Anstatt der u ¨blichen Form eines Gesprächs haben wir im Rahmene ines " virtuellen Round Table " fünf kultur-und sozialwissenschaftlich arbeitende Kolleginnen aus unterschiedlichen europäischen Ländern danach gefragt, wie sie den Umbruch von 1989 sowohl aus ihrer jeweiligen fachwissenschaftlichen Sicht, aber auch aus lebens-weltlicherPerspektive wahrgenommen haben. Uns interessierte dabei, was von " 1989 " geblieben ist und wie eine Historisierung des Endes des Kalten Krieges sowie der sich daran anschließenden Entwicklungena ussehen könnte, ohne in das normative Nar-rativ der " Rückkehr...
The Egyptian god Thoth is best known as a god of writing and wisdom, a lunar deity, and vizier of the gods, but was also a cosmic deity, creator god, and warrior. Being one of the oldest deities of the Egyptian pantheon, he is attested in many sources from the earliest periods of Egyptian history up to the Roman Period. The etymology of his name remains unexplained, possibly due to the name's antiquity. Perhaps it is his age as a divine figure that led to a rather confusing mythology with a series of contradicting traditions concerning his descent and his reputation as a benevolent versus...
Pakistan has been for at least four decades a major theatre of operations in the global struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran for dominance in the Muslim world. The stakes for both regional powers are high given that Pakistan borders on Iran; shares with the Islamic republic the restless region of Baluchistan that potentially allows Saudi Arabia and Iran to stir the pot in each other's backyard; and is home to the world's largest Shiite minority viewed by the kingdom as an Iranian fifth wheel. To counter potential Iranian influence, Saudi Arabia has poured billions of dollars into...
Since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, estimates are that upwards of 38,000 foreign fighters have joined Sunni militant groups, such as ISIS and al-Qaeda, in Iraq and Syria. As of mid-October 2016, the Balkan country of Kosovo had 316 confirmed cases of individuals who have traveled since 2012 to Syria and Iraq, with some joining ISIS. In fact, Kosovo has the unique distinction of having the highest per capita number of citizens of any country in wider Europe who left for Syria and Iraq since 2011. Forty-four women and 29 children from Kosovo are also believed to have traveled to...
Life Histories of Theban Tombs (LHTT) focuses on a cluster of rock-cut tombs built during the 2nd millennium BC at the hillside of Sheikh 'Abd el-Qurna in Western Thebes. The project draws on an integrative archaeological perspective that combines archaeological research with scientific, material, and historical analysis. Its main objectives are to investigate the natural and anthropogenic evolution of the hillside and to explore the history of the tombs, objects, and people connected with it, from the early 2nd millennium BC to the 20th century. LHTT prioritizes research procedures that give relevance to detail and variation, and uses technical and electronic equipment that supports quantifiable, precise data collection often on a micro-analytic level (Research). Digital data processing and an interactive database system, which will eventually be transmitted into an open source for students of archaeology and related fields, are also an important part of the research strategy.
BY SUZANNE DAVIS, Curator of Conservation, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology
Are you ready for swimsuit season? No? Me neither, which is just as well because it's SHARK MONTH at the Kelsey. This is one of the all-time cutest, weirdest, made by the most-amazingly-skilled craftsperson Ugly Objects ever: a mosaic glass fish head.
Fish head inlay fragment. Mosaic glass. 1st c BCE – 1st ACE. Egypt. Gift of Alexander G. Ruthven. KM 1965.3.135.
What do we know about this tiny bit of a scary-looking fish? Not much, because it's got zero excavation provenance. One, I do know that whoever made it had enviable motor control. Mosaic glass is made of small pieces of colored glass rods, or canes, which have been sliced up, placed close together, and then fused with heat. Two, inlays like this one would have decorated Roman Egyptian walls or furniture.
