The Sherine Incident: A Tale of Two Niles | Egyptian Streets

https://egyptianstreets.com/2018/11/02/the-sherine-incident-a-tale-of-two-niles/

The Sherine Incident: A Tale of Two Niles

Tara Joshi

November 2, 2018

Evening, Nile River, Uganda. Courtesy of Rod Wadington, Flickr.

In February 2018, Egyptian singer Sherine Abdel Wahab was sentenced to six months in jail after a fan asked her to perform her popular song "Haven't You Ever Drunk from the Nile?" (Mashrebtesh Men Nilha), to which she responded, "No, you'd get Schistosomiasis. Drink Evian instead." This flippant comment was ruled a serious offense to the river to such an extent that Egyptian officials determined it warranted an arrest.

Schistosomiasis, a water-borne disease, has a very long history in Egypt, infecting a high percentage of the ancient Egyptian population up to 5,000 years ago. More recently, the Egyptian cultural icon, Abd al-Halim Hafiz, died from the disease in 1977.

Although Egypt has combatted Schistosomiasis for decades, the Nile parasite continues to afflict the nation-state. Shortly after the Egyptian government called for Sherine's arrest, the performer profusely apologized and insisted her comment was nothing more than a "silly joke." However, in a country where the Nile serves as the primary source of drinking water and irrigation, was Sherine's comment not simply an honest raising of awareness in the Egyptian public's best interest? Furthermore, did Sherine, as a popular public figure whose lyrics encourage drinking from the Nile, do a disservice to people who may take those lyrics literally by relegating her comment to a joke?

File Photo of Egyptian Singer Sherine Abdel Wahab

Samir Sabry, a lawyer infamous for his extensive filings of public interest lawsuits, issued the initial claim against Sherine, accusing her of insulting Egypt and tarnishing its national image during her concert in the United Arab Emirates. According to Sabry, "Egyptian art is in its worst state ever at the moment" and must be saved by individuals like himself.

Sherine's arrest, however, had nothing to do with the alleged degradation of Egyptian art but rather a comment she made in reference to her own art. In the words of Hany Shaker, the Chairman of the Egyptian Syndicate of Musical Professions, who also banned Sherine from singing and performing in Egypt for two months due to her remark, Egyptians needed to be "dedicated to supporting [Egypt] culturally and artistically" in order to "achieve the great aspirations of these great people."  Sherine's comment defied this top-down mandate and, accordingly, constituted nothing less, in his opinion, than an act against Egypt.

Responses to Sherine's arrest in Egypt were factious, with multiple Egyptian media outlets reacting with either objective or negative headlines. One news source, for example, titled a video explaining the incident: "Sad thing, Sherine insults the Nile you drank from." This caption pits the viewers against Sherine and inspires resentment towards the entertainer for "insulting" the Egyptian public's primary source of drinking water. By comparison, comments on YouTube videos describing the incident as well as on articles detailing it are almost overwhelmingly supportive of Sherine. One such remark plainly states, "this joke was actually FOR the public interest if you think about it." Why, then, did some local actors find Sherine's statement to be unpatriotic and anti-Egypt? To answer this question, it is necessary to consider how the Nile has come to be an entity intimately connected with Egypt and why the river is such a major symbol of life, nationalism, and community.

View from the east bank of the Nile, looking north (down river) towards Elephantine Island.

The Nile as a Symbol: From Ancient Egypt to Modern Music

The Nile has long been a vital element of Egypt, beginning around five million years ago when the river started to run northwards into Egypt. By 3150 BCE, the Egyptian civilization on the banks of the Nile became the world's first recognizable nation state.  In depicting the significance of the Nile to the ancient Egyptians, a prominent story in Egyptian mythology illustrates the god Osiris, whose brother Set murdered him out of jealousy and discarded 36 pieces of his dismembered body all over Egypt. Though Osiris' wife, Isis, embarked on a journey to find each body part, erecting a shrine in every location where a piece was found, she never found Osiris' phallus, which Set threw into the Nile. The Nile was made fertile by this deposit, and accordingly, signified life to ancient Egyptians.

Today, the Nile has maintained extreme significance: the 11 East African countries that exist, at least partially, within the Nile Basin, depend on the river as a resource for drinking water, irrigation, and agriculture, which makes sharing of the waterway a constant point of contention. In the pursuit of peacebuilding, however, some actors turn to music as a messenger for change. For example, the Nile Project, a group comprised of musicians from the 11 countries within the Nile Basin, fosters a positive relationship among the countries of East Africa through songs such as "Dingy Dingy," which resonates with the current crisis of water scarcity in the Nile Basin, stating that the head and the legs of the Nile would be "doomed if they leave each other." The group aims to incorporate elements from numerous Nile cultures to create music that embodies a "uniquely Nile sound." Sherine, clearly, is not the only artist to harness the Nile as a symbol of community in music, if albeit on a more localized scale.

The Nile River

Sherine's "Haven't You Ever Drunk from the Nile" champions a spirit of fellowship similar to the Nile Project's "Dingy Dingy," but within more nationalistic parameters. The title of the song references an Egyptian proverb, which states "if you drink from the Nile, you are destined to return to Egypt."

In Sherine's lyrics, the Nile is interchangeable with the nation: "Haven't you ever drunk from the Nile? Haven't you ever tried to sing for her? Have you ever tried in the peak of your sorrow to wander in her streets and tell her what's wrong with you? Haven't you wandered in her suburbs? Haven't you grown up there? Didn't you draw on the sand of one of her shores?

The Nile is not only Sherine's haven in this song but also a symbol of her motherland, for which she feels intense pride and belonging. The only mention of the Nile as a physical river in the tune is its shores, though references to the land and streets of Sherine's country of birth are more common. In the four-minute music video for "Mashrebtesh Men Nilha," water is shown only twice and very briefly at the beginning, while the remainder of the video showcases Egypt's illuminated urban streets and a family gathering wherein Sherine and her relatives jovially make dinner together and tease one another.

