Egyptian Rule Research Articles

The Late Bronze–Early Iron Age transition in Canaan: new insights from Bayesian modelling of radiocarbon dates

Scholars have used the emergence of Philistine material culture and the destruction of Canaanite palatial centres as key anchors to archaeologically define the transition from the Late Bronze to the Early Iron Age in Canaan. They have not always, however, agreed on the absolute chronology of these events and its relationship with the historical record. Various hypotheses have been put forward, placing them before, during, or after, the collapse of Egyptian rule and its withdrawal from the region, potentially around 1170–1130 BC. Traditional ‘historicist’ approaches to establishing a chronology for the theoretically linked archaeological layers, have often relied on the assumption that ceramic styles, such as diagnostic artefacts, developed and declined uniformly across different sites. This synchronicity was presumed to mirror historical events as recorded in textual sources — arrival of ‘Sea Peoples’ and the palatial system’s violent collapse. Such a perspective may, however, over simplify the complex regional variations and temporal nuances inherent in the archaeological data. Analysis of multiple radiocarbon datasets from Levantine sites reveals that destructive events and shifts in material culture were not synchronous across the region. Bayesian statistical modelling of these datasets indicates that the timing of such occurrences was influenced by unique local factors, rather than following a uniform regional pattern. The absence of Late Helladic IIIC Aegean-like wares at many sites indicates a geographically restricted production and distribution. Datasets from places where such ware appears reflect the likelihood that their production and exchange occurred from the 13th century to c. 1050 BC. Conversely, the majority of destructive events at key Levantine centres appear to be concentrated within a narrower timeframe, c. 1150–1100 BC. That is, although manifesting at different times and to different degrees of intensity across the region, Philistine presence in the Levant predated most of the Late Bronze Age III destruction events.

Religious Policy of the Mamluk Sultan Baybars (1260–1277 AC)

This study focuses on the religious policy of the Mamluk Sultan Rukn al-Din Baybars (d. 1277), and its application throughout his rule in Egypt and Syria (Bilād al-Shām). This study also discusses the impact of this policy and its benefit for Muslims and Islam in general in the region. Dealing with the character of Baybars of Mamluk origin is very important in this study to obtain the required answers to the questions related to the Islamic character of Mamluk rule in the regions of the Middle East in the Middle Ages. Although Baybars’ background was as a slave (mamlūk), who was not familiar with the religion of Islam, he had to prove his ability to act as a leader of an Islamic state. Baybars worked to implement the principles of Islam according to the Quran and the tradition of the Prophet (sunna), thus exploiting his status as an Islamic leader and as Sultan during his reign. Baybars was strict in his religious policy toward those who committed forbidden acts according to the Islamic religion, and he was keen to punish them and implement the Sharīʿa as required, in cooperation with the ʿulamā. Baybars was given relevant degrees and titles he deserved by the revived Abbasid Caliph in Cairo, such as a “holy warrior” (Mujāhid), “partner of emir of believers/the Caliph” (Qasīm Amīr al-Mu’minīn), and other religious titles that testify his high-ranking religious status as defender of Islam.

Horus and Other Egyptian Deities in the Guise of Roman Warriors: A Possible Interpretation

The article deals with a number of monuments in the Egyptian collection of the A.S. Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts showing Egyptian deities in the guise of Roman warriors: I, 1a 2985 (the best known and widely reproduced object) – a statuette of the falcon-headed god Horus in the double crown and in the Roman armour and dress (bronze); I, 1a 2794 – a similar statuette of smaller size and worse preservation (bronze with traces of gilding); I, 1a 6667 – a statuette of the dog-or jackal-headed god Anubis in the Roman armour and dress (bronze); I, 1a 3389 – a bust showing the falcon-headed god Horus wearing nemes, with the sun-disc and snake over his head (glass paste); I, 1a 5382 – a stela showing the sphinx-god Tutu with a lion head being a part of the armour-plate on his chest. Aside from republishing these objects, the aim of the article is to propose an interpretation of the iconographic type, to which they belong (this type also includes a number of Apius’ images and a singular image of Khnum in the Roman guise). The most multiple group in this type are the images of Horus, which, in author’s view, reflect the concept of the Roman principes’ rule in Egypt shaped by Egyptians: they were ruled not so much by a specific Roman strong-man as by the god Hous embodied in him and largely absorbing his personality. This concept of Egyptian rulers’ “derivative sacrality” dated back to the First Persian Domination and played largely a compensatory role, as it made a foreign and unfriendly rule more tolerable for Egyptians. In the Roman time it was reflected in emperors’ titularies, in which the Horus’ name was shaped of a set of epithets conveying upon a ruler the qualities of the god Horus. Probably the concept manifested itself in the images of Horus and Anubis, perhaps Khnum in the Roman guise; the images of Tutu and, perhaps, Apis rather show a transfer on them of the iconographic standard developed in the imagery of Horus.