Three, former UM graduate student Lindsay Ambridge wrote an article about this object, in which she discusses the meanings of fish in ancient Egypt. Bottom line: fish were important for many reasons, chief of which was as a food source.
To me, this fish looks more like predator than prey – check out the pink gums and very, very pointy teeth. See it in all its splendor in the Upjohn Exhibit Wing – look in the glass case on the south side of the back hall.
CAIRO- 30 April 2017: Women in Upper Egypt can now enjoy drinks and a pleasant ambience in a private space exclusively designed for them. As the name suggests, Pink Café in the upper Egyptian governorate of Luxor, is a women-only place where women can group together and bask in a soothing harassment-free women's haven.
The café is headed by the tongue-in-cheek motto: "no smoking, no men" One can easily discern from the glossy pink and white colors, speckled all over the place, that men are not this café's clientele.
"I started this project along with my sisters after being subjected to harassments several times in different cafes," owner of Pink Café, Eman Sameh said. "Women can enjoy their chats here with their children and friends in a totally safe atmosphere," she added.
About the difficulties they faced to establish the café, Sameh said that some people mocked them while furnishing the café in addition to the difficulties in obtaining the needed permissions and licenses.
"At first, we were afraid that men wouldn't let their wives or sisters to visit our café, but eventually they realized that it's the safest place they can go to," Sameh said.
The Pink Café staff is entirely composed of women. The café offers healthy food and drinks for kids at suitable prices and it has a secluded private space for breastfeeding. "The service is great; the staff is friendly and nice to people, especially to children," Soad Ahmed, one of the café's customers said, reveling in the exclusive perks of the establishment.
Sound and Light company sets new ticket prices up to LE150
Sound and Light company sets new ticket prices up to LE150
The tourism companies in charge of the Sound and Light Show have agreed on increasing ticket prices for their shows up to LE150 at all Egyptian archaeological sites during the upcoming summer season, Borsa news reported on Monday.
The Misr Sound, Light and Cinema Company, responsible for holding the sound and light shows at various Egyptian archaeological sites, notified the Egyptian Travel Agents Association of the dates and ticket prices of sound and light shows during the summer season of 2017, starting May 1 and until September 30.
"We can say that the increase in the prices of tickets for sound and light shows, ranging between LE 100 and LE150, is reasonable," said the Chairman of the Chamber of Luxor Tourism Companies, Tharwat al-Agamy.
Agamy pointed out that the appropriate increase should have been LE200, due to the huge jump in the dollar exchange rate against the Egyptian pound.
The overall hotel occupancy rate in Luxor is currently 80 percent, in conjunction with the beginning of the summer season, where tourism rates decline in Upper Egypt governorates, as most holidaymakers head to coastal areas in that period of the year.
Adel Zaki, a member of the Chamber of Egyptian Travel Agents, also described the increase as acceptable, given that the dollar exchange rate against the pound rose significantly following the flotation of the pound.
He added that the Ministry of Antiquities has also notified the tourism companies of a new increase in the prices of entry fees of some archaeological sites, but the companies called for the postponement of the decision until November when tourism rates may improve.
Nagwa al-Shazly, Acting Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Misr Sound and Light Company, said that there is a 300 percent increase in operating costs. Applying a new increase in the price on the tickets of the sound and light shows had to come, in order to keep up with rising costs, and not to increase profitability, she added.
Shazly mentioned that the old ticket was priced at $10, before the flotation of the pound. After the flotation, it would have had to be equivalent to LE200, she pointed out.
The company plans a further increase after tourism rates improve, she mentioned.
Hundreds of soldiers and policemen have been killed since the overthrow of president Mohammed Mursi
Gunmen have killed three policemen and injured five others in a shooting in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
The gunmen fired on a security convoy and police returned fire.
While no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, Egypt has been fighting an insurgency by a local affiliate of the so-called Islamic State group in North Sinai province.
Hundreds of soldiers and policemen have been killed in the insurgency since the army overthrew Islamist president Mohammed Mursi in 2013.
