A new weekly series about Egypt 

The author of this series "Egyptian Frescoes" André Dirlik was born in Egypt and spend the first twenty years of his life in Cairo, then moved to Beirut where he studied at the American University. He later completed his studies at Mc Gill University, in Montreal. 

André's long career as professor exclusively at the "Collège Militaire Royal de Saint-Jean" was only interrupted when that institution closed it's doors in 1995. 

Egyptian Frescoes part (1 of 19) issued with the permission of the author. 

Egyptian Frescoes (1): Tu Quoque Cicero...

Early in November 2011, I met for diner with long time friends, Alieddin Hilal and Yahiya el-Gamal, at the Automobile Club, on Kasr el-Nil Street, in Cairo. Egypt’s Arab Spring was barely nine months old. After the forced resignation of President Husni Mubarak, ‘Ali, a class mate of mine from his Canada days, resigned his post as Secretary for Media Affairs in the ruling National Democratic Party. ‘Ali had previously been appointed Minister of Youth and Sports. He held a PhD from Mc Gill University in Montreal in Political Science. Upon his graduation, he returned to Egypt where he taught at Cairo University. He later founded the Centre for International Affairs before he went into politics.

Facade of the Automobile club in Cairo

Yahiya just resigned his short-lived post as Vice-President when Marshal Tantawi appointed yet a new government to replace Mubarak’s own. A constitutional jurist of repute, he would now assist candidate Muhammad al-Baradei in his bid for the presidency at the head of his National Coalition for Change. Yahia had served as Minister of Administrative Affairs in the Cabinet of Gamal ‘abd al-Nasir. He was a seasoned politician. ‘Ali, although much younger, was experienced as well. The question raised at the dinner table was whether or not the Muslim Brotherhood did pose a serious challenge for the political future of Egypt. That evening, everyone seemed to agree that this fringe party would attract 20% of the vote, at most.

As one prepares to move onto a new year, results of the post Mubarak elections are coming in. It is now agreed that the MB will reap a majority of seats in parliament and form a government. Also, the newly elected house will be called upon to draft a constitution that should, most probably, set the course for a new ideological direction for Egyptians to follow. Time will tell whether Egypt’s new constitution will radically depart from the traditions which resulted from the reforms brought about, in 1820, by Muhammad ‘Ali Basha (1769-1849) when innovations in education and government institutions, which were inspired essentially from France, initiated the transformation of that country’s economy and society. We owe it to Henry Dodwell to still refer to Muhammad ‘Ali as the Founder of Modern Egypt.

The process which began in order to provide the Pasha with a modern powerful army permeated the entire country. In terms of constitutional precedent some, today, will argue that a MB government will thwart this process once and for all. Those who fear for past values and principles remind us of Cicero (106BC-43BC) who, in his Letters to Atticus deplored the end of the Republic, the death of Natural Law and Liberty and the disappearance of the Innate Rights for the People. I, for one, believe that the seeds of Modernity are deeply engrained in Egyptian soil. The negative opinion some Egyptians carry for the MB which is related to their past impressions of what once used to be a secret organisation that carried assassinations against its political enemies, will fade away. As to the notion that the past was better than the present and the future, it shall prove questionable as this notion remains class related: to the Egyptians who enjoyed past privileges, the Egypt they were raised in was certainly one of harmony for them. The 1952 Military Coup which toppled the Ancient Regime put an end to such privileges and harmony. The following essays will delve into that very subject and assist me in putting order in the thoughts I nurture on the subject.

Muhammed Ali

It shall be reminded that Egyptian Society had been changing ever since the Convention of London of 1840 recognized to Muhammad ‘Ali Pasha and his descendants their hereditary right to rule over Egypt. The Pasha’s heirs became known as Khedives (from the Turkish Hidiv, viceroy) from 1867 till 1914. An Egyptian Monarchy was then established, again which belonged to Muhammad ‘Ali’s dynasty. In his time, in 1843 at the Treaty of Balta Liman, the Pasha’s dream to erect a strong and independent state along the Nile faded away when the British who had supported the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II against his rebellious vassal from Egypt, tore down all import barriers which the state had built to protect and promote its infant economy. The imposition of liberal trade practices by the British forced Egypt to abandon much of its agricultural and industrial development. Barely one year after the signature of this treaty, the Egyptian debt reached 80 million francs, a considerable amount for the time.