Geo-Environmental Hazard Assessment of Archaeological Sites and Archaeological Domes—Fatimid Tombs—Aswan, Egypt

The Fatimid state was established in Egypt in 969 and lasted until the end of the dynasty in 1171. During the Fatimid rule in Egypt, a large set of monuments were erected. A significant portion of these monuments were shrines dedicated to the descendants of the Prophet Muhammed, especially in Aswan. Groundwater rising, at present, has introduced severe deterioration to the ancient earthen mud-brick architecture of the Fatimid tombs in Aswan city (Egypt). However, monitoring the influence of anthropogenic and environmental aspects on the deterioration issues in Fatimid tombs has not yet been considered. To this end, the scope of this pilot study is to investigate the structural stability and weathering vulnerability of the building materials of mud-brick structures in the Fatimid Cemetery before restoration labor. This was achieved using an integration of remote sensing (Landsat 8 and SRTM-DEM) and hydrogeological datasets in the Geographic Information System (GIS), along with a physicochemical and mineralogical analysis of various materials (the bearing soil, wall plasters, and Muqarnas) from the affected cemeteries. The morphological and mineralogical compositions of the collected samples were analytically examined by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX) and CT scan. Moreover, geotechnical studies were conducted for the perched soil water and subsoil, including the analysis of the physiochemical composition and heavy metals using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The results of multitemporal analysis of land use/land cover (LULC) changes displayed the growth and appearance of wetlands near the Fatimid tombs area over the last decades, boosting the geo-environmental risks from soil water rising. Furthermore, the detailed analytical investigations of building materials and soil foundations showed that this unique and substantial ancient Islamic archaeological site of Egypt shows weak geotechnical properties, and it is highly sensitive to natural and anthropogenic stressors. This innovative methodology can produce novel recommendations and results to the Ministry of Antiquities in Egypt and the Heritage Commission in Saudi Arabia for the adequate restoration of monuments.

The Egyptian Issue and the Sectarian Conflict in Syria and Mount Lebanon (1839-1861 AD)

This study aims to shed light on two important topics in Arab and Ottoman history. The first one is the Egyptian issue, which refers to the conflict that took place between the governor of Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha, and the Ottoman Empire over the rule of the province of Syria, and this conflict lasted for a decade (1831-1841 AD). The study focuses in particular on the end of the Egyptian rule in the province of Syria, and the policy of the Ottoman Empire to expel the Egyptians from the Syrian lands during the reign of Sultan Abdul Majid I (1839-1861 AD). On this topic, the study attempts to address the following questions: 1 -What were the reasons that led Muhammad Ali Pasha, the governor of the Ottoman Empire, to separate from the Empire؟ 2 -What is the stance of the European countries towards the Egyptian issue؟ 3 -What are the most important results achieved by the Treaty of London (1840 AD)؟ 4 -How did the Egyptians evacuate the province of Syria؟ Second, the sectarian conflict in Syria and Mount Lebanon began after the Egyptians left the province of Syria and Mount Lebanon (1841 AD). One of the most important drivers of this conflict was the Egyptian politics during the Egyptians’rule over the state of Syria. This research discusses the reasons that led to the sectarian conflict between the "Druze and Maronites", and it expolores the Ottoman state's stance towards the revolutions that broke out from Mount Lebanon in (1842 AD) and extended to the mandate of Syria, and until the implementation of the Basic Law on Mount Lebanon in (1861 AD). On this topic, the study attempts to answer the following questions: 1 -What are the causes of the conflicts between the Maronite and Druze sects, and does it have any relation to the Egyptian policy? 2 -What is the position of the European countries and the Ottoman Empire regarding the sectarian conflict in Mount Lebanon? 3 -Did the "Qaymaqam" system for managing mixed areas in Lebanon (1842 AD) find a solution to the problem of sectarian conflict in Mount Lebanon? This research was based on a group of unpublished and published documents, some Arab and Arabized sources and previous studies related to the two research topics in question. Keywords: the Ottoman state - the state of Syria - Muhammad Ali Pasha - the revolutions of Mount Lebanon - the sectarian conflict

The Taylor Rule in Egypt: Is it Optimal? Is there Equilibrium Determinacy?