Following deadly church bombings last month, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi declared a three-month state of emergency on 10 April.
The so-called Islamic State group said it was behind the church bombings in Tanta and Alexandria on 9 April that killed 45 people.
The military has killed several of the group's top leaders, but the extremists have increasingly expanded their attacks from Sinai to other parts of Egypt, including Cairo.
An undated family photo shows Mohamed al-Fakharany, front right, and his brother, Abdullah, left. A verdict is due in Abdullah al-Fakharany's case in May. The journalist has been imprisoned since 2013. (Al-Fakharany family)
Every two weeks Mohamed al-Fakharany prepares to visit his brother, Abdullah al-Fakharany, in prison. He packs food, clothes, books, and, most importantly, written responses to his older brother's letters. Mohamed al-Fakharany, who told CPJ that he has never missed a visit, was only 11 when his brother-- the executive director of opposition news outlet Rassd--was arrested in 2013 and later sentenced to 25 years in prison on anti-state charges.
Mohamed al-Fakharany said that in their letters, the brothers discuss whatever they didn't have time to talk about during the short visits at Cairo's Tora prison. He said that his older brother gives him general advice and recommendations for his reading list, and Mohamed al-Fakharany gives updates about his German lessons.
"The letters help, but nothing is ever enough. I still miss him," Mohamed al-Fakharany, 15,said.
Mohamed al-Fakharany said he has hope that the family may be reunited this month. On May 8, a verdict is expected in the retrial of Abdullah al-Fakharany and five other journalists: Samhi Mustafa, co-founder of Rassd; Mohamed al-Adly of Amgad TV; Hany Salah el-Deen, news manager of Misr 25, a channel supportive of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Mosad Al-Barbary, the channel's administrative manager; and Hassan el-Kabbani, who freelanced for several outlets including Rassd. The journalists were all convicted in 2015 of "spreading chaos" and "forming an operations room to direct the Muslim Brotherhood to defy the government" in what is known in Egypt as the Raba'a Operations Room case. The name refers to the sit-in at Raba'a Al-Adawiya in Cairo, when Egyptians gathered to protest the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi. The dispersal on August 14, 2013, left hundreds dead, according to newsreports.
Al-Fakharany and the others are among the 25 journalists jailed for their work in Egypt at the time of CPJ's last prison census. The trials of three other journalists included on the census are also scheduled to take place in May.
They include:
Abdullah Shousha Shousha, a correspondent of AmgadTV and contributor to Rassd, is due in court May 2, along with 88 other defendants, according to his sister, Rahma Shousha, and local rights group Journalists Against Torture. Shousha was arrested September 22, 2013 while covering a protest in Ismailiya, according to CPJ research. The journalist and his co-accused are charged with belonging to the banned Muslim Brotherhood, belonging to an armed group, and setting fire to vehicles belonging to members of the judiciary and the police. Shousha, who is pursuing a bachelor's degree in sociology from prison with the Suez Canal University, has an examination scheduled on the same day as the court hearing, his sister told CPJ.
Mahmoud Abou Zeid
Freelance photojournalist and IPFA awardee Mahmoud Abou Zeid, known as Shawkan, is scheduled to appear before a Cairo criminal court on May 9, his brother Mohamed Abou Zeid told CPJ. Shawkan was arrested August 14, 2013 while covering the dispersal of the sit in at Raba'a al-Adawiya in Cairo for the UK-based website, Demotix. He and his 738 co-accused are facing charges of possessing weapons, illegal assembly, attempted murder, and murder, according to CPJ's research. Shawkan has been held in pre-trial detention for more than three and a half years, and his court hearings are often delayed or canceled.