Later, Sherine stands in the center of a grand mosque, her perfectly styled hair covered by a veil, adding yet another motif emblematic of Egyptian daily life, and further cementing the association between Egypt and the Nile. Therefore, rather than denoting a literal action, drinking from the Nile represents family and faith, home and homeland.

The Nile as a River: Pollution, Geopolitics, and Schistosomiasis

While both the Nile Project and Sherine's music utilize the Nile as a symbol to foster community and comradery, the Nile as a physical river suffers from municipal and industrial chemical waste, wastewater, and dead animal carcasses.

Furthermore, since the 1990s, Egypt's population has skyrocketed by 41%, immensely increasing the stress on the country's water supply. With an annual water deficit of about 7 billion cubic meters, the UN warns Egypt could run out of water by 2025. Exacerbating this warning is the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, an idea which inspired President Morsi to consider military action against Ethiopia, and is estimated to produce a 25% cut of the Nile's freshwater flow into Egypt. Meanwhile, Egypt is also struggling to maintain positive ties with Sudan, who disputes ownership of a border strip with Egypt and accuses its northern neighbor of lobbying against the dam to preserve its access to water rightfully owned by Sudan.

Photo credit: TESFA News

To compound matters, the stress of water-sharing is only a relatively new accessory to the millennia-old presence of Schistosomiasis in Nile waters. From the first recorded diagnoses in Egyptian mummies ranging from 3,000 to 5000 years old, the disease has remained a glaring issue.

Schistosomiasis is caused by parasitic worms that live in certain species of freshwater snails. One can contract the disease simply by touching infected waters. Ancient Egyptians believed bleeding in a boy's urine, though actually due to Schistosomiasis, was a rite of passage into manhood, akin to a woman's menstruation. As a result of this societal norm, the disease continued to run rampant. When Abd al- Halim Hafiz died from the disease in 1977, the New York Times published an article explaining Schistosomiasis  and noting how "some 70% of Egyptians" may have it. To be certain, extreme measures are being taken to treat Schistosomiasis in Egypt and the other countries aligning the Nile. In 2016, Egypt partnered with the World Health Organization to leverage $2 million per year for five years to accelerate the elimination of Schistosomiasis. And though the installation of the Aswan Dam in the early 1930s increased the baseline prevalence rate of the disease by enhancing snail habitats in still water, today, the rate is about .2%. While this figure is certainly promising, Egypt has yet to reach its goal of conquering Schistosomiasis.

Merging of Myth and Reality

Egypt is not naïve or unaware of the presence of Schistosomiasis in its beloved Nile. However, Sherine's arrest proves it deplores the prospect of other nations taking notice. Sherine's remark, notably, was made in the UAE, arguably exposing the impurity of the Nile to outsiders. Since the 2011 and 2014 uprisings in Egypt, which resulted in 37% and 25% declines in tourism, respectively, Egypt has encouraged tourism by liberalizing the exchange rate, combatting terrorism, and eradicating diseases that would make the country less attractive to visitors. Against this backdrop, the intense sensitivity to the Nile as a symbol, exposed through the state's need to suppress Sherine's outlook, speaks to the state's refusal to distinguish between the Nile as an exalted symbol and the Nile as a physical river as well as a fear that exterior perceptions of Egypt will deteriorate because of Sherine's mere acknowledgement of a public health concern.

El Ba'ath ( Resurrection ) . Silver Gelatin Bromide . Nile . Egypt (2011)

Over the course of Egypt's history, the Nile has been deified through songs and oral tradition, even though, like any other body of water the world over, it is also susceptible to diseases, pollution, and water scarcity.

I believe Sherine's comment, in her mind a "silly joke" and seemingly innocuous reference to the presence of Schistosomiasis in the Nile, was ruled a serious insult to Egypt because of a clear conflation of the Nile as a symbol and the Nile as a waterway. Indeed, by apologizing and admitting wrongdoing, Sherine herself conflated the Nile's dual identity. This continued conflation may very well exacerbate water politics in the region if Egypt cannot separate its strong symbolic association with the Nile from its relationship with its water. As water-sharing persists as a major point of contention in East Africa and Egypt is forced to come to terms with a changing relationship with the Nile as a physical river, understanding and ending this conflation will be an important step toward a peaceful and rational resolution to water politics between Egypt and the rest of the region.

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Egypt's Coptic Christians Reel from Murder in Monastery - The Atlantic

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/11/coptic-christian-monastery-murder-egypt/574597/

A Theological Murder Mystery Is Rattling Christians in Egypt

What motivated the killing of a bishop inside his own monastery?

Farid Y. Farid

Nov 2, 2018

Coptic Pope Tawadros IIDarrian Traynor / Getty

CAIRO—Bishop Epiphanius was found lying in a pool of his own blood, his brain spilling out of his crushed skull. The 64-year-old Coptic abbot was discovered near his cell at the Monastery of St. Macarius, in the desert northwest of Cairo, just before dawn on a July morning. He had been on his way to prayers, but before he could perform that final act of devotion, he was murdered—apparently by his own disciples. He was beaten three times on the head with a metal object, possibly a pipe, according to the general prosecutor's investigation files I obtained.

The ongoing inquiry has captured the imagination of ordinary Egyptians, who are clamoring for answers about who's behind this real-life murder mystery. They are intensely interested not only because the murder took place in a monastery, but because the death of Epiphanius, a learned man with a wispy white beard and a serene smile, represents a new challenge for an already beleaguered Christian community.

Copts, a religious minority in Egypt numbering at least 10 million, make up around one-tenth of the country's population, though reliable figures are hard to find. Adhering to a form of Christianity that began with Saint Mark in the first century, Copts have suffered centuries of religious persecution, including at the hands of militant groups such as Islamic State. Most recently, reports have emerged that at least seven Copts were killed when gunmen opened fire on their bus Friday. In the case of the monastery, however, the violence appears to have come from within.

