Reason 1
The ancient Egyptian monuments
Egypt is the home of the ancient Pharaohs, a destination of temples and tombs that bedazzles and wows all who visit it … believe it or not, it is full of antiquities & still so much more to be discovered.
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]]>50 reasons why you should travel to Egypt?
Reason 2
All activities
The home of delightful contrasts!
With vast tracts of desert, superb scuba diving, and the famed Nile River, Egypt offers something for everyone …
Also for Beach lovers can head to the Sinai to soak up the sun, while history fans experience a field day in the city of Luxor. While Cairo, the megalopolis of Egypt can’t be beaten for city slickers, Siwa Oasis and the southern town of Aswan offer a slice of the slow pace of the countryside to those who seek mental calm.
Reason 3
Cairo the capital
The Cairo metropolitan area, with a population of 21.3 million, is the largest metropolitan area in the Arab world, the second largest in Africa, and the sixth largest in the world.
the Egyptian capital has the oldest and largest film and music industries in the Arab world, as well as the world’s second-oldest institution of higher learning, Al-Azhar University. Many international media, businesses, and organizations have regional headquarters in the city; the Arab League has had its headquarters in Cairo for most of its existence.
Reason 4
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city in Egypt and a major economic center. It was founded in 331 BC by Alexander the Great king of Macedon and leader of the Greek League of Corinth. Alexandria grew rapidly to become an important center of Hellenistic civilization and remained the capital of Ptolemaic Egypt and Roman and Byzantine Egypt for almost 1,000 years. So you get to see parts of Greece in Egypt with lots of monuments even underwater.
Reason 5
Fayoum
Fayoum is a depression, 100 kilometers southwest of Cairo. famous for bird watching as it is the stop of the bird’s immigration & it’s nature & temprature suitable for fauna life, it’s beautiful desert has lots of activities like Safari, camping in the desert & even sand boarding. Also there is a beautiful spot full of whales in dead position after the dryness of the sea. it is called the Valley of the wales.
Reason 6
Luxor
Luxor or Thebes is One of the oldest capitals in the world. Was the capital of Egypt in the New Kingdom (2150 B.C.) Luxor has frequently been characterized as the “world’s greatest open-air museum”, History is in each corner of the city.
Reason 7
Aswan
Aswan is the southernmost city of Egypt. The city is part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the category of craft and folk art.
It has lots of Greco- Roman temples & the unique Nubian heritage.
Reason 8
Holy Family
The holy family (Jesus, Mary & Joseph) visited Egypt escaping from Herodes. you can track the steps of the holy family where they have stayed.
Reason 9
Red Sea & Mediterranean
Explore two seas in one country.
The Red Sea has extensive shallow shelves, noted for their marine life and corals. The sea is the habitat of over 1,000 invertebrate species and 200 types of soft and hard coral. It is the world’s northernmost tropical sea, and has been designated a Global 200 ecoregion.
While the mediterranean sea was an important route for merchants and travelers of ancient times, facilitating trade and cultural exchange between peoples of the region. The history of the Mediterranean region is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies. The Roman Empire maintained nautical hegemony over the sea for centuries.
Reason 10
to visit the longest river in the world, the Nile, ride a felucca, have a swim.
Reason 11
see how the Nile meets the Mediterranean & discover Rosetta, where Rosetta stone was discovered & where they manufacture fishing boats.
Reason 12
a fan of life under the sea, to snorkel and dive in one of the best-rated places around the world.
Reason 13
relax and chill out by the beach, enjoy a couple of drinks In one of the best resorts ( Sharm El Sheikh, Gouna or Dahab)
Reason 14
To discover the Bedouin life. how the desert’s people live in the past & now
Reason 15
To discover the Nubian heritage and history, the aboriginal people of the south, their vibes and traditions are one of a kind.
Reason 16
To dive into a mixture of ancient Egypt, Greek, Roman, Christian and Islamic history all mixed in one country.
Reason 17
Enjoy a moderate climate all year long.
Reason 18
Mix and mingle with friendly locals.
Reason 19
Witness the new capital of Egypt & see how Egypt is developing as fast as a rocket.