We investigate Egypt's Taylor rule (interest rate targeting) between 1976 and 2019 by including the main economic variables in its reaction function. Using the Taylor principle, we investigate Egypt’s monetary policy optimality. To this end, we conduct the generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation procedure with different Taylor rule specifications to deal with potential endogeneity among variables. Our GMM estimates reveal that the partial adjustment coefficient is of considerable magnitude, indicating the explanatory power of policy inertia on many total variations in the current values of the nominal interest rate in Egypt. Furthermore, the inflation gap coefficient violates the Taylor principle, making the policy procyclical and inflation "spiral" and inducing divergence from the long-run equilibrium. Therefore, Egypt's Taylor rule, and thus monetary policy, reflects the indeterminacy of equilibrium and is a passive and destabilizing policy. Besides, the output gap coefficient was unexpectedly found to be insignificant.

What Collapsed in 1177?

What Collapsed in 1177?

On the "ethno-classe dominante" in the First Persian Period Egypt

The following article analyzes P. Briant’s concept of the “dominant ethno-class” in Egypt during the First Persian Domination (526 – 404 BC.). According to P. Briant, the main administrative positions were held by Persian officials, who constituted a closed and culturally isolated from the Egyptians group, while the Egyptian officials were only allowed into religious and financial spheres of administration. Though some ideas of P. Briant were developed by subsequent scholars, the basis of his concept was criticized, especially the thesis of cultural isolation of Persians in Egypt. The article presents a critical evaluation of the concept forwarded by P. Briant as applied to Acaemenid Egypt. Major difficulties with applying P. Briant’s to the Egyptian evidence are due to the insufficiency of historical sources and data on some aspects of social-administrative life in Egypt during the First Persian Domination. The author draws attention to the fact that some cases of Persian acculturation during this period in fact do not reflect the situation in the first decades of the Achaemenid rule in Egypt. Moreover, the definition of the “dominant ethno-class” does not allow including all Persians present in Egypt at the time into this specific strata. While analyzing the issue of the participation of Egyptian elite in Persian administration of Egypt, author points out that the conclusions of P. Briant and D. Agut-Labordère were made on the basis of data acquired from Demotic and Aramaic sources. However, the information from the hieroglyphic inscriptions of this period provides us with data that allows to speak about the inclusion of some of the Egyptian officials into the Persian «dominant ethno-class».

From Kitchen Arabic to Recipes for Good Taste: Nation, Empire, and Race in Egyptian Cookbooks

ABSTRACT Between the 1880s and the 1950s, a new genre of cookbooks appeared in Egypt. Largely written by women, these texts addressed the housewives of Egypt’s expanding middle classes. This essay describes how the genre’s authors instructed women to nourish the nascent Egyptian nation. In prescribing specific flavors to notions of “good taste,” these cookbooks’ eclectic combinations of recipes oriented Egyptian readers towards Europe and the Arab East, rather than towards the rest of the African continent. This analysis situates these cookbooks within the overlapping spheres of Egyptian rule in Sudan, the British occupation of Egypt and Sudan, and anticolonial nationalism. It argues that studying gendered and domestic forms of labor, like cooking, can enrich our understandings of how national identity formation hinges on the construction of racial, ethnic, and class hierarchies. Cookbooks thus offer a unique perspective on the relationships between nation, empire, gender, and race.

