Deserts have always had a mesmerising, almost terrifying, effect on men. It’s vast, well-nigh endless, and very confusing. It is alien in its features, eerily quiet and when a sound ruptures the silence you would think it is screaming at you from all directions at once.
But they are also magnificently serene, and it is hard to beat a desert’s night sky for its glory.
Not all who visited Egypt, whether in ancient or relatively modern times, were impressed with the ancient architecture of the early Egyptians. Some, like Herodotus and Diodorus of Sicilia, didn’t think very highly of the pyramids builders, especially Kheops and Khefren, they thought they were tyrants and heretics. Others, like French writer Pierre Loti who visited Egypt in 1907, thought the sight of the Pyramids, the Sphinx and the surrounding desert, looked apocalyptic, awful, and surreal! Read more…
A confession… Irregularity has become part of the publishing process on this blog, a trend that we’re working hard to reverse! We can blame it all we like on the events taking place in Egypt, and though they can deflate the most enthused of writers, they’re not completely to blame for the randomness of postings. Insha’Allah a noticeable change is on the horizon, so we would like to extend our gratitude for staying with us all this time.
In 1867 One of the greatest literary minds in American history along with a group of Americans toured Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Holy Land (Palestine). The writer is non other than Mark Twain, and the trip was aboard a retired Civil War ship called Quaker City, the trip lasted for five months and his humerus chronicles would eventually be published in 1869. 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
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
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…
By Islam El Shazly
Back in the early 20th century and the late 19th century travelling was a more relaxed affair; because of the nature of travel at the time which was predominantly by either trains or ships, people were away from their homes for months at a time, and that called for a different kind of hotel.
The extended nature of the stay meant that only the well to do and the wealthy could travel for any sustained period of time, and hotels became a sort of a home away from home. Hotels of the day defined luxury, unlike most fancy hotels of today that are mostly glitz and glamour, those ones were truly palatial and decadent. Read more…
By Dean Chartier
This is my first effort in writing about my travels here in Egypt, I’m kind of starting in the middle of the trip, odd I know, why not start at the beginning? Well my journey to up the Nile was a pretty amazing trip for me, even though it was kind of touristy. I was able to peel most of the tourism away and have a good look at life in that part of Egypt. I will not speak much of visits to the temples and other historic sites, I’m sure you can find that information elsewhere, and for me it was kind of secondary anyways. This was my first trip to a Muslim country since I became Muslim and my trip up the Nile allowed me to get away from most of the western influence I have seen in Cairo and Alexandria. I will write more about those experiences a little later.
Fishermen in Alexandria.
Another reason this was a special experience for me is that being from Canada, I don’t get to hear the call to prayer from a Masjid, or have the luxury of having a Masjid within an easy walk of wherever I am. Read more…