Reason 20
Learn about the Legendary “Magdy Yacoub”, how he changed the cardiology in the world & how many lives are saved & how he give back to his country by building cardio hospitals. See the biggest in the world opening soon.
Reason 21
Food
Taste rich cuisine which makes heavy use of legumes, vegetables and fruit from Egypt’s rich Nile Valley and Delta. Examples of Egyptian dishes include rice-stuffed vegetables and grape leaves, hummus, falafel, shawarma, kebab and kofta. ful medames, mashed fava beans; kushari, lentils and pasta; and molokhiya, bush okra stew.
Reason 22
Dates
see number one country in dates production.
Dates are one of the oldest tree crops from the Middle East, dating back to more than 5000 years ago. Ancient date pits have been found during archeological digs and palm trunks have been used to construct ancient temples.
Reason 23
if you are a fashion fan, learn about the early stages in accessories, dresses, golden bracelets, and anklets.
Reason 24
See the Suez canal & how it saved people’s time to sail around Africa.
Reason 25
Explore one of the biggest dams in the world, the high dam.
Reason 26
See the biggest man-made lake in the world “Nasser’s lake”.
Reason 27
See the oldest mummies, understand the secret of mummification & See the best mummies preserved in the world.
Reason 28
Witness the first voice on earth to worship one god, the heretic king, Akhenaton.
Reason 29
Hike the famous mount of Sinai or Saint Catherine’s and enjoy the best sunrise or sunset from the top of the mountain.
Reason 30
Explore the great Sahara desert and its hidden gems, the pretty oasis.
Reason 31
Visit the great city of Thebes, which houses one-third of the monuments of the ancient world.
Reason 32
Visit some of the oldest churches in the world.
Reason 33
learn about monasticism and its founder, Saint Anthony the Great. Meet the desert fathers and hear their stories.
Reason 34
Learn how early Christians designed their churches and how the Pharaonic temples influenced their style.
Reason 35
Explore the 1000s of minarets in Cairo with their different styles of art.
Reason 36
Visit different mosques in one place as if you travel to Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey….etc.
Reason 37
Enjoy the palace walk through Al Mo’ez street, an open-air museum full of mosques, houses, Sabils & Madrassas.
Reason 38
Explore the land of Exodus, follow the steps of Moses & hike mount Sinai where he received the Ten Commandments from God.
Reason 39
To visit the only surviving wonder of the ancient world (the Great pyramid of Giza)
Reason 40
to Visit the Temple of Abu Simbel to see how it was built in the bedrock then how UNESCO did the miracle of saving it.
Reason 41
Experience unique handicrafts that are about to disappear
Reason 42
Wander through a group of authentic, old mosques in Africa, and the Middle East.
Reason 43
Visit the tomb of the golden boy-king Tut Ankh Amun and gaze upon his collection.
Reason 44
Learn about the greatest queen of ancient Egyptian history and her achievements thousands of years ago, Hatshepsut and her pretty temple.
Reason 45
Walkthrough the valley of the kings, the gate to the underworld in Egyptian mythology.
Reason 46
Enjoy the incredible colors of the Nefertari tomb.
Reason 47
Discover Karnak temple, one of the largest religious buildings in the world.
Reason 48
Visit NMEC (National Museum of Egyptian Civilization to see the oldest human skeleton in the world.
Reason 49
Explore Wadi El Weshwash in South Sinai.
Reason 50
Soon, to visit the biggest museum in the world with giant statues and golden objects, the grand Egyptian museum.
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]]>Abu Simbel – Unparalleled relocation project
In 1959, UNESCO received an official request from the Egyptian government regarding the rescue of the unique temples in Abu Simbel. With the construction of the large Aswan Dam, two ancient temples would be submerged and irreparably damaged. These twin temples, one larger and one smaller, were built more than 3,200 years ago by Ramses II as monuments to himself and his queen Nefertari.
However, international fund-raising began for the project in 1960. Because the temples were carved in sandstone, explosives could not be used to any greater degree.. To move the temples, the rock above the temple roofs first had to be “peeled away”. The roofs, walls and not the least the temple facades were then cut into blocks, each weighing between 20 and 30 tons.