And yet, the memory I harbour from my parents and grandparents is that Egypt had reached a sophisticated degree of Westernization. Both my grandparents immigrated to Egypt, one from the Caucasus Mountains, between the Black and the Caspian Seas and the other from Beirut. They sought opportunities to acquire wealth and reaped it due to the political, social and economic mood which the Khediviate, and latter, the Monarchy provided. A grandchild of Muhammad ‘Ali, the Khedive Isma’il, had committed himself to make Egypt part of Europe. He embarked upon grand construction projects. Building modern Cairo with the help of French and Italian architects, erecting an opera house, investing into the sugar cane industry, extending the railroad and the telegraph to the south of the country and, last but not least, becoming the major shareholder of the Société du Canal de Suez makes him the important builder he is today remembered for. Isma’il was benefiting from the actions of his grandfather, Muhammad ‘Ali, who confiscated the lands of the Mamlukes, a military caste which he toppled when he assumed power after 1811: the ruling family of Egypt became the major land owner in the country. 

The Citadel

The native political allies of the House of Muhammad ‘Ali also received land. And so it was that a landed class was created that would exploit the peasantry, the Fellahin, for its own benefits. This landed aristocracy partook in a form of development in Egypt, submitted to the benefits of Westernization, grew cotton, the cash crop which would make Egypt rich during the American Civil War, and educated its children often in French and English schools.

One will have to wait until the 1952 Military Coup to witness the end of Monarchy in Egypt. The banner of the House of Muhammad ‘Ali, the Crescent and the Three Stars on a green background, will be replaced by Egypt’s Free Officers’ who will fly the Red-White-and-Black emblem of Revolution. The first major legislation to be introduced by the young officers under the presidency of Muhammad Naguib and the leadership of Gamal ‘abd al-Nasir, in the late summer of 1952, will be the Land Reform Law. All important landowners will see their properties expropriated. Their lands will be distributed to the peasantry. A new era will, as a result, have begun in Egypt whose implications are felt till this very day. One is instantly, once again, reminded of Cicero, witness to the crossing by Julius Caesar and his Legionnaires from Gaul of the Rubicon and to the rise of the dictatorship of the Imperium: the Egyptian Monarchy had contributed to institutions and to values which our grandfathers and fathers valued, enjoyed and benefited from. To them, a state of stability and social harmony had been achieved which made Egypt distinguish itself from all its other Arab neighbours. People flocked to Cairo to partake in its wonders. 

Colonel Nasser & General Naguib 1952

After 1952, however, the beneficiaries of Westernization witnessed the collapse of the world they had grown accustomed to. Ever since l952, our fathers and ourselves have tended to deplore what we see as a regression in values, a setback to progress, a sure invitation to backward changes in the Egyptian political scenery; the recent most election results show that the trend has not been abated. The result of the latest count at the polls may, indeed, confirm that bygone are the good old days when the West could influence the East and where Muslim and Christian, Egyptian and Levantine could live and prosper together.

Here is, however, not the end of the story but the beginning of a new page to be written for that unending tale of new settings to replace the old. For instance, the MB had its roots in Egypt’s not too distant past. The British had landed in Alexandria and defeated the feeble Egyptian Army. Egypt would be occupied and the Nationalist Movement would be born. Islam would also become Egypt’s shield against the Christian occupier. In history, everything relates to the past and while history cannot predict the future, it certainly explains the present. 

Fresco One has ended. Please bear with me for the next one.

Ancient Shoes Turn Up in Egypt Temple

More than 2,000 years ago, at a time when Egypt was ruled by a dynasty of kings of Greek descent, someone, perhaps a group of people, hid away some of the most valuable possessions they had — their shoes.

Seven shoes were deposited in a jar in an Egyptian temple in Luxor, three pairs and a single one. Two pairs were originally worn by children and were only about 7 inches (18 centimeters) long. Using palm fiber string, the child shoes were tied together within the single shoe (it was larger and meant for an adult) and put in the jar. Another pair of shoes, more than 9 inches (24 cm) long that had been worn by a limping adult, was also inserted in the jar.