Two suspects—Wael Saad Tawadros, 34, and Faltaous al-Maqari, 33—were quickly identified by investigators. Wael, who went by the name Isaiah until the Church defrocked him in August, is now in prison. He confessed to the murder under interrogation, but later retracted the confession, saying it was given under duress. Faltaous attempted to take his own life in the days after the bishop's murder, and he remains in a Cairo hospital, battered and bruised.

A third monk, Zenon al-Maqari, 43, who was due to testify about his alleged involvement in the crime, has also been found dead. An autopsy report detected signs of insecticide poisoning; his death was seen as a suicide attempt.

In the case files, prosecutors say—based on Wael's now-retracted confession—that the suspects had planned for Faltaous to serve as Wael's lookout. They met on the morning of the murder, waited for the bishop to head to the dawn mass, pounced on him, and then fled the crime scene to their respective cells.

When I sought out Wael's family in a cramped tailor's shop in Abu Tij, a small commercial hub a few hours' drive south of Cairo, I found his brother Hany Tawadros working amid the monotonous beat of an ornate Singer sewing machine. In his first interview with the media, Hany insisted that his younger brother was innocent and said problems with the investigation have convinced his family that Wael was framed.

"It is like they arranged all the evidence together and tailored a galabeya (tunic) out of it that fit him perfectly so he can appear as the culprit," Hany told me. He slammed the clergy for the way they had cooperated with the authorities and defrocked Wael, which he said cemented the perception that Wael was the murderer. "You can see that the Church worked hand in hand with the authorities to frame him. The monastery's old guard pretty much said, 'Let's focus our energy on the monk who had many issues with the leadership,' so he became their sacrificial lamb."

Wael and the abbot had been locked in a fierce theological dispute, according to Wael's family and lawyer as well as Church officials commenting in local media. The dispute revolved around two men who followed diverging schools of thought that have defined the Church.

One was advocated by Matta al-Maskin, a charismatic figure in the Church who, until his death in 2006, had advocated a more inward-looking monasticism and a return to an era of worship unencumbered by the distractions of modernity. The other was led by Pope Shenouda III, the late spiritual leader who wielded great influence over Egyptian Christians. He had been al-Maskin's disciple, but embarked on making the Church visible in public life until he died in 2012.

Both were in the same monastery during the 1950s. Both were intellectual powerhouses, known as much for their voluminous patristic writings as for the rhetorical barbs they threw at one another. And both attracted hundreds of thousands of Coptic admirers to their respective camps.

"Al-Maskin believed that the Church is a spiritual institution with no political interest and therefore clergy should not participate in political conflict," explained Elizabeth Monier, an expert on Coptic affairs at Cambridge University. "Shenouda, an active Christian figure in the public space, had a different understanding."

Bishop Epiphanius was an ardent follower of al-Maskin. Wael, meanwhile, was ordained by Pope Shenouda. Following Shenouda's death, the discord within the monastery's leadership grew. Wael became more vocal about the monastery's administration of financial and spiritual matters under Epiphanius's direction, according to Church figures who documented the acrimony in memorandums published on the Church's official Facebook page.

The infighting came to a head this February. Epiphanius and the Holy Synod, the Church's organizational body, asked the pope for Wael to be defrocked—the most severe penalty for a disgraced monk—for his failure to obey the monastery's rules. A group of 52 monks signed a petition, a copy of which I examined when Wael's family showed it to me, urging the Coptic pontiff, Pope Tawadros II (no relation to Wael), to keep him on pending good behavior. The Holy Synod defrocked Wael anyway, a few days after the murder of Epiphanius.

The discord that had built up over many decades will likely rear its head again, because the Church is unwilling to be transparent about its deep-seated political problems, according to Ishak Ibrahim, a leading expert on religious affairs with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. "We are going to see a repeat of a similar incident in the near future if these endemic issues are not swiftly dealt with," he said.

Read: The Americanization of the ancient Coptic faith

Wael's family alleges the interrogation techniques used on him effectively forced him to confess to the crime. Based on a conversation they had with Wael during a prison visit, they claim that Pope Tawadros II's personal aide was present during the interrogations, oversaw physical and psychological torture there, and repeatedly called the police's lead interrogator to ask if Wael had confessed to the murder. They say Wael was beaten by security personnel and interrogated for over 22 hours straight, before being forcibly disappeared for four days. Enforced disappearances are not uncommon in Egypt, according to Amnesty International. These allegations were listed in a memorandum drawn up by Wael's previous lawyer, who pointed me to a copy. He has asked Egypt's attorney general to fully investigate the claims, but there have not yet been reports to suggest that is being done. The pope's personal aide, as well as the Church spokesman Boulos Halim, did not reply to multiple requests for comment.

During a different prison visit with Wael in early September, the family managed to see him for just under an hour. It was a painful sight for Saad Tawadros, Wael's father, who wept as he spoke to me in the family tailor shop. "He told me when we saw him in the prison waiting room, 'I didn't kill anybody, I didn't do this.' He repeated it insistently," the elderly man said. On November 1, at the most recent hearing in the ongoing trial, Wael once again maintained his innocence.

As for Faltaous, the monk who is still hospitalized following his suicide attempt, his lawyer Michel Halim said he is convinced Faltaous will walk free at some point. Faltaous did not appear to have any ideological disagreement with the bishop and had, in fact, written at least one religious book for which Epiphanius wrote the foreword.

A monk at St. Macarius, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the ongoing investigation, told me in a phone call from the monastery that he had personally witnessed arguments between Wael and the bishop. He added that things have settled down somewhat in the monastery, but that bitterness persists between al-Maskin's and Shenouda's followers.

Pope Tawadros II, who presents himself as a theological centrist rather than advocating for either school of thought, has reacted to the crisis by banning monks from using social media and from leaving their monasteries without permission. The pontiff also visited St. Macarius monastery, where he affirmed that Egyptian Christian monks must preserve their ascetic traditions.