Understanding the Praetorian Rule of Fatah al-Sisi in Egypt

Gamal Abdel Nasser established the praetorian regime in 1952. Nasser ruled Egypt with the ‘party-state’ system to maintain the ‘social contract’ between the state and the Egyptians. The government thrived on the patrimonial relationship and de-politicization of the population. The ‘Egyptian upheaval’ in 2011 sought the protection of individuals’ rights, equality, and freedom against the military-led praetorian regime. A short-democratic experiment led to the arrival of Islamist majority rule in Egypt under the leadership of President Mohammed Morsi. The liberal-secular oppositions and the military removed President Morsi because Islamists failed to achieve the protesters’ aspirations. Egyptians supported the military’s rule that led to the election of General Abdel Fatah al-Sisi as President of Egypt. Fatah al-Sisi shifted the dynamics of government from ‘party-state’ to ‘ruler-arbiter’ praetorian rule that centralized the authority and power under his leadership through military domination to counter the Islamists and revolutionary aspirations. The research explains the causality behind the Egyptian military's intervention in politics, structuring of the praetorian regime in Egypt; the return of military praetorianism after the removal of President Hosni Mubarak; the rise of the Sisi as ‘ruler-arbiter’ and its implications on the democratization process. The paper’s method is explanatory to study the ‘structural’ (military) and ‘agential’ (Sisi’s rule) factors to determine the causes of establishing the praetorian ‘ruler-arbiter’ type Sisi’s regime. The approach to examine the ruler-arbiter phenomenon is the ‘actor-centric’ instead of the ‘mechanistic’ to understand the praetorian rule in Egypt. The research finds that the rise of the ‘ruler-arbiter’ regime under the leadership of the Sisi, caused by the military-established praetorian authority and President Sisi's choices and decisions, led to the failure of the democratization in Egypt.

Another Colonial History: How Cosmopolitan Was Cavafy's Contemporary Alexandria?

This essay provides an alternative reading of modern Alexandria's social and cultural history as a basis for a better contextualization of Cavafy's poetry. It revisits the watershed year 1882, which marks the city's destruction after its bombardment by the British fleet, using new evidence from a little-known diary by the nineteen-year-old Cavafy. It then examines the overlooked context of Alexandria's late Ottoman cosmopolitanism and shows its decisive contribution to the city's modern culture, including Cavafy's own diasporic ethnic group, the Egyptian Greeks. Finally, the argument reassesses some prevalent misconceptions about the impact of British rule in Egypt, including the problematic view that it purportedly enhanced the city's cosmopolitan life. Instead, the article shows that British colonialism sought to constrain Alexandrian cosmopolitanism, whereas Cavafy, and a circle of radical intellectuals around him, actively defended it through nuanced expressions of opposition to the injustices of colonial oppression in Egypt, Cyprus, and Greece.

The Employment of Sufism in the Reign of Saladin to Establish the Ayyubid Rule in Egypt 567-589 A.H./1171-1193 A.D.

The Employment of Sufism in the Reign of Saladin to Establish the Ayyubid Rule in Egypt 567-589 A.H./1171-1193 A.D.