The shoe-filled jar, along with two other jars, had been "deliberately placed in a small space between two mudbrick walls," writes archaeologist Angelo Sesana in a report published in the journal Memnonia.

PHOTOS: Fancy Footwear From Ancient Egypt
Whoever deposited the shoes never returned to collect them, and they were forgotten, until now. [See Photos of the Ancient Egyptian Shoes]

 In 2004, an Italian archaeological expedition team, led by Sesana, rediscovered the shoes. The archaeologists gave André Veldmeijer, an expert in ancient Egyptian footwear, access to photographs that show the finds.

"The find is extraordinary as the shoes were in pristine condition and still supple upon discovery," writes Veldmeijer in the most recent edition of the Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt. Unfortunately after being unearthed the shoes became brittle and "extremely fragile," he added.




Pricey shoes

Veldmeijer's analysis suggests the shoes may have been foreign-made and were "relatively expensive." Sandals were the more common footwear in Egypt and that the style and quality of these seven shoes was such that "everybody would look at you," and "it would give you much more status because you had these expensive pair of shoes," said Veldmeijer, assistant director for Egyptology of the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo.

The date of the shoes is based on the jar they were found in and the other two jars, as well as the stratigraphy, or layering of sediments, of the area. It may be possible in the future to carbon date the shoes to confirm their age.

NEWS: Ancient Egyptian Fake Toes Earliest Prosthetics
Why they were left in the temple in antiquity and not retrieved is a mystery. "There's no reason to store them without having the intention of getting them back at some point," Veldmeijer said in an interview with LiveScience, adding that there could have been some kind of unrest that forced the owners of the shoes to deposit them and flee hastily. The temple itself predates the shoes by more than 1,000 years and was originally built for pharaoh Amenhotep II (1424-1398 B.C.).

Design discoveries

Veldmeijer made a number of shoe design discoveries. He found that the people who wore the seven shoes would have tied them using what researchers call "tailed toggles." Leather strips at the top of the shoes would form knots that would be passed through openings to close the shoes. After they were closed a long strip of leather would have hung down, decoratively, at either side. The shoes are made out of leather, which is likely bovine.

Most surprising was that the isolated shoe had what shoemakers call a "rand," a device that until now was thought to have been first used in medieval Europe. A rand is a folded leather strip that would go between the sole of the shoe and the upper part, reinforcing the stitching as the "the upper is very prone to tear apart at the stitch holes," he explained. The device would've been useful in muddy weather when shoes are under pressure, as it makes the seam much more resistant to water.

In the dry (and generally not muddy) climate of ancient Egypt, he said that it's a surprising innovation and seems to indicate the seven shoes were constructed somewhere abroad.

Health discoveries

The shoes also provided insight into the health of the people wearing them. In the case of the isolated shoe, he found a "semi-circular protruding area" that could be a sign of a condition called Hallux Valgus, more popularly known as a bunion. (The 9 Most Bizarre Medical Conditions)
"In this condition, the big toe starts to deviate inward towards the other toes," Veldmeijer writes in the journal article. "Although hereditary, it can also develop as a result of close fitting shoes, although other scholars dispute this ...."

Another curious find came from the pair of adult shoes. He found that the left shoe had more patches and evidence of repair than the shoe on the right. "The shoe was exposed to unequal pressure," he said, showing that the person who wore it "walked with a limp, otherwise the wear would have been far more equal."

Still, despite their medical problems, and the wear and tear on the shoes, the people who wore them were careful to keep up with repairs, Veldmeijer said. They did not throw them away like modern-day Westerners tend to do with old running shoes.

"These shoes were highly prized commodities."

Veldmeijer hopes to have the opportunity to examine the shoes, now under the care of the Ministry of State for Antiquities, firsthand.

This article originally appeared on LiveScience.com. Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. 
All rights reserved. 

QUEEN NEFERTITI

"the beautiful one has come"

Nefertiti stands for one of ancient Egypt most famous ruler but details of her rule and life remains mostly unknown. After her death all traces of her rule have been removed and destroyed.
However it was impossible to destroy the legend of the queen that is considered to be one of the most beautiful women in the world of all times....