"The pope aimed to deescalate the situation by halting the debates in media and prevent high-profile confrontations. However, this has generated frustration at the popular level," said Monier, the Cambridge professor. "He strives to introduce himself in a neutral position, with every caution taken to avoid any further friction among Church authorities." But, she added, "he has not been successful in this."

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.

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Giza's Khafre Pyramid Restored and Open for Visits Again | Egyptian Streets

https://egyptianstreets.com/2018/11/01/gizas-khafre-pyramid-restored-and-open-for-visits-again/

Giza's Khafre Pyramid Restored and Open for Visits Again

Egyptian Streets

November 1, 2018

The recently-restored pyramid of King Khafre will be opened on Thursday for visits, as per a statement issued by the Ministry of Antiquities.

As such, the ministry has also decided to close the pyramid of King Menkaure in order to begin its restoration and maintenance work. This rotation system is part of the Ministry's plan of the periodic maintenance of the pyramids of Giza by closing a pyramid for restoration and opening other pyramids for visit.

Ashraf Mohiuddin, director general of Giza pyramids area, stated that the restoration included the maintenance of wooden walkway and stairway of the pyramid, changing the internal lighting system, strengthening all the weak parts of the corridors and the burial chamber as well as the cleaning of the granite coffin.

Source Wikipedia/ MusikAnimal

Head of the Central department of Restoration and Maintenance, Ghareeb Senbol, head of the Central Administration for Restoration and Maintenance, also stated that mechanical and chemical cleaning was carried out. Special focus was given to the extraction of salts on the surface of some blocks, the removal of 

that the repairs were carried out by mechanical cleaning of the mattresses, limited chemical cleaning of parts that did not benefit from mechanical treatment, the extraction of salts on the roofs of some stones and the removal of dilapidated mortar. 

Another pyramid that is currently being restored is the step pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara, with its restoration work estimated to be 90 percent complete. 

Contrary to popular belief, Egypt's tombs and monuments can undergo gradual deterioration if not well-preserved. As such, Egyptian authorities attempt to limit the open duration of certain monuments on a rotational basis. This system is equally maintained in other parts of the country.  

Tourists are especially encouraged not to spend a long time inside tombs for fear that humidity and breathing would ruin the carvings and colorful decorations.

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Coptic Christian attack: Egypt police 'kill 19 attackers' - BBC News

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46090104

Coptic Christian attack: Egypt police 'kill 19 attackers'

• 4 November 2018

Image copyright AFP

Image caption There was anger and frustration among mourners on Saturday at yet another deadly attack

Nineteen Islamist militants accused of carrying out a deadly attack on Christians in Egypt have been killed by police, the interior ministry says.

They died in a shoot-out after police pursued "fugitive terrorist elements" into the desert area west of Minya province, the statement said.

Seven Coptic Christians were killed in an attack on two buses near a monastery in Minya on Friday.

The Islamic State (IS) group has said it carried out the attack.

It was the latest in a series of attacks by extremists on Egypt's Coptic Christian minority.

Image copyright Reuters

Image caption Seven people were killed in the attack on Coptic Christians in Minya

The ministry said security forces had exchanged fire with "terrorist elements" they were pursuing, although it did not say exactly when the firefight happened.

The ministry posted images of bodies and a tent in which the militants were said to have been hiding. Guns, rifles and IS propaganda can be seen next to the bodies.

Friday's attack near the Monastery of St Samuel the Confessor in Minya also left at least seven other people wounded, including children, according to reports.

Funerals were held for the victims on Friday and Saturday, with many mourners expressing their anger.

"What do these terrorists want? Do they want us to hate Muslims?" said Michel, 23, who lost a neighbour in the attack.

The Copts, who make up most of the Christian minority, have in the past accused the authorities in Muslim-majority Egypt of making only token gestures to protect them from such attacks.

One at the same spot left 28 dead in May 2017.

Who are the Coptic Christians?

The Coptic Orthodox Church is the main Christian Church in Egypt. While most Copts live there, the church has about a million members outside the country.

Copts believe that their faith dates back to about AD50, when the Apostle Mark is said to have visited Egypt. The head of the church is called the Pope, and is considered to be the successor of Saint Mark.

The Coptic Church separated from other Christian denominations at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, in a dispute over the human and divine nature of Jesus Christ.

The current Coptic Pope, Tawadros II, stepped away from social media last month by closing his official Facebook page.

• Egyptian Christians living in fear for the future
• Egypt country profile

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Memphis Pyramid houses a Bass Pro Shops and hotel: review, photos - Business Insider

Many, many pictures in the article are not included here. To see them, follow this link: 

https://www.businessinsider.com/bass-pro-shops-pyramid-photos-2018-7?r=UK&IR=T

We stayed in one of the largest pyramids in the world, a Bass Pro Shops-owned lodge filled with alligators, swamps, and rumors of an ancient curse. Here's what it was like.

Kate Taylor and Hollis Johnson

Nov. 3, 2018, 10:40 AM

The Bass Pro Shops Pyramid looms over Memphis. Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

• One of the largest pyramids in the world is in Memphis, Tennessee, and is owned by Bass Pro Shops.
• The "Great American Pyramid" is taller than the Statue of Liberty and houses a super-sized Bass Pro Shops, a hunting lodge-themed hotel, an indoor swamp, a bowling alley, and two restaurants.
• We visited the pyramid and discovered a place that is like nothing else on the planet.

An ancient pyramid looms over the city of Memphis.

Well, maybe not ancient. But, since 1991, the "Great American Pyramid" has welcomed travelers as they journey over the Mississippi River on I-40. And, the pyramid boasts a strange history, with a past life as a sports arena, events space, and even an abandoned structure nicknamed the "Tomb of Doom" due to rumors of a curse incurred by the founder of the Hard Rock Café.

Inside the mighty pyramid, the scene grows even more bizarre. The pyramid is now owned by Bass Pro Shops, and the chain has taken it upon itself to transform it into a sort of theme park for the American outdoorsman: a 32-story building with an indoor swamp, gun range, and bowling alley.