لامیة البارودی بین الفخر الذاتی والهجاء السیاسی رؤیة تحلیلیة

الملخص يهدف هذا البحث إلى معالجة قصيدة البارودي في ذم الحکام، والتي قالها في هجاء الخديوي إسماعيل، من منطلق کونها قصيدة تحمل إلى جانب الهجاء السياسي، فخرا بالذات. تنبع أهمية هذا البحث من أهمية موضوع هذه القصيدة ، وهي قصيدة قالها في هجاء الخديوي إسماعيل، في أواخر أيام حکمه لمصر، عندما ساءت الأوضاع، ولاحت بوادر التدخل الأجنبي في مصر. وهذه القصيدة من القصائد المحملة ببعد سياسي، رغم أن صاحبها ظل بعيدا عن السياسة لفترة طويلة من حياته، ثم ما لبث أن دخل أتونها، ويسعى هذا البحث لتحقيق عدة أهداف، منها رصد ملامح الهجاء السياسي، والکشف عن غرض الفخر بالذات الذي جاء مغلفا بغطاء سياسي، ومنطلقه رغبة دفينة من الشاعر في استعادة ملک آبائه. وسوف يعتمد هذا البحث على المنهج الوصفي التحليلي، ولا توجد دراسات سابقة تناولت هذا الموضوع، ويقع هذا البحث في مقدمة وتمهيد وقسمين، وخاتمة تناولت أهم النتائج التي توصل إليها البحث، ويليها قائمة المصادر والمراجع، احتوت مقدمة البحث على التعريف بموضوع البحث وأهميته، وبيان أهدافه، والمنهج المتبع، والدراسات السابقة، وتقسيم البحث وخطته. ثم جاء التمهيد ليعرف بالشاعر وقصيدته وموقفه السياسي من الأوضاع في مصر، وتناول القسم الأول من البحث الرؤية الموضوعية، والتي تجلت من خلالها غرضا الفخر والهجاء، ثم جاء القسم الثاني متناولا للقصيدة من الناحية الفنية. ثم تأتي الخاتمة وفيها أهم النتائج التي توصل إليها البحث، ويليها قائمة المصادر والمراجع Abstract This research aims to address Al-Baroudi's poem about the condemnation of the rulers, which he said in the satire of Khedive Ismail, on the grounds that it is a poem that carries, in addition to political satire, self-pride. The importance of this research stems from the importance of the subject matter of this poem, a poem he said in the satire of Khedive Ismail, in the late days of his rule of Egypt, when conditions worsened, and signs of foreign interference in Egypt were visible. This poem is one of the poems carrying a political dimension, even though its owner has been away from politics for a long period of his life, then he soon entered its furnace, and this research seeks to achieve several goals, including monitoring the features of political satire, and revealing the purpose of self-pride that came wrapped in a political cover. And its starting point is the poet’s deep desire to restore the property of his forefathers. This research will be based on the descriptive and analytical approach, and there are no previous studies that have dealt with this topic, and this research is located in an introduction, an introduction and two sections, and a conclusion that dealt with the most important findings of the research, followed by a list of sources and references. , The methodology used, previous studies, division of the research and its plan. Then the introduction came to introduce the poet, his poem, and his political position on the situation in Egypt, and the first section of the research dealt with the objective vision, through which it was demonstrated by displaying pride and satire, then the second section came to deal with the poem from the technical point of view. Then comes the conclusion and includes the most important findings of the research, followed by a list of sources and references

لامیة البارودی مقاربة حجاجیة

