Egyptian State Research Articles

Role of the first plague epidemic in the formation of the Ancient Egyptian state

Role of the first plague epidemic in the formation of the Ancient Egyptian state

Dinara Dubrovskaya: Forty Years in Oriental Studies. Part II

This is the second part of an interview with a Sinologist, art historian, journalist and writer Dr Dinara V. Dubrovskaya, editor-in-chief of the Vostochnyi Courier (Oriental Courier) magazine, who in 2022 headed the Department of Art and Material Culture of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The conversation raises key issues related to the self-representation and self-awareness of Chinese civilization, the issues of interaction of the Middle Kingdom with its immediate neighbors and with the world in general in historical retrospective and in modern times. The author and the interviewer look into the reasons why the Chinese empires were not interested in spreading their teachings beyond the borders of the Celestial Empire and in the very concept of ‘frontiers’ in the understanding of the traditional Chinese. We are talking about the self-sufficiency of Chinese culture — true as well as supposed, about the concept of ‘devouring a mulberry leaf’, comparing the understanding of the contact zones of the ancient Chinese and ancient Egyptian states.

A Theory of a State? How Civil Law Ended Legal Pluralism in Modern Egypt

AbstractʿAbd al-Razzāq al-Sanhūrī (d. 1971), the father of the Egyptian legal code, theorized a relationship between dīn (religion) and dawla (state) that was key to his project. In this relationship, al-Sanhūrī posited a delineation between the spheres of dīn and dawla that allowed him to map these categories onto the existing distinction between matters of ʿibādāt (acts of worship) and muʾāmalāt (transactions) in Islamic law (fiqh). I propose that Islamic jurisprudential distinctions between ʿibādāt and muʿāmalāt—for al-Sanhūrī—was the ideal medium to maintain and police the borderlines between religion and state in the postcolonial Egyptian state. Al-Sanhūrī's objective was to keep the domain of dīn outside of state sanction and to facilitate a transition whereby the state's legal institutions assumed exclusive lawmaking powers based on its own independent legal reasoning in Islamic law (ijtihād). I argue that al-Sanhūrī was a committed comparatist, not a reformer of Islamic law. Al-Sanhūrī's legal project should be viewed as a faithful commitment to French comparative law as a method of legal inquiry and a reflection of his nationalist agenda of creating a unified legal order that cannot exist without relying upon indigenous forms of law and culture. Al-Sanhūrī saw Khedival legal pluralism as an obstacle for national sovereignty. As a result of the institutional and legal readjustments from the 1920s through 1950s in Egypt, al-Sanhūrī did not see a future for Islamic law in the emerging legal state apparatus outside of civil law strictures and insisted that Islamic courts and religious tribunals for Jews and Christians must be subsumed under nationalized secular state courts.

On a "dead end" in the Egyptian predynastic studies, and on a possible direction of the way out

Studies of the Predynastic Egypt, devoid of reliance on written sources, may enter into a dead end; to overcome it, methods and data of natural sciences are called including the reconstruction of changeable natural conditions of the emergence of ancient Egyptian state. These include: aridization of the North Africa climate in the 4th millennium BC, which favoured the transformation of the Sahara into a desert and the migration of part of its population to the Main Nile; the formation starting from about the 6th millennium BC of fertile silty soils in the Nile floodplain which made it suitable for farming and became the main natural prerequisite for the mass influx of people to the Egyptian Nile and for the local Neolithic revolution; a sharp decrease in the last quarter of the 4th millennium BC of the annual Nile flow to a volume comparable to the current one, with two major consequences for ecosystem and society: the cessation of catastrophic flooding by the river waters of Middle Egypt, where in the 7th–4th millennium BC there may have been a huge lake that separated Upper from Lower Egypt preventing their ethno-cultural merging, which started not earlier than in the second half of the 4th millennium BC; the appearance of the 1st Nile cataract, which determined the southern border of the early pharaonic state. For studies of this kind, a special scientific discipline “geoegyptology” has been proposed; these tasks, however, are met by the long-standing school of the socio-natural history.