Once you enter the "Tomb of Doom," you can never leave. Well, you can, but with a luxury hotel and two restaurants, there isn't much reason to do so.

We decided to visit the pyramid ourselves. Here's what it's like to stay in a Bass Pro Shops that's taller than the Statue of Liberty and almost the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza:

The pyramid sits on the Mississippi River. It's the first thing you see when you enter Memphis from the west.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

Since Memphis' namesake is the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis, the Tennessean city thought it only right to build a pyramid of their own in the '80s.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

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‘No’tet Talaky’ reviews our Egyptian origin - Egypt Today

http://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/59996/'No'tet-Talaky'-reviews-our-Egyptian-origin
World Youth Forum short movie ''No'tet Talaky" (A Point of Convergence) - Egypt Today.

'No'tet Talaky' reviews our Egyptian origin

By: Angy Essam

Sun, Nov. 4, 2018

CAIRO – 4 November 2018: ''Over time and from the dawn of history, the Egyptian person was influenced by the flashes of civilizations passed by Egypt " by this immortal words written by the late great writer Milad Hannah, World Youth Forum short movie ''No'tet Talaky" (A Point of Convergence) started.

Hannah stated these words in his book entitled ''The Seven Pillars of the Egyptian Personality'' which is the theme of the second edition of the forum.

The short movie presented by the beautiful Egyptian actress Reem Moustafa takes us in a journey to search for the Egyptian roots and the origin of our different civilizations.

During the movie, Mustafa travelled through the Egyptian desserts and Nubia, met tribes and people with different customs and traditions, to know what we are, where we come from and show both Egyptian youth and foreign youth who are the Egyptians and what their origin is.

As recounted by Moustafa this journey was unforgettable one, a simple yet a dazzling journey that reflected to all the forum attendees how great Egypt is, and how magnificent its history.

''An unforgettable experience, every moment was magical, passion, love, stories and people made it a special experience "Moustafa recounted.


''No'tet Talaky" film reviews the religious archaeological sites in Egypt in Sinai, since the ancient Pharaonic era, moving to the era of prophet Moses and up to the journey of the Holy Family.

The movie explained the rich Egyptian history from the era of Islamic conquest, until the 6th of October war, during which the Arabs of Sinai showed great heroism and made great sacrifices.

Mustafa met with Nubian people in Aswan, where they talked about their dazzling customs and traditions inherited from ancient times, in addition to introducing their Nubian language and the history of some Pharaonic temples in Aswan such as the temple of Phila.

Moustafa met the people of Siwa Oasis , conveying the peace and love that they have lived through since ancient times and which they still maintain.

The film stressed that Egypt is the cradle of the three Abrahamic religions, as it was the Holy Family haven after fleeing from the oppression of aggressors and was Prophet Muhammad's family haven too.

It was announced that 122,000 youth aged from 18 to 40 registered online to participate in the forum, 13,000 of which registered to participate as speakers. Also, 5,000 artists registered to participate in the forum's theatre.

The forum also decided to host 5,000 youth from 145 countries to participate in this year's forum, compared to 3,000 participants last year.

The WYF in its second annual version will tackle two main axes: peace and development.

The first axis will discuss reconstructing post-conflict countries and societies, the role of world leaders in achieving peace, the duty of the international community to provide humanitarian assistance, counter-terrorism issues, and Euro-Mediterranean Partnership.

The theme of the development will include topics related to energy and water security, empowerment of people with disabilities, the role of voluntary work in building societies, the agenda of 2063 African Sustainable Development, digital citizenship, the role of art and cinema in shaping communities, ways to build future leaders, and the means of shrinking the gender gap in the work force.

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https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbressan/2018/11/04/gemstone-found-in-king-tuts-tomb-formed-when-a-celestial-body-collided-with-earth/#6d359aa8edc6

28,708 viewsNov 4, 2018, 09:04am

Gemstone Found In King Tut's Tomb May Have Formed When A Celestial Body Collided With Earth

David Bressan Contributor, Science

I deal with the rocky road to our modern understanding of earth

• 
  

On November 4, 1922, a boy accidentally stumbled on a stone that turned out to be the top of a flight of steps cut into the bedrock of the Valley of the Kings. The Valley of the Kings is a remote valley located in the desert west of the river Nile. In Pharaonic Egypt, this valley was considered the land of the dead and many pharaohs were buried here. In 1922, British archaeologist Howard Carter was searching here for the tomb of Tutankhamen, a relatively minor pharaoh who ruled over over Egypt from 1332 to 1323 BCE.

One month later, Carter entered the Pharaoh's tomb. Asked if he could see anything in the burial chamber, Carter allegedly responded: "Yes, wonderful things." Tutankhamen's tomb was filled with statues made of ivory, precious jewelry and even a complete golden chariot. In one treasure chest, Carter discovered a large breastplate, decorated with gold, silver, various precious jewels and a strange gemstone. The breastplate shows the god Ra as a winged scarab, made from the yellow, translucent gemstone, carrying the celestial bark with the Sun and the Moon into the sky.

Tutankhamun's breastplate features a scarab carved from Desert Glass. Credit: Wikipedia/J.BodsworthJ.Bodsworth

Carter identified the gemstone at first as chalcedony, a common variety of the mineral quartz. Ten years later the British geographer Patrick Clayton was exploring the Libyan Desert along the border of modern Egypt and Libya. Here he discovered some strange pieces of glass in the sand. The pale yellow in color and translucent material seemed to be identical to the gemstone found in Tutankhamen's tomb. Two years later he published a short note, suggesting that the pieces of Libyan Desert Glass (LDG) were the quartz-rich deposits of a dry lake. In 1998, Italian mineralogist Vincenzo de Michele analyzed the optical properties of the gemstone in King Tut's breastplate and confirmed that it was indeed a piece of LDG.