Reassembly with extreme precision
The new site was about 200 meters further inland and 65 meters higher up. The temples’ alignment in relation to one another and to the cardinal directions had to be exactly the same as before. This was so that during certain hours of the spring and autumn, the rays of the sun would continue to illuminate the statues in the larger temple’s inner halls, 60 meters into the cliff.
The blocks were put back into position one at a time with extreme precision… The blocks were secured to one another using reinforcement bars and drilled holes, and the joints were filled with an artificial material.
Obviously, the temples could not be framed in natural stone as at their original site. This feature had to be artificially produced. First of all, 30,000 cubic meters of stone had to be removed to make way for reassembly. Gigantic cupolas where thereafter constructed above the temple roofs, and surplus stone masses from previous excavations were formed into natural-appearing hills above the cupolas. About 330,000 cubic meters of stone were placed above the cupolas.
Work with relocating the Abu Simbel temples was concluded on September 22, 1968 with a large inaugural ceremony. The entire project cost about SEK 200 million to complete (about SEK 1.7 billion in today’s monetary value). The Abu Simbel temples were placed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1979.
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]]>Wadi Hitan - Valley of the Whales
In Africa, the first human ancestors stood up on their hind legs to walk. The pharaohs built their pyramids. Rome rose, Rome fell. And all the while the wind continued its patient excavation. Then one day Philip Gingerich showed up to finish the job.
In a place in the Egyptian desert known as Wadi Hitan. Wander around fossil shark teeth, sea urchin spines, and the bones of giant catfish.take a look at this desert, and you can see the ocean.
Wadi Hitan is a beautiful but unforgiving place.. Along with the bones of prehistoric sea monsters, you can see the remains of unlucky humans.
At the valley ,an expedition from the University of Michigan that was digging , had discovered a large walking whale. The University of Michigan had done some earlier digging there in 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, and 1993, during which time some 400 archaeocete and sirenian skeletons were found and mapped!
This time they came back with professor Philip D. Gingerich, a Professor of Paleontology, Geological Sciences, Biology and Anthropology as well as a Director of the Museum of Paleontology at The University of Michigan. A very experienced geologist, that’s for sure!.
So excited about his new discovery : the new whale fossil the crew has found is around 44 million years old! Wow!
This whale once had feet and used to walk on the shore before getting into the water. This oldest and most primitive walking whale had first been uncovered in Pakistan and was named pakicetus which lived 50 million years ago. However this is the first time this kind of walking whale has ever been found in any part of Africa and this time it was found in this remote barren site of Wadi El-Hitan, the Valley Of The Whales.
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]]>The Black and White Deserts in Egypt
The road from Cairo to the Western Desert is smooth, it takes you slowly but surely from the busy capital to an imaginary Neverland where everything is white.
The White Desert is certainly the most popular attraction in the Western Desert of Egypt.. In fact, in 2002, the area of the White Desert was declared as a natural protected area to preserve the charm and the beauty of the area.
Among the most important landmarks of the White Desert in Egypt is that huge 20 meters high mountain that can be seen from far away with a magical view at night and it is called the chisel. Some Bedouins, due to the shape of the rocks, call this mountain the hands of God.
The most important landmark of the Black one, on the other hand, putting into consideration that it is much smaller than the White Desert, is the Gebel El Engleeze, or the Mountain of the English; as this was the location where the British troops resided during World War I
The magic formations of the White and the Black Desert
The White Desert took its name from these astonishing Phantasmagorical pinnacles that seem like bright white different types of animals, bizarre shapes, mushrooms, and different kinds of numerous shapes that form a landscape that is hardly found anywhere else in the whole globe.
In fact, the rock formations of the White Desert were made out of chalk that was deposited in the shallow sea that used to exist in ancient times. This was roughly more than one million years ago.
This chalk mainly consists of a huge quantity of numerous microorganisms and some tiny microscopic celled algae and some calcium carbonate cells that were formed at the bottom of this ancient sea.
When the water withdrew away from the location of the sea during what was called the Tertiary Period, the rocks were actually shaped by the wind of the Western Desert in Egypt.
