#masr

[bassia-bassensis]

They are about to demolish the Nabil darwish museum to build another fucking bridge

[coolskates]

[thunderstruck9]

Chant Avedissian (Egyptian, 1951-2018), Cities of Egypt/Greetings from Masr, 1990s. Hand-coloured stencil on cardboard mounted on canvas, 252.5 x 155 cm.

[bijoumikhawal]

Ancient Egyptian tattoos from a paper I just read (will be linked in replies)

[ahmedmsalah]

📍Haret Al Saleheen - Cairo

Instagram: Ahmedmoatazsalah

[laikuh]

favorite egyptian dish? 🇪🇬🇪🇬🇪🇬

THIS IS VERY HARD.

admittedly i've been exposed to only a limited number of dishes, but I'm lucky enough to say that when i went to egypt i got to try a lot of like. actual egyptian food and not just touristy fusion stuff.

koshari was probably my number 1. the whole experience of going to a koshari shop and having a meal and then getting roz bil laban was like. perfection.

i also had the best fucking sandwhich from gad, but i have no idea what it was called. my cousin ordered it for me, and it was like. yeah. impeccable. wasn't just shawarma, it was...idk man. fucking stellar.

however, all that said, very little beats ful for me as well, especially since this is also something i can make easily enough at home. ful for breakfast? gtfoh. top tier.

[tunamoth]

These turned out better than I expected.

[breaksvinecharcoal]

Nut

I came upon her a solid dark night,

There she lay, an illuminating piece of light in the smog,

A woman curled up,

Nestled up, on the outer edge of a land of legends.

 Her resting yellow body was speckled with fine grains of sand,

An ancient river outlining her chest,

Trickling down towards further mysterious lands,

Carrying along whispering currents of ancient languages, stories, waters.

 Breathtaking skyscrapers took place upon the curves of her breast,

Rising steadily, up, and down, about bones of an unforgotten city,

Animals, birds, the inhabitants of the giantess; calling to their home.

 I looked up and saw stars which illuminated the figure,

Dappled her in affectionate, warm light.

Pieces of twinkling garnet, gold, lapis,

Stitched upon the darkest velvet,

Geb smiling down on his bride,

An Ancient smile communicating in words of an older world.

 Otherworldly vessels, otherworldly creatures, circulate through her waters,

I saw to vast seas, seas flowing between her sleeping fingers,

Water richly to and from further distant lands,

Rushing, crashing against her sides.                

[irkensab]

:)

[deeryloo]

contemporary Egypt in Moon Knight season 1 eps 2 & 3

[coolskates]

Tomb of Queen Nefertari of the 19th Dynasty of Egypt

Valley of the Queens, Luxor, Egypt

[egyptiantravelguide]

You just have to experience Cairo and to see the famous Pyramids of Giza, the Egyptian Museum and the treasures of the young king Tutankhamun..

www.egyptiantravel.guide

#egyptiantravel_guide

[bijoumikhawal]

Ṣafa; Egyptian Women with coins in their hair

This style is attested in Edward William Lane's work from the 1830s. He describes it as follows:

The hair, except over the forehead and temples, is divided into numerous braids or plaits, generally from eleven to twenty-five in number, but always of an uneven number: these hang down the back. To each braid of hair are usually added three black silk cords, with little omaments of gold, &c., attached to them. For a description of these, which are called "ṣafa," I refer to the Appendix. Over the forehead, the hair is cut rather short; but two full locks (called "maḳàṣees"; singular "maḳṣooṣ") hang down on each side of the face: these are often curled in ringlets and sometimes plaited. (Egyptian women swear by the side-lock (as men do by the beard), generally holding it when they utter the oath, "Wa-ḥayát maḳṣooṣee!") [Page 45-46]

Further detail comes from an appendix focusing on jewelry:

It has been mentioned that all the hair of the head, except a little over the forehead and temples, is arranged in plaits, or braids, which hang down the back. These plaits are generally from eleven to twenty-five in number; but always of an uneven number: eleven is considered a scanty number: thirteen and fifteen are more common. Three times the number of black silk strings (three to each plait of hair, and each three united at the top), from sixteen to eighteen inches in length, are braided with the hair for about a quarter of their length; or they are attached to a lace or band of black silk which is bound round the head, and in this case hang entirely separate from the plaits of hair, which they almost conceal. These strings are called "ḳeyṭáns" and together with certain ornaments of gold, &c., the more common of which are here represented, compose what is tenned the "ṣafa". Along each string, except from the upper extremity to about a quarter or (at most) a third of its length are generally attached nine or more of the little flat ornaments of gold called "barḳ." These are commonly all of the same form, and about an inch, or a little more, apart; but those of each string are purposely placed so as not exactly to correspond with those of the others. The most usual forms of barḳ are Nos. 1 and 2 of the specimens given above. At the end of each string is a small gold tube, called "másoorah," about: three-eighths of an inch long, or a kind of gold bead in the form of a cube with a portion cut off from each angle, called "ḥabbeh." Beneath the másoorah or ḥabbeh is a little ring, to which is most commonly suspended a Turkish gold coin called "Ruba Fenduḳlee," equivalent to nearly 1s. 8d. of our money, and a little more than half an inch in diameter. Such is the most general description of ṣafa ; but there are more genteel kinds, in which the ḥabbeh is usually preferred to the másoorah, and instead of the Ruba Fenduḳlee is a flat ornament of gold, called, from its form, "kummetrè," or "pear." There are also other and more approved substitutes for the gold coin; the most usual of which is called "shiftisheh," composed of open gold work, with a pearl in the centre. Some ladies substitute a little tassel of pearls for the gold coin; or suspend alternately pearls and emeralds to the bottom of the triple strings; and attach a pearl with each of the barḳ. The ṣafa thus composed with pearls is called "ṣafa loolee.'' Coral beads are also sometimes attached in the same manner as the pearls. From what has been said above, it appears that a moderate ṣafa of thirteen plaits will consist of 39 strings, 351 barḳ, 39 másoorahs or ḥabbehs, and 39 gold coins or other ornaments; and that a ṣafa of twenty-five plaits, with twelve barḳ to each string, will contain no fewer than 900 barḳ, and seventy-five of each of the other appendages. The ṣafa appears to me the prettiest, as well as the most singular, of all the ornaments worn by the ladies of Egypt. The glittering of the barḳ, &c., and their chinking together as the wearer walks, have a peculiarly lively effect. [Page 572-574]

He goes onto describe a similar style worn by poorer women, but I probably will do its own post because it was still being worn in the Western Oases near the 1970s, and really doesn't use coins or barḳ.

This hairstyle initally was also worn with a particular headdress of upper and middle class Egyptian women, called a rabṭah, which is essentially a woman's turban. It is made with a tarboosh or ṭáḳeeyeh (I think Lane might mean taqiyah) as the base, with muslin printed or painted scarves called faroodeeyeh, or crepe scarves wrapped around it in a high, flat pattern. Over the tarboosh was stitched down an ornament called a ḳurṣ, made of metal and often gems, and distinguished by material- generally wether it was made of diamonds (ḳurṣ almás) or of gold (ḳurṣ dahab), with the latter often having an emerald or ruby cabochon in the center. A ḳuṣṣah/'enebeh (items similar to the Algerian khit errouh) or shawáṭeḥ (worn in the same manner, but made of pearl strands or netted beading with an emerald in the center) may also be attached, as well as many other small pendants and pins. It sometimes also had silver or gilt spangles attached to the front, in which case the rabṭah was made of rose or black muslin or crepe.

As can be seen from the sharper photos of bare headed women, the braids themselves start a few inches away from the scalp, not directly at it, probably owing to the texture of most of these women's hair.

While initally as Lane describes, this was a hairstyle for the middle and upper class, as those classes began to look increasingly at European fashions under the Khedivate and British Occupation, the hairstyle mainly continued use among the poor, dancers, and some Beoduins.

This style of many braids with bangs and often a turban over top is potentially rather old in Ottoman Turkish art, with examples appearing from the 17th century- though they are unfortunately unclear, as they could also be stylized tendrils of hair, and in some cases, clearly are such.

Similar styles of many long braids started a few inches away from the scalp are still used in Turkic groups such as Uzbeks and Uyghurs, particularly while wearing folk dress.

Sources/further reading:

Edward William Lane, The Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians.

Heather D. Ward, Egyptian Belly Dance in Transition: The Raqs Sharqi Revolution, 1890-1930

Unfortunately I don't have more to offer you, even for the Turkish style.

[ahmedmsalah]

Ahmed Ibn Toulon Mosque.

Instagram: Ahmedmoatazsalah

[birbasakkadinihayvandogacevre]

محمد منير - أنا مصر | Mohamed Mounir - Ana Masr

Sesinden yorumundan çok etkilendiğim Mısırlı bir müzisyen var, bir süredir dinlemiyordum, gece gece aklıma geldi birden, adını bir aratayım bakalım karşıma ne çıkacak dedim, gözüme ilk bu video bu ilişti açtım dinledim, ben çok etkilendim, içim titredi resmen, ağladım ama neden bilmiyorum, Arapça bilmiyorum anlamıyorum ama yine de dinlemekten vazgeçemiyorum. Sözleri de çok ilginç bu arada. Bilmiyorum sizlerde sever misiniz. Sadece paylaşmak istedim. Aslında ben burada hep dinlediğim müzikleri, izlediğim filmleri, okuduğum kitapları falan paylaşmak isterim ama buna her zaman imkan olmuyor ne yazık ki... Kötülerle kötülüklerle mücadele etmekten başımızı kaldırıp, güzel bir şeyler bile paylaşamıyoruz...