Mahmoud Abdel Nabi The trial in Alexandria of Rassd journalist Abdel Nabi-- the longest-held journalist in Egypt on CPJ's latest census--will continue May 21, Abdelrahman Yaqot, a journalist who was present at his last court hearing, told CPJ. Abdel Nabi was arrested July 3, 2013 while covering clashes between pro-Muslim Brotherhood protesters and security forces in Alexandria, hours after the ouster of Mohamed Morsi, according to CPJ's research. Abdel Nabi, whose trial only started in 2016, is charged with of rioting and possessing weapons.
Since the ouster of Morsi and the rise of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to power, Egypt has moved from a country with no journalists behind bars in CPJ's 2012 prison census, to being one of the leading jailers in the world, according to CPJ's research. Sisi's crackdown on the press includes authorities using anti-state charges and accusations of being connected to the banned Muslim Brotherhood to jail journalists, and implementing restrictive press laws and regulations.
For many people, a visit to the Nile Delta can be all about recreation, but not for Egyptian archaeologist Nora Shawki, who has been excavating ancient sites in the Delta for almost five years and is now getting ready to direct her very own dig this October.
Shawki's spark for archaeology was lit at a very young age when she was watching a film at school about the discovery of King Tut's tomb. She maintained her love for the field all through her undergraduate studies in archaeology at SOAS University in London and further on through her graduate studies at Durham University.
As Shawki regularly travelled to Egypt for digs with foreign missions -- constantly having to cooperate with Egyptian officials -- she decided to take her challenging experience even further by completing her PhD studies at Cairo University so she "could further adapt to the Egyptian system".
"I wanted the true hands on experience, so having to study in Egypt is crucial because it's where all my work is revolved around, even though it needs a lot of perseverance," the 27- year-old said.
For her PhD research, Shawki is focusing on settlement archaeology, a relatively new subfield that focuses on non-elite settlements and their daily lives.
"I focus on regular people and what they were doing and where they were living back then. I use material culture from royal, religious and regular people to understand the impact of royal policy on Egyptians who lived during the Late Period," Shawki told Egypt Independent, adding that little research has been done in this sub-field.
Almost all of Shawki's excavations are in the Delta as she believes studying these settlements "is a race against time".
"[The Delta] is full of settlements but it's constantly being encroached by the villages, it's not going to be there in the next 15 years so it's very motivating to hurry, unearth and discover before we lose them forever," she said.
In 2015, Shawki received the prestigious Young Explorer Grant from National Geographic, which provided her with the funding needed to lead her own excavation of Tell Zuwelen, a site in Sharqiya governorate.This settlement was a satellite of Tanis, a major religious, economic, and cultural center in ancient Egypt from the New Kingdom to the Late Period
"My main challenge right now is trying to receive the permits from Egypt for the dig as the director. There are various roadblocks my way in the sense that I'm a female director, and that I did not obtain my degree from Cairo University," she said.
Shawki however is confident that with a little bit of diligence and persistence, she'll be able to obtain the permits she has been trying to get a hold off for almost a year.
In March, Shawki was able to get the approval of Gaber Nassar, President of Cairo University, to lead the excavation team -- the permits are currently pending approval from the Ministry of Antiquities.
"I'm very proud of recruiting a fully Egyptian team of six members with me for this dig. I'm aiming to finish it off this way with only Egyptian hands unearthing the site, it's also easier for security reasons," Shawki said.
In addition to managing a team, ensuring the security of the site and coordinating publication of any findings, one of the most significant responsibilities that Shawki anticipates is engaging the local community in understanding and caring about her work.
Shawki has already started paying visits to the sites, aiming to build connections with the locals. She looks forward to hiring them further along.
"I have to create a good relationship with the people at the site because I'm going to keep coming in every year. We are basically working in their homes, we have to build a connection with them so they can help us later on," she said.
Despite various challenges in the field, and countless roadblocks Shawki might face next, she believes her passion for her work is enough to surpass any hurdles her way.