There were also the effects of some other natural elements like the different seasons of weather and the rainfall time in the area that contributed to the emergence of these weird looking formation of white rocks
The travelers spending their vacation in Egypt can easily view the seashells and the fossils inside the rocks of the white desert.
It is common as well to find in these rock formations some iron disulfide; something that has the same elements as pyrite.The Black Desert on the other side was formed due to the presence of some small black rocks all over the area.
There are also some volcano mountains. The Black desert offers its guests with amazing views and natural portraits of these black-colored small rocks.
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]]>The Ancient Egyptian fashion
If you look at any photo, it’s easy to identify that it’s for an ancient Egyptian. This is mainly due to their fashion; the style of dress, the jewelry, make up and the hair style.
The ancient Egyptians were very particular about cleanliness and personal appearance. People who were poorly groomed were considered inferior. Both men and women used cosmetics and wore jewellery. One item of jewellery, the amulet, was believed to protect the owners and give them strength.
Ancient Cloth and Jewelery
Flax grown by farmers was woven into linen for clothing. Working-class men wore loincloths or short kilts, as well as long shirt-like garments tied with a sash at the waist. Kilts were made from a rectangular piece of linen that was folded around the body and tied at the waist. Wealthy men wore knee-length shirts, loincloths or kilts and adorned themselves with jewellery – a string of beads, armlets and bracelets. Working-class women wore full-length wraparound gowns and close-fitting sheaths. Elite women enhanced their appearance with make-up, earrings, bracelets and necklaces
Fitness in Ancient Egypt
When royalty, gods and goddesses were portrayed in statues, temple carvings and wall paintings, it was the beauty and self-confidence of the subject that was conveyed. Egyptian artistic conventions idealized the proportions of the body. Men are shown with broad shoulders, slim bodies, and muscular arms and legs; and women have small waists, flat stomachs and rounded busts. Both wear elegant clothing and jewellery, and stand tall with their heads held high. Their stately appearance commands the respect of all who gaze upon their portraits.
In the Old Kingdom
goddesses and elite women were portrayed wearing a sheath with broad shoulder straps.
In the New Kingdom
they wore sheaths decorated with gold thread and colourful beadwork, and a type of sari; the sheath had only one thin strap. These dresses were made of linen, and decorated with beautifully coloured patterns and beadwork
By the reign of Amenhotep III (1390-1352 B.C.)
- women’s garments were made of very light see-through linen.
- The men wore knee-length shirts, loincloths or kilts made of linen. Leather loincloths were not uncommon, however. Their garments were sometimes decorated with gold thread and colourful beadwork. The priests, viziers and certain officials wore long white robes that had a strap over one shoulder, and sem-priests (one of the ranks in the priesthood) wore leopard skins over their robes.
- Both men and women wore sandals made of papyrus. Sandals made of vegetable fibres or leather were a common type of footwear. Nevertheless, men and women, including the wealthy, were frequently portrayed barefoot.
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]]>The holy family in Egypt
When we speak about the holy family we mean Jesus Christ, Virgin Mary, and Joseph. Most people know that the family sought shelter in Egypt but they don’t know how long they stayed in Egypt?
The answer can be jaw-dropping if we say that Jesus spent more than a tenth of his life in Egypt. In fact, he spent 42 months in Egypt and the family crossed 26 locations throughout the whole country.
The family left Beithlahem heading to the land of the pharaohs to avoid the reach of Herod’s spies as he had no political power in Egypt.
Tell Basta
It is located 100 kilometers north-east of Cairo. It is believed that Jesus created a well there.
Coptic traditions says that when the holy family entered, the temple collapsed. So, they left the city because the people didn’t welcome them.
Musturud
After leaving Tell Basta, the holy family went to Musturud. Its location isn’t more than ten kilometers far from Cairo.
Virgin Mary showered Jesus Christ there and washed his clothes. The water of the well, became holy and people go there to get healed.
Now there’s a church built at this place. It got created in year 1175.
Bilbays
They went north east, where Bilbays is. It’s about 55 kilometers far from Cairo.
They stayed there near a tree known for “The Virgin Mary tree”.Even on their way back, they passed near Bilbays.