Queen Nefertiti resurrected Part 1 of 2 (45 minutes)
Queen Nefertiti resurrected Part 2 of 2 (55 minutes)

AKHENATEN
THE REBEL PHARAOH

A series of 6 Videos close to 9 minutes each depicting the life and new ideas about the monotheism of a rebel.

The interesting life of Akhenaten (Amenhotep) Pharaoh of Egypt, husband of the most beautiful Queen: Nefertiti and father of famous King Tutankhamon, and maybe the first person to think of one God as Jews, Christians and Muslims latter did..!

Solar disk symbol of the "One God" 

Video # 1 Akhenaten: the rebel Pharaoh part 1 / 6

Video # 2 Akhenaten: the rebel Pharaoh part 2 / 6

Video # 3 Akhenaten: the rebel Pharaoh part 3 / 6

Video # 4 Akhenaten: the rebel Pharaoh part 4 / 6

Video # 5 Akhenaten: the rebel Pharaoh part 5 / 6

Video # 6 Akhenaten: the rebel Pharaoh part 6 / 6

	Pharaonic Egypt  Household utensils and materials Reed Basket Please note: Some utensils and material are still used today in the same form as in ancient time. Examples are: the reed basket, the reed bag (offa), the reed brush and the ropes     Homes which have become little more than sleeping and leisure facilities in our times, used to be bustling centres of economic activity under the supervision of the mistress of the house. Food, clothing and many simple utensils were made there, often from basic raw materials. Thus, the flax plant had to be turned into fibre, spun into thread, woven into cloth which could be sewn into clothes; grain had to be ground, sieved, made into dough and baked into bread; barley brewed into beer.     In cities there were small manufacturing plants belonging to aristocrats using the same technologies to supply the needs of the wealthier part of the population, but most households were quite self-sufficient as far as basic needs were concerned (cf. the looms in the house of Djehutinefer).     Mending even small and cheap items was of great importance. In a society where energy and transportation were relatively expensive and manpower cheap, investing time in repairs made good economic sense.     The use unearthed utensils were put to is not always evident: a certain plate may have held food, a drill may have been used for making fire or some basket may have served for storing grain. The illustrations on this page are therefore exemplary of technologies rather than utensils proven to have been used for the purposes described in the accompanying text.
	Cutting and piercing     Tools for cutting and cleaving are among the most ancient implements invented by mankind. If at first they were only used for butchering animals, they became more varied as people began to make clothes, build accommodations and accumulate possessions.     The pace of change was slow. During much of Egypt's ancient history knives continued to be made of stone just as they had in pre-historic times; even after metallurgy had been invented and mastered. It was only during the Roman Period that flint blades disappeared completely and were replaced by iron knives even among the general populace.     In households knives were used for cutting foodstuffs, for carving wood and bone, probably for trimming hair, though they had special razors for shaving. They were also employed in situations where we would use scissors. Papyrus and cloth were torn apart or cut with simple blades until Roman times, when the use of shears with blades connected by an iron spring and the later scissors the blades of which were riveted together at a central fulcrum point, became more widespread.     Axes, hatchets rather with short wooden handles, were occasionally used for cleaving, but their heads were made of stone which splintered easily, and later of copper or bronze which grew dull rapidly. Only in the Late Period did they become more useful with the introduction of iron.     Occasionally things had to be stitched together and awls were used to make holes through materials too tough to be pierced with needles.     To many tradesmen their home was also their workshop where they kept and used their tools. Carpenters had quite an array of cutting and drilling implements: Saws, adzes, drills, chisels and the like. Butchers needed knives and cleavers, and every peasant had to keep a sickle for harvesting his corn and a hackle for dressing the flax.
	Smoothing and sharpening     Cutting tools are only as good as their edge. Stone knives and axes were generally not ground but knapped. Resharpening consisted in hitting the blade near its cutting edge flaking off small slivers of stone and leaving behind a razor-sharp ridge.     Metal blades were sharpened by wetting them with a smooth stone, dents were removed by hammering. The edges of the tools were hardened by annealing - heating the tools and letting them cool slowly - and hammering.