"Even if we did not find huge discoveries, we are constantly finding artifacts, and in history, anything is something. It's like we are holding history between our hands, and we are the ones contributing to its interpretation, leading the way for further documentations, research and other academics to pick off where we left," Shawki said.
An Illustrated 19th-Century Japanese Travelogue of Egypt
The image of Egypt as conceived by innovative Japanese publisher Takejirō Hasegawa was well outside the dominant paradigm and thus startling to Western eyes.
From Charles Bowles, A Nile Voyage of Recovery (all images courtesy Brooklyn Museum)
The earliest European photographers working in Egypt emphasized size and stillness in their images, strategically placing human beings in their shots to give a sense of scale. As tourism to Egypt became more common in the later 19th century, albums full of this type of commercial photography were commissioned as (expensive) souvenirs for wealthy Western travelers. Locals and tourists alike would pose at the foot of gargantuan statues and mammoth temples, the better to showcase the immensity of the artifacts and ruins. These images both created and confirmed an Ancient Egypt of the (Western) imagination that was mostly monumental and remote — distant in time and overwhelming in scale.
One of the masters of this type of photography was Antonio Beato (1832–1906). His Collection of Photographs of Egypt and Nubia, now at the Brooklyn Museum Libraries and Archives, contains numerous photographs dating from around 1860 that exemplify this style. Beato and others like him contributed to a grand vision of Ancient Egypt that remains fixed in the Western European consciousness to this day. It seems almost impossible to imagine that alternative visions exist — but they do.
Antonio Beato, from a collection of photographs of Egypt and Nubia (circa 1860–1900)Antonio Beato, from a collection of photographs of Egypt and Nubia (circa 1860–1900)
Like an "upside-down" map of the world where north and south switch places, the image of Egypt as conceived by Takejirō Hasegawa, an innovative publisher during Meiji era Japan, was located well outside the dominant paradigm and thus seemed startling to Western eyes. Their illustrations, collected in A Nile Voyage of Recovery, which was published in Japan in 1897, disrupt the familiar visual narrative of Ancient Egypt. Hasegawa specialized in books in European languages, often for Japan's tourist trade and resident foreign community, which included many English missionaries. The text, by English missionary couple Charles and Susan Bowles, was standard-issue travelogue — it was the visuals that were a revelation to Western eyes.
From Charles Bowles, A Nile Voyage of RecoveryFrom Charles Bowles, A Nile Voyage of RecoveryFrom Charles Bowles, A Nile Voyage of Recovery
Many of Hasegawa's early books were in the form of chirimen-bon, or crêpe paper books. Chirimen is a Japanese textile with a soft, slightly wrinkly texture that's often used to make kimonos or for wrapping cloth. Hasegawa used the material to produce small, delicate books that could be held in one hand with the pages unfolding easily like fabric.
A Nile Voyage of Recovery is illustrated with graceful, colorful woodblock prints of Egyptian scenes and adorned with exquisite typography. The images are gentle and intimate, emphasizing detail and delicate color. Even pictures of the Sphinx and the great pyramids give more page room to rays of light and the sun than to the monuments. The Sphinx is an integral part of the landscape, but it does not dominate.
From Charles Bowles, A Nile Voyage of RecoveryFrom Charles Bowles, A Nile Voyage of RecoveryFrom Charles Bowles, A Nile Voyage of Recovery
A human-scale Egypt may seem unnatural, but it upends the conventional view in a profound and pleasant way. When we see Egypt through other eyes, we can experience something both ancient and new.
Bristol was the home - and burial place, in Henbury Churchyard - of one of the most important figures in the history of British Egyptology - Amelia Blandford Edwards, founder of both the Egypt Exploration Fund (now Society), and of the UK's first Chair of Egyptology, at University College London. Bristol Museum was, indeed, an early subscriber to the Fund's excavations, and holds a very fine collection of Egyptian antiquities. It is also possible that Sarah Belzoni, wife of the celebrated explorer Giovanni, was also a Bristolian.