There’s now a church at this spot called “St. George church”.
Samannud
From Bilbays they went north west to Samannud.
Earlier, there was an old church named after St. Mary. It collapsed, so a new church got built. It’s named after Virgin Mary and St. Abanob.
Sakha
After leaving Bilbays, they went north west to Sakha.
There’s a church there named after St. Mary.
Wadi al-Natrun
They crossed the to the east bank of the Nile to Wadi El-Natroun. According to the coptic traditions, Virgin Mary got lost there with Jesus & they blessed the 4 corners of the area.
Now there are 4 monasteries occupied by monks.
The four monasteries are: Saint Bishoy, El syrian, Al- Baramous, and Saint Macarius.
Matariya
Traveling south east to Matariya where they found shade under a sycamore tree. At that spot Jesus created a well, blessed it and drank from it. Virgin Mary also used its water to bath Jesus. On the place where she threw out the water, a ‘balsam’ plant grew which gave a beautiful fragrance, that is why it is called Saint Mary Tree.
The remains of the tree still there.
Old Cairo
After the arrival of the Holy Family to an area in ancient Egypt known as Babylonian where they inhabited a cave that is now located in the archaeological church of Abi Serja; now known as the church of the martyrs Sergius and Wakhus.
It seemed that the Holy Family could not stay in that area for more than only a few days. There is an ancient well beside the cave and inside the aquatic structure of the church.
This holy grotto is a small chapel under the ground below the middle of the apostles and is a part of the temple structure. This holy cave can be accessed by two ways through staircases; one from the hall of the southern temple of the church and the other from the center of the hall in the northern temple.
The length of the holy cave is about 20 feet and 15 feet in width without any windows, and below the floor of the Church of Abu Serja by at least 21 feet, and the floor of the church itself goes down from the street level by about 13 feet.
Maadi
The holy family left old Cairo heading south to Maadi where they got a boat & sail further south.
Now there is a church of Saint Mary in the same place
Dayr al-Garnus
There’s a church named after St. Mary in the village “Dayr al-Garnus”. It was built in the 19th century.
There’s a holy well there, which the holy family drank from.
Al-Bahnasa
One of the most important places, where the holy family went to is al-Bahnasa.
Virgin Mary church got built in the 15th century there. There were about 30000 monks and nuns.
Gabal al-Tayr
From al-Bahnasa the holy family went west to Samalut, and from Samalut they crossed the nile and went south to Gabal al-Tayr. It’s a mountain.
Now there’s a famous church for Virgin Mary built over the mountain.
Al-Ashmunayn
After leaving Gabal al-Tayr, they went to al-Ashmunayn. where there are many antiquities of different eras in history.
Dayrut al-Sharif
The holy family went south from al-Ashmunayn to Dayru al-Sharif.
It was called “Philis” when the holy family went there.
Qasqam
From Dayrut al-Sharif they went to the village “Qasqam”.
As they entered, all statues there, which people worshiped, collapsed. So they got kicked out Qasqam.
Dayr al-Muharraq
the most prominent location in the Holy Family’s itinerary in Egypt is Dayr al-Muharraq, the name means the monastery scorched by fire in Arabic referring to the desiccated desert around as well as occasional burning of ruderal vegetation. According to tradition, this is the place that the Holy Family stayed for six months and five days, and where Jesus, after his Resurrection, returned and consecrated an altar in order to fulfill the prophecy in Isaiah 19:19, in that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt. The location of the monastery is roughly the geographical center of the African Egypt.
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]]>Breathtaking pyramids that you know very few about:
Lots of people know that Egypt has lots of pyramids but very few know information about them, We will tell you about some of the unknown pyramids, let’s start with Maydoum pyramid;
The Maydoum pyramid
lies close to the entrance to el-Faiyum, about 50 km south of Dashur. The pyramid was originally ascribed to king Huni, who ruled for around fourteen years at the end of the third dynasty, primarily because he had no other pyramid in his name.