	Storing and transporting     Egyptians did not have many possessions, but the few they did have, had to be stored when not in use. Baskets made from reeds growing near-by were cheap and sturdy. Wooden boxes fashioned by professional carpenters were better at keeping mice and rats out, but were also more expensive, while only the richest could afford chests made of alabaster.      Foodstuffs were stored in pots, bags and baskets. These often had handles or the like by which they could be suspended, to prevent rodents from getting at the food. Produce grown in the vegetable garden was gathered in bags which were easy to carry.     Water was poured into heavy earthen containers which had to be carried from the well into the house. Distances to wells were typically short, as groundwater was easily accessible. At times goat skins were also used for transporting water, though probably not in the house as they were awkward to handle.     Other beverages, such as beer, wine or milk were stored in pottery vessels as well. These unglazed wares were quite porous and the moisture seeping out evaporated, cooling the remaining contents. This was desirable with drinking water, but less so with wine. In the Late Period the inside of wine vessels was therfore often coated with resins or wax to prevent seepage. The neck of the amphora was sealed with a stopper of mud to prevent evaporation and further fermentation.
	Preparing and serving food and drink     The preparation and serving of food required quite a few utensils, most of them made of burned clay. Pots, pans, cups, dishes, bottles and the like had to be acquired from professional potters as a normal household would have been highly unlikely to have the necessary kiln, nor the householders the skills for producing even simple Nile ware.    A major task of the housewife or one of her servants was bread making, a back-breaking process of separating the grain from the chaff in a stone or clay mortar, grinding the corn on a hand mill, sieving it, kneading the dough and baking it in the oven which was outside in a yard or on the roof. Whether bread moulds were used at home or only in bakeries is uncertain, but most people would probably have baked simple pitta-like bread, shaped like a thin, flat disk, which is easily prepared and baked in a few minutes.     Food was cooked in earthen vessels, metal being too costly for most. It was served on pottery dishes which were at times decorated, dishes of faience, stone, copper or bronze were used by the wealthy. Plates and spoons have also been found, but it is unknown whether they were used for eating rather than for preparing the food before Roman times.     Traditionally, people in North Africa and the Middle East have eaten from a shared dish placed on the floor using bread to scoop up the food. Ancient Egyptians quite possibly had similar table manners.     Some other kitchen utensils were bottles, jugs, knives, ladles, mills, sieves, and strainers.
	Making fire     Fire was made by rubbing two pieces of wood together, one piece held stationary on the ground, the other twirled between the hands. The resulting friction heated the soft lower fire stick enough to light inflammable kindling.     This whole process was made much easier by the use of the fire drill, a wooden bow the string of which was wound tightly around a spike. With a hollowed out drill cap made of stone or a nut shell the spike was pressed against the fire stick and rotated by moving the bow back and forth.     Petrie was the first to discover how the ancient Egyptians had made fire when he found Middle Kingdom bow drills and fire-sticks at Kahun. This firemaking method seems to date to the Old Kingdom at least.     While Egypt had quite a large number of trees which could be used for fire wood, they probably rarely cut down whole trees for the purpose, as this involved hard work, made more difficult by the kind of axes they had. As women were the ones responsible for cooking, they must have relied on gathering dead branches and other, at times less savoury fuel like dried dung, to keep their fires going. Charcoal, an excellent and expensive fuel, was probably rarely used for cooking.
	Tying things together: string, ropes, cords     With technologies such as buttons, clasps, nails, nuts and bolts or glue not yet invented or unavailable to ordinary householders, things which had to be connected were often tied together. Heads of hatchets were inserted into notches carved in the handle and tied to it with leather strips. Handles for flint knives were made by wrapping the blunt end of the blade with some string. The cut of robes was loose and they were held close to the body with cords. Loin cloths were tied around the waist.     Other things have not changed that much: just as we still do, they hung up things on cords, tied their (seldom worn) shoes with laces, strung beads on strings and tied them around their wrists, hung amulets around their necks, wrapped possessions in a piece of cloth and tied it into a bundle, and ran running cords through the hem of woollen bags so they could be pulled shut.     The raw materials for these strings and cords were animal and plant fibres, rawhide, and leather. Fibres were spun into threads, some as fine as a third of a millimetre, and two or more strands were twisted into string. Flax, palm fibre, rush, papyrus, and various grasses were used for coarse ropes. Two-strand ropes were sometimes doubled and redoubled, resulting in thick ropes of eight strands. For making nets they had netting needles [26], made of wood, bronze or any other suitable material.     