In the late 1890s, University College Bristol, soon to become Bristol University, was one of the very first institutions to teach Egyptian hieroglyphs, two early students (Gerald Wainwright and Ernest MacKay) later becoming important figures in Egyptian field archaeology. The language was taught by Ernest Sibree (1859-1927). Click here for a summary of his career. Sadly, in the 1920s, teaching of the subject died out, although the link was maintained through the fine collections of the City Museum and Art Gallery. Its post-war Curator, Leslie Grinsell had a deep interest in ancient Egypt, and was the author of an excellent book about the pyramids - written while he was serving with the RAF in Egypt during the Second World War!
Over the past few years, Egyptian archaeology has returned to the university, both in its public and undergraduate teaching, and now the Egypt Society of Bristol has been formed to provide a focus for all of those in Bristol, Bath and the surrounding area who are interested in the land of the Nile. It offers lectures, social events and study visits to places of Egyptological interest, at home and abroad.
American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) Northern California Chapter
Upcoming
Lectures
ARCE's Northern California Chapter is pleased to present the following lectures by renowned Egyptologists. All lectures take place on the University of California, Berkeley campus.
Violence and Power in Ancient Egyptian Imagery and Ideology
May 14, 2017 - 3:00 PM - Room 20 Barrows Hall
Dr. Laurel Bestock, Brown University
El Hibeh Update
August 20, 2017 - 3:00 PM - Room 20 Barrows Hall
Dr. Carol Redmount, University of California, Berkeley
Power in the Provinces: Old Kingdom Expressions of Power
September 10, 2017 - 3:00 PM - Room 20 Barrows Hall
Dr. Jessica Tompkins, Brown University
Recent Discoveries at Abydos
October 15, 2017 - 3:00 PM - Room 20 Barrows Hall
Dr. Josef Wegner, University of Pennsylvania
The Early Development of the Books of the Dead
November 12, 2017 - 3:00 PM - Room 20 Barrows Hall
Dr. Peter Dorman, American University of Beirut and Emeritus, University of Chicago
Pink Cafe` 
Pink Cafe` 
The tourism companies in charge of the Sound and Light Show have agreed on increasing ticket prices for their shows up to LE150 at all Egyptian archaeological sites during the upcoming summer season, Borsa news reported on Monday.The Misr Sound, Light and Cinema Company, responsible for holding the sound and light shows at various Egyptian archaeological sites, notified the Egyptian Travel Agents Association of the dates and ticket prices of sound and light shows during the summer season of 2017, starting May 1 and until September 30."We can say that the increase in the prices of tickets for sound and light shows, ranging between LE 100 and LE150, is reasonable," said the Chairman of the Chamber of Luxor Tourism Companies, Tharwat al-Agamy.Agamy pointed out that the appropriate increase should have been LE200, due to the huge jump in the dollar exchange rate against the Egyptian pound.The overall hotel occupancy rate in Luxor is currently 80 percent, in conjunction with the beginning of the summer season, where tourism rates decline in Upper Egypt governorates, as most holidaymakers head to coastal areas in that period of the year.Adel Zaki, a member of the Chamber of Egyptian Travel Agents, also described the increase as acceptable, given that the dollar exchange rate against the pound rose significantly following the flotation of the pound.He added that the Ministry of Antiquities has also notified the tourism companies of a new increase in the prices of entry fees of some archaeological sites, but the companies called for the postponement of the decision until November when tourism rates may improve.Nagwa al-Shazly, Acting Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Misr Sound and Light Company, said that there is a 300 percent increase in operating costs. Applying a new increase in the price on the tickets of the sound and light shows had to come, in order to keep up with rising costs, and not to increase profitability, she added.Shazly mentioned that the old ticket was priced at $10, before the flotation of the pound. After the flotation, it would have had to be equivalent to LE200, she pointed out.The company plans a further increase after tourism rates improve, she mentioned.