The current archaeological thought is that it was probably built by Snefru, Huni’s son and successor and the first king of the fourth dynasty, although Huni may have laid the foundations. There is no record of Huni at all in the structure but Petrie found several blocks with graffiti giving the date of Snefru’s 17th year of reign.
There is also an eighteenth dynasty graffiti naming Snefru in a passage and chamber of the mortuary temple. The pyramid at Maydoum was constructed in steps in the old-style step pyramids, first with seven steps which were amended to eight and then filled in with packing and regular courses of better quality stone to create a smooth surface.
Many Egyptologists call the Maydoum structure the first ‘true’ pyramid and it certainly appears to be the transition point between the early step pyramids and the great monuments such as those we see at Giza. It would appear that the Maydoum pyramid was built in three phases of construction.
Construction
Phase 1 consisted of the building of a seven-stepped structure, which was then enlarged and covered in. While phase 2 and filled in with its final casing in. Probably phase 3 was during the later years of Snefru’s reign.
Today only three steps are visible, towering out of its mound of rubble in a huge bizarre tower.
There are many theories as to how it lost its casing – an early collapse during construction, an earthquake in antiquity – but the most likely explanation is that the casing blocks were easy to quarry away and Petrie recorded that the stone was still being quarried at the time he investigated it in the late 19th century.
Some limestone casing blocks still are visible on the western side of the pyramid
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]]>Did you know that Cleopatra was not Egyptian?
While Cleopatra was born in Egypt, Her family origins are Macedonian Greece and Ptolemy I Soter, one of Alexander the Great’s generals. Ptolemy took the reigns of Egypt after Alexander’s death in 323 B.C., and he launched a dynasty of Greek-speaking rulers that lasted for nearly three centuries. Despite not being ethnically Egyptian, Cleopatra embraced many of her country’s ancient customs and was the first member of the Ptolemaic line to learn the Egyptian language. She was the Last Egyptian Cleopatra in the history of ancient Egypt.
Although Cleopatra was the queen of Egypt, she wasn’t Egyptian. Cleopatra wasn’t the first woman to ascend the throne of Egypt. Only 200 years before her, Queen Arsenoe II ruled the kingdom, in addition to other queens who ruled Egypt in the pharaonic time, the most famous of them was queen Hatshepsut.
Cleopatra was so intelligent and she used her intelligence over her beauty. Scholars and historians believe that the beauty of the queen wasn’t her big strength, despite the fact that she was charming and captivating. Cleopatra lived for 39 years and it is believed that she was buried with Mark Anthony in a crypt somewhere near Alexandria.
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]]>The post Karanis (Koum Oushim) appeared first on .
]]>Karanis ( Koum Oushim)
Kom Oushim is best known as ancient ‘Karanis’, the largest of the Greco-Roman town sites in the Fayoum.
The town was occupied for a total period of around seven centuries and saw many changes after the end of dynastic rule in Egypt.
The town has since provided a very valuable source of information.
on everyday life, religious cults, administration, and industries during this period.
A complete town was constructed
The town was founded by Ptolemy II in the 3rd century BC, primarily as a garrison for his troops, but prospered and grew, probably because of its accessibility from more populated cities to the north. At the time of building the town would have been on the shores of Lake Qarun.
The houses are arranged in clusters around the two main thoroughfares which run from north to south and range in style from simple mudbrick dwellings to the more elaborate villas of the high-status officials.
Remains of millstones and olive presses still lie on the ground and there were also six dovecotes found in the ruins, similar to those seen in the Fayoum today.
Although many occupations and industries are represented in the town, it would appear that the majority were farmers who worked on the fertile agricultural land of the surrounding area.
Ten large granaries and seven smaller ones have been uncovered at Karanis. The town was built around two temples of the Ptolemaic Period and much of the information from excavations at Karanis reflects the religious preoccupations of its inhabitants.
27 different Egyptian, Greek, or Roman deities are recorded there. The southern temple was built in the latter part of the 1st century AD, on the site of an earlier structure, and is the largest of the two. It was dedicated to the crocodile-god (Sobek, or Suchos) who was worshipped here as Pnepheros and Petesuchos.
The southern temple is built of limestone and though undecorated it follows the conventional Egyptian plan of a quay at the head of a processional way, leading through a paved colonnaded courtyard to the temple.