الملخص يهدف هذا البحث إلى رصد آليات الحجاج وتجلياته في لامية البارودي التي قالها في( ذم الحکام، وحض الناس على طلب العدل في الأحکام) نعالجها من خلال المنهج الحجاجي؛ للکشف عن مدى فاعلية الحجاج في بنية النص الشعري. تنبع أهمية هذا البحث من أهمية موضوع هذه القصيدة ، وهي قصيدة قالها في هجاء الخديوي إسماعيل، في أواخر أيام حکم الخديوي لمصر، لما ساءت أمور الحکم، وارتبکت الأمور المالية في مصر، وأرهقتها الديون المتراکمة، وتدخل الأجانب في شئونها، وتبرم الأهالي بهذا الحکم السفيه الفاسد، واتفقوا على وجوب التخلص منه. وقصيدة البارودي تعد من القصائد ذات الطابع السياسي، وقد ظل بعيدا عن السياسة لفترة طويلة من حياته، ثم ما لبث أن دخل في أتونها، ويسعى هذا البحث لتحقيق عدة أهداف، منها الکشف عن آليات للحجاج في هذه القصيدة اللامية للبارودي وکيفية توظيفها في عملية الحجاج، وسوف يعتمد هذا البحث على المنهج الحجاجي منهجا للبحث والدراسة، ولا توجد دراسات سابقة تناولت هذا الموضوع، ويقع هذا البحث في مقدمة وتمهيد وقسمين، وخاتمة تناولت أهم النتائج التي توصل إليها البحث، ويليها قائمة المصادر والمراجع، احتوت مقدمة البحث على التعريف بموضوع البحث وأهميته، وبيان أهدافه، والمنهج المتبع، والدراسات السابقة، وتقسيم البحث وخطته. ثم جاء التمهيد ليعرف بالشاعر وقصيدته وموقفه السياسي من الأوضاع في مصر، وتناول القسم الأول من البحث معنى الحجاج لغة واصطلاحا، والنظرية الحجاجية وأصولها عند العرب القدامى، والمحدثين، ثم جاء القسم الثاني تحليلا للقصيدة وفق معطيات المنهج الحجاجي. ثم تأتي الخاتمة وفيها أهم النتائج التي توصل إليها البحث، ويليها قائمة المصادر والمراجع .Abstract This research aims to monitor the mechanisms of pilgrims and their manifestations in the illiteracy of Al-Baroudi, which he said in (condemning the rulers, and urging people to seek justice in rulings) that we address through the Hajji approach To reveal the extent of the effectiveness of the pilgrims in the structure of the poetic text. The importance of this research stems from the importance of the subject matter of this poem, which is a poem he said in the satire of the Khedive Ismail, in the late days of the Khedive’s rule of Egypt, when matters of governance worsened, and financial matters in Egypt became confused, burdened by the accumulated debts, and foreign interference in its affairs, and the people concluded this foolish judgment Rotten, and they agreed that it should be disposed of. Al-Baroudi's poem is considered one of the poems of a political nature, and he remained away from politics for a long period of his life, then he soon entered its furnace, and this research seeks to achieve several goals, including the detection of mechanisms for pilgrims in this lamy poem by Al-Baroudi and how to employ them in the Hajj process This research will be based on the Hajji approach as a method for research and study, and there are no previous studies that have dealt with this topic, and this research is located in an introduction, preamble and two parts, and a conclusion that dealt with the most important findings of the research, followed by a list of sources and references. The introduction to the research contained the definition of the research topic and its importance, A statement of its objectives, the methodology used, previous studies, and the division of the research and its plan. Then the introduction came to introduce the poet, his poem, and his political position on the situation in Egypt, and the first section of the research dealt with the meaning of the pilgrims in language and idiom, and the Hajj theory and its origins among the ancient Arabs and modernists, then the second section came an analysis of the poem according to the data of the Hajjaji approach. Then comes the conclusion and includes the most important findings of the research, followed by a list of sources and references.