A piece of Lybian Desert Glass. Credit: Wikipedia/H. Raab CC BY-SA 3.0.H.Raab

LDG is almost pure silicon-dioxide, like quartz, but its crystal structure is different.  It also contains in traces an unusual combination of elements, like iron, nickel, chromium, cobalt and iridium.  It is among the rarest minerals on Earth, as it is found only in the Great Sand Sea north of the Gilf Kebir Plateau, one of the most remote and desolate areas in the Libyan Desert.

The origin of desert glass remains uncertain. Glass forms in nature when quartz-rich rocks melt and rapidly cool. Tektites are natural glass formed from terrestrial debris ejected high into Earth's atmosphere during meteorite impacts. Tektites have been found across Asia, Australia and as far away as Antarctica. If the LDG is a tektite, it formed 28 to 26 million years ago when an impact melted the quartz-rich sand of the desert. The unusual elements found in the LDG are explained as traces of the vaporized meteorite.

However, no impact crater was ever found in the Libyan Desert. In an alternative scenario a comet, composed mostly of ice, may have exploded above the desert. The generated heat burst, an estimated 3,600°F, would be sufficient to melt the upper layers of the sand dunes, forming the desert glass, but without leaving a crater behind.

It's also uncertain just how the desert glass became part of Tutankhamen's treasures. Today, caravans rarely cross the Great Sand Sea. Archaeological evidence suggests that an ancient system of caravan routes existed around the Gilf Kebir Plateau, but it doesn't seem that the routes were used to search or trade for desert glass.  The scarab in the breastplate remains a unique anomaly, the only known example where an Egyptian artist used this alien material.

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Luxor celebrates 96th anniversary of Tutankhamun discovery - Egypt Independent

https://www.egyptindependent.com/luxor-celebrates-96th-anniversary-of-tutankhamun-discovery/

Archaeology

Luxor celebrates 96th anniversary of Tutankhamun discovery

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Al-Masry Al-Youm

November 3, 2018
5:09 pm

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The governorate of Luxor, starting from Sunday, November 4 until the end of the month, is celebrating the 96th anniversary for the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb.

The government celebrates November 4 as the national day of Luxor.

Celebrations will include the opening of new archaeological projects, art exhibitions and folkloric shows in Luxor.

Luxor will commemorate the anniversary by holding a series of artistic, intellectual and cultural activities, organized by Luxor's archaeological and cultural institutions such as: the Luxor Public Library, the Faculty of Fine Arts, the Museum of Mummification, the Luxor Museum, Upper Egypt Antiquities Region and the Cultural Palaces Authority.

At the Faculty of Fine Arts, an exhibition to commemorate the occasion and a special cultural season organized by the Egyptian Museums Sector will be held. A number of Egyptian scientists and professors of arts and archeology will give lectures at during the intellectual and cultural events.

These events discuss every step of the discovery since the workers pulled the first stone in the stairs leading to the tomb up until it was opened for public visit, while also shedding light on who British archaeologist and Egyptologist Howard Carter was and his discoveries, as well as the most important discoveries in Luxor throughout the ages.

Francis Amin, a researcher in Egyptology, said that the Tutankhamun collection is the most famous among the collections of artifacts and treasures recovered from the tombs of ancient Egyptian royalty.

The President of the Egyptian Association for Archaeological and Tourism Development Ayman Abu Zaid said that the celebrations of the 96th anniversary are special, as the world is close to seeing the whole collection of treasures and monuments of King Tutankhamun under one roof in the Grand Egyptian Museum.

Abu Zaid pointed out that the Pharaoh's mummy is to be placed in a new showcase given by Italy to Egypt in order to protect the king's remains from any damage.

On November 4, 1922, Carter found the first stone leading to the tomb of King Tutankhamun and its treasures, intact and untouched by thieves, such as statues of the king, gold jewelry and pots made of porcelain.

The contents of the tomb gave archaeologists a unique opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the nature of life in the 18^th dynasty, a period of particular importance in the history of ancient Egypt.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Things to Do: Attend When Women Ruled the World at Wortham Theater Center | Houston Press

https://www.houstonpress.com/arts/things-to-do-attend-when-women-ruled-the-world-at-wortham-theater-center-10968857

 

Dr. Kara Cooney, professor of Egyptian Art and Architecture at UCLA, is ready to talk about ancient coffins, power struggles, and the political machinations that put six female pharaohs on the throne.

Photo courtesy of Kara Cooney

Incest, Murder and Power: Egyptologist to Discuss Rise of Ancient Female Rulers

Susie Tommaney | November 2, 2018 | 4:00am

Dr. Kathlyn (Kara) Cooney has traveled around the world and back in time, on archaeological excavations in Egypt, investigating ancient burial practices and documenting almost 300 coffins, including those found in Cairo, London and Vatican City collections.

But it was her knowledge about the 19th and 21st dynasties of Egypt, with her focus on female rulers in a patriarchal society, that got Dr. Cooney noticed by National Geographic. Cooney's first book, The Woman Who Would Be King, came out in 2014 and the publishers asked her to expand on the curriculum she has been teaching as professor of Egyptian Art and Architecture at UCLA.

Dr. Kara Cooney's new book, When Women Ruled the World: Six Queens of Egypt.

Courtesy photo

The resulting new book, When Women Ruled the World: Six Queens of Egypt, is full of shadowy stories of murder, incest, political power plays and enough intrigue to satisfy even the most jaded reader.

The book releases October 30 and Cooney — who grew up in Houston — is returning to the Bayou City, courtesy of Society for the Performing Arts, for a lecture and presentation titled When Women Ruled the World: Egyptologist Kara Cooney.

She'll warm up the crowd with a discussion about those coffins (including some that were used more than once), then jump into the anthropological reasons why society distrusts female power before launching into the main event: an exploration into the lives of six remarkable female pharaohs.

There's Cleopatra, who eliminated her siblings (with the help of daddy and her lover) and capitalized on her sexuality; Neferusobek, the first female king; and Nefertiti, who did a complete reboot and totally reinvented herself. What unites these stories, and those of three other female rulers, is that they all attained power because of some kind of crisis, though they each stepped in to heal a different kind of breach.