Wide network was made of this rope to enclose jars ; a ring passed round the lower end of the jar, the net covered the sides, and joined into a handle of rope at the top. Rings of rush rope are found, probably for carrying jars on the head.     Small, flat, square baskets of rope were made, about 6 or 7 inches in height and width. And a band, probably for going round the back of a man in palm climbing, is formed of 14 fine ropes parallel, interwoven with strips of linen cloth, and ending in two thick loops for attaching the rope.     Baskets were also made of palm leaf; both of the modern round type with palm rope handles, and of the flat, square form ; the latter is most thoughtfully designed, with a wooden bottom bar, woven rope corners, six fine ropes up the sides to distribute the pressure, retained in place by a cross rope, and ending in a twisted rope handle, the top edge having a fine rope binding. W.M.F. Petrie Kahun, Gurob and Hawara, p.28     Linen sewing thread was often made of two S-spun threads Z-plyed together, but three thread yarns are also known. Threads could be as fine as one fiftieth of a millimetre, the coarse yarns were somewhat thicker than half a millimetre. They generally chose a thread as fine as the threads of the cloth they were sewing and also matched the colour.     Leather was cut into thin strips and sometimes pleated into cords. Being more expensive, it was used less often than plant fibres.
	Making clothes     Much of the cloth used in ancient Egypt was made of flax and woven by the families of peasants. It was cut with knives, scissors coming into use under the Romans, and sewn with needles made at first from bone, later from bronze and iron. The finest of these needles were about one millimetre thick. On has to admire their ability to create eyes in such thin workpieces. For coarser work they used wooden bodkins. Leather was first pierced with awls, before it was stitched together.      Wool was also, more rarely, spun, but knitting was apparently unknown. Coloured wool was at times interwoven with linen; or the linen fabric was embroidered with it.
	Cleaning     Egyptian houses were built of sun-dried mud bricks at times white-washed and the floors were stamped earth. The floor of the outdoor kitchen too was simply the ground baked stone hard by the sun. Unless it was raining, which happened only rarely, these floors were easy to keep clean by sweeping. Like most ancient Egyptian tools, these brushes did not have long handles which would have rendered their use less irksome, and required bending low when employing them.     In the absence of kitchen sinks and running water dishes and clothes were probably taken to the river or a near-by canal for washing, or rinsed by pouring some water over them.     Already in ancient times there were house-proud women who put their less fastidious peers to shame. The following passage from a Ptolemaic papyrus is somewhat fragmentary, but one gets quite a good idea what the priest and his good wife had to put up with: The pastophore said to his wife: "Beware of this woman! She is sort of a refined person." [/// ///] the pastophore. She saw how dirty the house was. She took off her clothes. She girded herself with a [///]. [//////] wash (?) it. She filled a vessel with water. She put (it) down in the place of cleaning. She hung up the copper vessels. She put (them) [/// ///] hot water. She said to the wife of the pastophore: "Go [/// ///]!" She [///] (and) she washed [/// ///]. Saqqara Demotic Papyri I after a transliteration and German translation on the Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae website
	Grooming     Most Egyptians had little time and less means to waste on elaborate grooming. Some water laboriously drawn from a well and carried in heavy earthen pots had to do in most cases, sometimes in conjunction with a little salt, natron or possibly a paste containing natron, potash or clay, and used as cleaning agent. Pieces of cloth similar to modern terrycloth with loops capable of absorbing large amounts of water and which were possibly used as towels have been found in a mass grave of soldiers at Deir el Bahri, dating to the late First Intermediate Period.      A great many could not afford a mirror and a razor and had to get a shave from someone else or go without. If they had some oil or grease for their skin they kept it in little pottery vessels or shells and not in expensive stone jars. Their wives did not own tweezers to pluck out body hair, scent in little glass bottles to perfume themselves, or ornate combs and hair-pins to stick in their hair.     The scribe who composed the Satire of the Trades and who could probably afford quite a few of these luxuries, mocked the poor who could not: .... the smith ..... stinks more than fish roe. the potter ..... grubs in the mud more than a pig ..... His clothes are stiff with clay The [stoker (?)], his fingers are foul, their smell is that of corpses M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol. 1, p.188