The main entrance gate (usurped by Claudius) bears an inscription of Nero who is said to have originally dedicated the temple. A gate of Vespasian lies to the east, beyond a small sacred lake.Deep niches in the walls of the vestibule were used to contain the mummies of the sacred crocodiles which would have been incorporated into the temple rituals.
Many mummified crocodiles have been found buried at Karanis. In the sanctuary itself a large altar reveals a low hidden chamber beneath which was probably used by the priests to deliver oracles.
In addition to the cult of the crocodile god, Karanis is known to have had devotees of the divine triad of Isis, Serapis, and Harpocrates, as well as numerous other domestic gods’, both Egyptian and Greek.
Although now mostly ruined, Karanis occupies a unique place in the Graeco-Roman monuments of Egypt. Investigation of the site over the past century has enormously enhanced understanding of the everyday lives of its inhabitants under Greek and Roman rule.
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]]>The post Gayer – Anderson museum appeared first on .
]]>Gayer Anderson - Cairo
John Gayer-Anderson, the British major and army doctor who restored the two adjoining 16th-century houses between 1935 and 1942, filling them with lovely antiquities, artworks and knick-knacks acquired on his travels in the region. The house was used as a location in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me.
On his death in 1945, Gayer-Anderson bequeathed the lot to Egypt. The puzzle of rooms is decorated in a variety of styles: the Persian Room has exquisite tiling, the Damascus Room has lacquer and gold, and the Queen Anne Room displays ornate furniture and a silver tea set. The enchanting mashrabiyya gallery looks down onto a magnificent qa’a (reception hall), which has a marble fountain, decorated ceiling beams and carpet-covered alcoves. The rooftop terrace has been lovingly restored, with more complex mashrabiyya.
Among the most distinctive features of the Gayer Anderson, Museum Complex is that it used to host a Sabil, which offered fresh water to the public, a feature that is difficult to be found among historical houses in Egypt. The Sabil was considered to be a religious structure that was added to a mosque or a mausoleum to present people with their needs of water for doing ritual washing or wudu prior to Islamic prayers, but finding a Sabil within a residential house was a rare feature in the Islamic architecture of the time.
The Sabil of the Gayer Anderson Museum is located in the right-hand side section of the ground floor with a window opening on the street from which the servant working in the Sabil used to give the water to the people. The room of the Sabil was made out of stones and the ceiling contains some remarkable geometrical decorations with bright colors.
The Sahn or the open courtyard of the house has a semi-irregular shape with a white marble fountain in the middle. The Sahn of the house, the same as in many other historic houses in Egypt, is the heart of the house with all the floors and the sections of the house opening at the Sahn and not opening towards the exterior of the house. This architectural design of houses was common for a number of reasons; the first is to provide a sense of privacy especially to the ladies of the house and the second is to protect the house against dust and dirt making the air inside the house cleaner and fresher.
The Gallery of photographs and drawings hosts a rare collection of fishing, love, celebration, chanting, wildlife, flowers, and birds’ scenes. The portraits in this hall are quite notable for their special attention to details and sizes. From the Gallery of photographs and portraits, we move to the Haramlek section, the section specified for the ladies of the house. This section is featured with its beautiful Mashrabeya screens that overlook almost every section of the house and the lanes and streets outside the house as well. The Mashrabeya screens were used by women to look over the streets without being seen from outside. The Haramlek Hall is also featured with its many shelves and cupboards with their wonderful colors that were created in the Persian style. The celebration hall of the Gayer Anderson Museum is one of the most luxurious halls in historical houses in Egypt.
The hall is around 15 square meters in surface area that is divided into two galleries; the first is featured with its wonderful throne chair decorated with ivory and mother of pearl. The middle section of this hall has a wonderfully decorated white marble fountain and the floor of the hall is beautifully ornamented with different light colors of marble. Visiting the Gayer Anderson Museum in Cairo is highly recommended for history and Islamic architecture fans as most of the features of the house remaining in a good condition making the visit to the house an enjoyable experience and makes you feel as if you are traveling back in time to the period of the Ottomans.
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