"[Cleopatra] actually removed the technique of holding power that the Ptolomese had used for generations: uncle married niece, brother married sister. The Ptolomese liked to have two persons on the throne. Cleopatra discarded all of that, she had her brothers removed, her sisters removed." Cleopatra was the architect of her family's demise and, though she tried to rebuild by having children with Roman warlords (Julius Caesar, Marcus Antonius), the 300-year reign of the Ptolemaic dynasty ended with her.

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Neferusobek also was the last of her dynasty. "She had no children. She was married to her half or full brother; she could have been a product of generations of incest," says Cooney, about the practice of holding on to money and power by not marrying outside the family. Even though she had no children, she was allowed to serve until her death. "There was a belief in the divinity of a king, and she was the daughter of a king."

Cooney tells us that Nefertiti translates to the beautiful one has come. "She actually moved into roles as co-king alongside her husband and maybe sole king after his death. She changed her name and she walked away from her beauty and went for a more masculinized power. She walked away from that version of herself," adds Cooney.

This event also serves as the inaugural Nat Geo Night for SPA Education, which means an ancient Egypt-themed photo booth has been set up in the lobby for pre-show pics. Parents and educators will want to check out the TEKS-aligned study guide with activities (spell your name in hieroglyphics), worksheets and links to amazing National Geographic photography.

When Women Ruled the World: Egyptologist Kara Cooney is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. November 10, Wortham Theater Center, 500 Texas, 713-227-4772, spahouston.org/performances/egyptologist-kara-cooney, $45 to $65.

 

Susie Tommaney is a contributing writer who enjoys covering the lively arts and culture scene in Houston and surrounding areas, connecting creative makers with the Houston Press readers to make every week a great one.

• Contact:
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The Epigraphic Survey/Chicago House launches digitalEPIGRAPHY | The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago

https://oi.uchicago.edu/article/epigraphic-surveychicago-house-launches-digitalepigraphy

The Epigraphic Survey/Chicago House launches digitalEPIGRAPHY

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October 31, 2018

The Epigraphic Survey/Chicago House, Oriental Institute is back in Luxor for its 2018–2019 archaeological field season and is resuming documentation and conservation work at Luxor Temple, Medinet Habu, and Theban Tomb 107. In celebration of our 95th year in Luxor and the Centennial of the Oriental Institute, we are very pleased to announce that the digital drawing manual of Krisztián Vértes and the Epigraphic Survey, Digital Epigraphy, has outgrown the electronic book format and has evolved into its own website. As of November 1st, digitalEPIGRAPHY the website can be accessed at this link: 
 
http://www.digital-epigraphy.com
 
digitalEPIGRAPHY incorporates all of the information on digital drawing techniques, Epigraphic Survey drawing conventions, tutorials, etc. found in the first edition of Digital Epigraphy, as well as an enormous amount of additional, updated information that was originally planned for the second and third editions and beyond. The website is completely open-ended and has the benefit of being able to change as fast as we do, with instant access to new digital epigraphic drawing methods and equipment as we learn about and test them, and it will allow the Epigraphic Survey to continue leading the way in cutting-edge epigraphic documentation and publication. We invite you all to check out this exciting new website regularly (since it will be constantly changing), and we encourage you to send us your comments and feedback. Enjoy!
 
W. Raymond Johnson,
Director, Epigraphic Survey
 

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Ritual Cemeteries—For Cows and Then Humans—Plot Pastoralist Expansion Across Africa | Science | Smithsonian

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/ritual-cemeteries-cows-humans-pastoralist-expansion-across-africa-180970683/

Ritual Cemeteries—For Cows and Then Humans—Plot Pastoralist Expansion Across Africa

As early herders spread across northern and then eastern Africa, the communities erected monumental graves which may have served as social gathering points

Khoikhoi of South Africa dismantling their huts, preparing to move to new pastures—aquatint by Samuel Daniell (1805). Pastoralism has a rich history in Africa, spreading from the Saharan region to East Africa and then across the continent. (Samuel Daniell)

By Joshua Rapp Learn

smithsonian.com
November 1, 2018 11:09AM

In the Saharan regions of Africa around the sixth millennium B.C., 2,500 to 3,000 years before the great dynasties of Egypt rose along the Nile, a new way of life spread across the northeastern reaches of the world's second largest continent. While the Sahara Desert was still relatively wet and green, nomads began to cross into the region, possibly from the Middle East, seeking more stable and plentiful lives. The traditional subsistence method of hunting and gathering was slowing giving way to a more secure practice, keeping a backup supply of food living right next to you through animal domestication and herding.

Around this time, some of the earliest ritual monuments to the dead were built by animal herders—only these cemeteries were built for cows, not humans.

"Cattle already, at a very early date, have social and probably symbolic significance in these societies," says Paul Lane, the Jennifer Ward Oppenheimer Professor of the Deep History and Archaeology of Africa at Cambridge University. It's not hard to see why early herders worshiped the docile and accompanying animals, which provided a reliable source of food and saved them from the hassle of tracking more elusive and dangerous prey.

Maasai warrior with cattle near Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. (Fernando Quevedo de Oliveira / Alamy Stock Photo)

But the early pastoralists still had their work cut out for them. As they moved into unfamiliar territory, they faced extreme landscapes, hostile neighbors and poorly understood climate patterns. In order to overcome these obstacles, ancient headers must have gathered from time to time to provide breeding opportunities for their animals and replenish lost livestock, not to mention renewing family ties and forging new bonds through the propagation of our own species. At the same time, periodic gatherings allowed the nomads to share advice about good pastures and warnings of danger in unfamiliar lands.

"If you are a lone dude with a herd, as soon as you lose your herd, you are done," says Elizabeth Sawchuk, a post-doctoral archaeological researcher at Stony Brook University.

According to new archaeological research led by Sawchuk, early cattle cemeteries may have provided the assembly grounds that cemented networks of herders. These social gathering points allowed the pastoralists to spread through vast stretches of northern and eastern Africa over the millennia. Along with the bones of livestock, archaeologists have discovered colorful stone beads and other artifacts at the burial sites, suggesting the cemeteries played a critical role in early pastoralist life.