Review: The World Community and the Arab Spring, edited by Cenap Kakmak and Ali Onur Ozcelik

Review: The World Community and the Arab Spring, edited by Cenap Kakmak and Ali Onur Ozcelik

Appropriation and Its Consequences: Archaeology under Colonial Rule in Egypt and India

Abstract The beginnings of archaeology in Egypt and in India are the subject of this paper. In both countries, antiquities were carried away by the powerful. Moreover, the hubris of the colonial powers ruling both countries made it inevitable that not only antiquities, but knowledge about the past, were appropriated in different ways. For modern Egyptians, the Pharaonic past was remote in culture and distant in time. The people themselves were until fairly recently prevented from learning the Pharaonic writing, once it was deciphered, by various ways and means. In contrast, in India the colonial administration relied on Indian scholars to teach British personnel the ancient languages, texts, and religion. In neither country was the history of the ancient period taught in schools until the foreign rulers had left. But Indian archaeology became involved in Indian identity and in the framing of the nation as Hindu, and thereby acquired an ugly twist. Self-identification in Egypt in the earlier twentieth century, on the other hand, was possibly more with the Arab world than with the pyramid builders.

Youssef RakhaBarra and Zaman: Reading Egyptian Modernity in Shadi Abdel Salam's The Mummy

BOOKS IN REVIEW offers something to every kind of reader, be it an artist looking into Botero’s women or a revolutionary looking to read about Che Guevara. The book’s minuscule size and easy-reading small verses tempt readers to finish it in one go. The Alphabets of Latin America adds to the body of universal poetries by globetrotting diplomats and is a worthy read for exploring Latin America and its connection with India. Subhas Yadav University of Hyderabad Youssef Rakha Barra and Zaman Cham, Switzerland. Palgrave Macmillan. 2020. 122 pages. MORE THAN A book-length commentary on an Egyptian cinematic masterpiece, Barra and Zaman, part of the Palgrave Studies in Arab Cinema series, is a meditation on identity that wrestles with modernity , colonialism, and cultural ownership. The author takes the film, and himself, apart in two hundred short paragraphs. Youssef Rakha, a well-known writer in both English and Arabic in his native Egypt, views Egyptian film director Shadi Abdel Salam’s classic The Mummy (also known as The Night of Counting the Years) through the twin lenses of the Arab Spring uprisings and Egypt’s modern history. His own personal struggles also flavor his viewing. The film is not a crowd-pleaser, but it was a darling of the film festival circuit when it was first released, and its cultural influence still looms large. It tells the true story of the discovery of a royal mummy cache in 1881 and the ensuing crisis for the protagonist, a member of the tomb-robbing clan who realizes that they are “trading in their own flesh.” Some of those mummies were the very same ones that were paraded through the streets of Cairo this spring, before being welcomed into their new abode at the brand-new National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. The director wanted to make films to eradicate what he saw as a “cultural and historical amnesia” in generations of Egyptians about their glorious ancient past. Of course, that will take a real investment in education, something neither the colonists nor their successors ever really bothered with. Egyptology has long been the provenance of westerners, and its history is intertwined with colonialism. This is touched on in the film, but Rakha takes it much further, exposing all kinds of hidden stories. He then posits the provocative idea that Egyptians should accept colonialism as part of their national heritage, that nationalism couldn’t have existed without the very thing it set itself up against. We should not ignore being demeaned, he says, but we also shouldn’t make it our focus, that we are much more than that. Rakha suggests that identity is like mercury : try to grasp it and it will poison you. Barra can be translated as “overseas,” “abroad,” “elsewhere.” Zaman means “in the past” or “long ago.” This is a reference to Egypt’s nostalgia for better times in the past, and things done better elsewhere, but it also lends a fantastical tinge to the title, as though it were the beginning of a fairy tale: “Long ago and far away . . . ,” as though the utopias glimpsed through space and time are unattainable for today’s modern Egyptians, and they shouldn’t even try. The film’s director was adamant that they were attainable, if only we could connect—the past with the present, the foreign with the local, the countryside with the city, the literate with the illiterate, the rich with the poor, the educated with the uneducated. Rakha does not necessarily agree, asserting that Abdel Salam indulged in wishful thinking. Some in 2011 believed in the fairy tale, imagining a better future and a better version of Egypt. The powers that be imposed a very different and painful reality. Arthur Balfour once used Egyptology to justify British rule in Egypt by saying , “We know [the civilization of Egypt] more intimately [than the Egyptians themselves ].” Egypt rightfully rejected that intimacy (well before the #MeToo era). Both Rakha and Abdel Salam seem to agree that Egypt has been “repeatedly reconstituted” like Osiris himself, and this constant theme of the revival of identity and of what it means to be “modern” is reason enough for optimism. Jehanne Moharram Norman...

Lost Maps of the Caliphs: Drawing the World in Eleventh-Century Cairo by Yossef Rapoport and Emilie Savage-Smith

