aas, only to be eventually reclaimed by the desert. Read more…
By Islam El Shazly
The photographers who visited Egypt in the late 19th century where explorers in their own right, they travelled the length and breadth of the country and spent hours upon hours chronicling with their cameras the sights and the lives of Egypt and the Egyptians. They left us a treasure trove of imagery, with subjects that have have almost completely disappeared from our lives.
Temples that have either sunk or moved, entire neighbourhoods that were levelled and rebuilt, ancient trees that were uprooted or disfigured, and lifestyles that all but vanished. Read more…
By Islam El Shazly
One of the most delightful things about looking into a collection like the Egyptian Lantern Slides is the level of content one sees on the faces of the simple Egyptian people. While the nature of photography back in those days called for stern faces and rigid bodies for the sake of exposure, their smiles or a curious look would defiantly make their way onto their faces.
It was not the perfect world, but they were content and they were proud. Not the annoying pride that would normally ruin its owner, but proud Read more…
By Islam El Shazly
Egypt is a land of contrasts, it is paradoxical and perplexing, and looking at the modern Egyptians, one has to wonder whether their – our, since I too am Egyptian – ancestors were like them! And if they were, how on earth did they manage to start and build a civilisation that would endure for close to 6,000 years?!
There are great differences between between the ones that came before and the ones who came after, but there are also great similarities, the most striking of similarities the simplicity of Egyptians, not simplicity in terms of higher brain functions, but rather simplicity of character. We are fairly uncomplicated. Read more…
By Islam El Shazly
One of the main reasons for reminiscing is to escape the present, it is undeniable, the urge and the yearning for better times or better quality of life, or cleaner air. It makes for a good flight away from the grind of modern day life that has become the most common feature throughout the later part of the 20th century and the current century!
Fact is concepts like “quality of life” are an invention of the second half of the 1900’s, when we began to dissect every aspect of our lives, granted, quality of life is a very important aspect of our livelihood, and it is most certain that it preoccupied our predecessors, but I doubt that it was the driving force behind their existence. Read more…