"We're dealing with groups that have developed sophisticated social networks that they adapt and modify as they encounter new landscape challenges," Lane says. "It's about the beginnings of herding," Sawchuck adds. "It's really the thing that kicks off the east African pastoralist tradition."

The beginning of cattle herding in Africa is contentious, but some of the first evidence for pastoralist ritual gathering dates to around 7,500 years ago at a cattle burial site in modern-day Egypt called Nabta Playa. This and other burials in the region, sometimes accompanied by megalithic standing stones, reveal that herders took the time to bury their animals, a significant ritual practice, even before they started burying each other.

But the good times quickly dried up for pastoralists of the Sahara. Desertification and conflicts with hunter-gatherer tribes sent the herders out from Egypt, some moving west as the desert dried, while others followed the lush Nile Valley to the south. At this point, humans start to show up in the huge cemetery mounds attributed to herders.

Stone pendants and earrings from the communal cemetery of Lothagam North, Kenya, built by eastern Africa's earliest herders ~5000-4300 years ago. Megaliths, stone circles, and cairns flank the 30-m platform mound; itsmortuary cavity contains an estimated several hundred individuals, tightly arranged. Most burials had highly personalized ornaments. Lothagam North demonstrates monumentality may arise among dispersed, mobile groups without strong hierarchy. (Image courtesy of Carla Klehm)

"We can see that these early pastoralists around the Nile are doing similar things to the people burying cattle were doing," Sawchuk says, adding that these burials sometimes included family groupings and also contained similar types of stone beads as the earlier cattle cemeteries.

Recently, Sawchuk was involved in a prominent dig at a monumental, roughly 5,000-year-old cemetery called Lothagam North Pillar on the shores of Lake Turkana in Kenya. The site is one of the largest such cemeteries discovered in the region to date, with an estimated 580 burials spanning a period as long as 900 years. It also contains the telltale signs of ancient herders—people who made their way even farther south from the Nile Valley. The dig revealed human remains along with vibrant stone beads, rodent teeth necklaces and other artifacts.

These grand cemeteries have long perplexed archaeologists because they contrast starkly with the burial practices of modern-day African pastoralists, which are influenced by religious conversion to Christianity or Islam. The massive group burials also differ from the customs of African herders encountered by colonial Europeans, who up until the early 20th century often left their dead out in the bush due to a belief that burying them would pollute the earth.

Sawchuk and a team of researchers are attempting to fit Lothagam North into the larger trend of monumental pastoralist cemeteries, spanning roughly 7,500 to 2,000 years ago, when the last pastoral burial sites, which had expanded to the Central Rift Valley by this point, mostly disappeared from the archaeological record of East Africa. The team published a study last month suggesting the grand cemeteries were among the first things that pastoralists created when they arrived in new territories. After all, one of the first places a culture on the move needs is a place to bury their dead.

View of Lothagam North Pillar Kenya, built by eastern Africa's earliest herders ~5000-4300 years ago. Megaliths, stone circles, and cairns can be seen behind the 30-m platform mound; its mortuary cavity contains an estimated several hundred individuals, tightly arranged. Most burials had highly personalized ornaments. Lothagam North demonstrates monumentality may arise among dispersed, mobile groups without strong hierarchy. (Image courtesy of Katherine Grillo)

Lothagam North shows a high degree of multi-generational planning, with bodies interred in such a way that they rarely overlapped with others. But what's particularly unique about the Lothagam North site is the lack of hierarchy between the buried dead. This egalitarian approach to death separates these cemeteries from the monumental burials of agricultural societies. (Entire pyramids were built for certain pharaohs, while ancient Egyptian commoners were laid to rest in unmarked pits.)

"It's really not about one person but about community," Sawchuk says.

Lane, who was not involved in Sawchuk's research, is in "broad agreement" with her argument that the ruins of cemeteries represent early pastoralism culture around Lake Turkana. It is difficult to follow the trajectory of these pastoralists from the Nile Valley into the Lake Turkana region, however, as the area between, South Sudan, lacks archaeological research due to current political volatility. But even so, Lothgam North and five other nearby cemeteries suggest the first herders arrived about 5,000 years ago.

"This is kind of a crazy time in the Turkana Basin," Sawchuk says, explaining that the desertification of the Sahara led to the giant lake shrinking over time. The changing climate likely ruined some of the deep lake fishing enjoyed by communities around Turkana, but it also opened up fresh grassland in formerly submerged areas—perfect for grazing cattle.

Sawchuk is currently applying for grants to excavate Lothagam South, another cemetery across the lake from the northern site, which is only just beginning to be explored. Many of the six sites around the lake occupy vantage points, and Sawchuk hopes to determine whether they were built by the same people and whether the network of burials was planned from the beginning.

Ridges of Lothagam North, a monumental cemetery in modern-day Kenya, as viewed from the archeological dig site. (Elizabeth Sawchuk)

Times eventually changed for the pastoralists, who in later years resorted to "bush burials," leaving their dead in the wild without internment. Religious conversions meant a return to burying the dead, but never again in the same grand cemeteries where the herds of the past would gather. Sawchuk believes that the effort to build these sites became too burdensome, especially as towns grew more common and easier forms of networking appeared, such as marriage alliances, which are invisible to the archaeological record but still used today.

But in another sense, the lives of modern-day herders are intricately tied to their pastoralist ancestors. Traveling animal husbandmen continue to experience boom and bust cycles as they face extreme and unpredictable landscapes. And the ancient cemeteries, though abandoned, serve as a reminder of the critical support system that millions of herders in East Africa still rely on today, Sawchuk says. The persistence of pastoralism in East Africa is "why you see a Maasai warrior waving at you from the Nairobi airport when you land."

As today's wandering herders of Africa confront the changes and challenges of the future, they may take comfort in their ancestors' steadfast ability to survive by relying on one another.

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