Reviewed by: Lost Maps of the Caliphs: Drawing the World in Eleventh-Century Cairo by Yossef Rapoport and Emilie Savage-Smith Pinar Emiralioğlu Lost Maps of the Caliphs: Drawing the World in Eleventh-Century Cairo. By yossef rapoport and emilie savage-smith. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2019. iii + 349 pp. ISBN 978-0-226-54088-7. $55.00 (hardcover). In this outstanding study on an illustrated copy of the Book of Curiosities from eleventh-century Cairo, Rapoport and Savage-Smith open a window into the global vision, cartographic, and geographic knowledge as well as political and economic aspirations of the Muslim world. With an intricately weaved analysis, the authors come to the conclusion that the Book of Curiosities was composed most probably by a military man, who consulted Greek as well as Persian, Indian, and Coptic geographical and cartographical knowledge. In doing so, he composed one of the greatest achievements of medieval mapmaking and showcased the integral role that the Mediterranean Sea played for political and economic ambitions of the Islamic civilization which had its roots in the desert. Lost Maps of the Caliphs is organized thematically assessing the contents of the Book of Curiosities in ten chapters. Chapter One by Emilie Savage-Smith eloquently narrates the discovery of the treatise, which is illustrated with unique maps and diagrams, and its journey from the Christie's auction house in London to the Bodleian Library in Oxford. In Chapter Two titled "Macrocosm to Microcosm," Savage-Smith analyzes the book one of the manuscript that deals with the sky and its influence on the Earth. She contextualizes this volume within the eleventh-century Fatimid Egypt's political and religious ideologies and knowledge on "folk astronomy" and astrology. Savage-Smith shows that the author of the Book of Curiosities combined Hermetic, Coptic, Greek, and Bedouin nontechnical literature and lore in demonstrating what happens in the Heavens impact what happens on the Earth. The audience for this work was mainly nonscholars and the author accomplished to present his nonscholarly but educated audience "the ever-present influence of the macrocosm upon the microcosm" in an easily accessible and graphic manner (p. 70). In Chapters Three through Ten, Yossef Rapoport discusses a select number of maps and diagrams embellishing the second volume of the Book of Curiosities, titled "On the Earth." Chapter Three focuses on the rectangular world map, which is the earliest surviving example of a world map displaying a calibrated scale bar. Rapoport argues that this particular map combined the Helenistic tradition of mathematical geography and cartographic tradition of the tenth century Balkhi [End Page 550] School, which focused on the abstract schematic itinerary (pp. 78, 96). While the first tradition determined the framework, the second influenced the interior of the map. In Chapter Four, Rapoport draws our attention to the map of the Nile, which appears to be a variant of al-Khwarazmi's map of the Nile. Here, Rapoport traces how new information acquired by Muslim travelers and geographers was incorporated into an overall Ptolemaic framework of mathematical geography. In fact, the incorporation and adaptation of new knowledge into the Hellenistic and other pre-Islamic traditions of map making is one of the recurrent themes of Rapoport and Savage-Smith's argument connecting different maps and diagrams together. In Chapters Five, Six, and Seven, Rapoport evaluates the maps and diagrams of the Mediterranean, the islands of Cyprus and Sicily, and the cities of Mahdia and Tunis. In these chapters, Rapoport reaches to three conclusions that are fundamental to our understanding of the Fatimid rule in Egypt and its geographical and imperial vision of the Mediterranean. First, Rapoport demonstrates that these precompass depictions of the Mediterranean and various locations around the Mediterranean focused exclusively on anchorages, harbors, and bays and ignored the inland topography (pp. 137, 142, 152). This leads the author to conclude that these precompass maps and diagrams were the earliest depictions of the Mediterranean drawn from the perspective of seamen and naval commanders. As such, these depictions of the Mediterranean served as visual representations of "Fatimid power in the Mediterranean from the perspective of a loyal Fatimid court official" (p. 155). Second, focusing exclusively on the defenses of...

Alawites Rebellion in Syria Against Egyptian Rule (1834-1835)

The history of Alawites in Syria witnessed an important stage, when they rebelled against Egyptian rule 1834-1835, after centuries of living under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. This research deals with an introduction to the Alawites and their lives in Syria during the period of Ottoman rule until Muhammad Ali Pasha took control as part of starting a new era of Egyptian rule in Syria in 1832. This research also examines the reasons for the rebellion of the Alawites against the Egyptians in 1834: Disarm, Military Conscription, Cotton Press Machine, and Cutting Down Forests and Trees. The research also deals with the first beginnings of the rebellion and the most important events therein, in addition to the operations of the Alawite rebels in controlling the territories involved including Yunus rebellion, the robberies, the release of prisoners, and the execution of Druze soldiers. This is while also considering the efforts made by the Egyptian authorities to suppress the rebellion. The research also deals with the problem of the selling of Alawites women, the Egyptian reaction to it, and how the Ottomans dealt with the rebellion as a whole. The reasons behind the rebellion’s failure have also been discussed. The conclusion addresses the most important results of this research. This research relied on many contemporary Arab documents that recorded the details of the events of the rebellion, in addition to recent references that approach the rebellion through a form of analysis in terms of the circumstances of the rebellion and the reasons for its failure. This research is based on a descriptive historical method and the analytical method as much as possible, which is appropriate for this type of research.

Liderler ve Mısır Dış Politikası: Nasır ve Mursi Dönemlerinde Bireysel Etkenler

Egypt has witnessed two political revolutions in 1952 and 2011. Following the revolutions, while Nasser came to power after the overthrow of the Egyptian monarchy, Morsi took the lead after the fall of Mubarak’s 30-year rule in Egypt. Given leader-centric foreign policies in authoritarian/developing countries, both leaders with divergent agendas were expected to change Egypt’s existing foreign policy to a great extent. Nasser satisfied this expectation, whereas Morsi failed to make radical foreign policy changes in Egypt. This study aims firstly to present individual-level factors that play substantial roles in whether leaders become effective and influential in foreign policy and then tries to show how these factors paved the way for the difference between the impacts of Nasser and Morsi on Egypt’s foreign policy.