Innovation in Family Business Syllabus: The Case of the American University in Cairo

Teaching family business has been trending in some European and American business schools. This trend has very limited existence in all Egyptian, and Arab business schools. This manuscript presents the experience of the family business course at American university in Cairo (AUC) which started in 2017, and is still in the evolution phase in spring 2020. The article starts by shedding light on the concept of family business, and its importance in the economy. This is followed by addressing the literature of family business education on the global level, and its status in Egypt, and the Arab world. Moving forward to the micro level of the AUC, through discussing the origins of the family business course inception as a pillar in the school of business strategy, and then the evolution of the syllabus from spring 2017 till spring 2020. The details of the course from pedagogy to assessments, guidelines, and rubrics are explained.

Египетские экспедиционные надписи IV династиии древние природные ландшафты Западной (Ливийской) пустыни

The Middle Holocene epoch in northeastern Africa was marked by a steady trend towards aridization. However, the transformation of ecosystems and natural landscapes was gradual and had a complex nature. This change directly affected the development of the first ancient Egyptian centralized state as well as the development of its resource base beyond the Nile Valley. This study addresses the problem of using ancient Egyptian epigraphic sources (expeditionary inscriptions) for the study of both paleolandscapes and ecosystems of the Western (Libyan) Desert and the possible socio-economic impact of their change. The author studies several graffiti, which are believed to have preserved information on natural conditions near the Dakhla oasis and in the region of Wadi Toshka during the time of construction of the great pyramids (Fourth Dynasty). The author concludes that it is quite easy to make misleading assumptions when interpreting expeditionary artefacts. At the same time, as an example with an unusual toponym from the quarries near Wadi Toshka demonstrates, even the shortest graffiti can provide researchers with important additional information on possible changes in the ancient climate and landscape.

The characterisation of ceramic production from the central Levant and Egyptian trade in the Pyramid Age

A recent petrographic study of ceramic jars from Giza imported into Egypt during the 4th Dynasty of the Pyramid Age (c. 2613–2494 BCE) identified the original production zone as the Lebanese coast generally between Beirut and Tripoli, including the region of Byblos. The jars and their contents were imported to Egypt by maritime trade expeditions conducted at the behest of the Egyptian state. This study analyses a selection of these ceramic samples using ICP-AES and -MS for comparison with published data from the region of Byblos. The results not only confirmed the underlying petrography, but together with new evidence from Lebanon suggests the vessels likely belonged to specialised workshop production in the Byblos environs and were made specifically for export to Egypt. The finding sheds new light on the relationship between the Egyptian state and the polity of Byblos in the Early Bronze Age, indicating the presence of standardised local production and commodity procurement mechanisms tailored to the needs of a large trade entity. This relationship in turn delivered significant prestige and status to local elites in an environment of competitive local peer-polity interactions.

Governing Political Islam

This paper analyzes what I define as an anti-Islamist discourse (or an “Islamistphobia”) both as a social reality and as conceptual innovation in contemporary Egypt. The paper focuses on four interrelated actors—the current Egyptian regime and its discourse on political Islam, the Muslim Brotherhood and its historical entanglements with the Egyptian state, the Salafi al-Nūr and Rāya Parties, and al-Azhar’s relation with both the regime and the Islamists. I advance an idea that anti-Islamist sentiments channel primarily through official (state) and media discourses in Egypt, rooted in both a colonialist locale and in a contemporary religious framework and its anticolonial rhetoric. It is, however, directed primarily against the Muslim Brotherhood, rather than against all Islamist groups across the board.
 Keywords: Anti-Islamist discourse, Islamistphobia, Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt, political Islam

الهكسوس ودورهم الحضاري في مصر القديمة

This study aims to respond to the claims of the historians that the Hyksos are foreign, and barbarian tribes had occupied Egypt and had spread Corruption, and destruction. They had tortured its people, had stolen their money and property. They had also destroyed its temples, and fortifies .Then the Egyptians threwthem out after establishing the modern Egyptian state at the era of the Feraohnee Ohmsthe first. The study clarified the origins of the Hyksos, their religion, how they entered Egypt and the Constructions and civilized establishments they established in all the Egyptian places. The study conclusion has shown an interesting fact which is that the Arab Hyksos are Arabian tribes, they had great and pioneer civilization which Egypt got benefits from even after throwing them out after along age and generation.

Promotion of tourism in Egypt during the reign of King Fuad I

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the role of King Fuad I (r. 1917–1936) role in promoting tourism in Egypt during his reign. Fuad felt that Egypt’s unique geography and history made it an ideal tourist destination even before he ascended to the throne. He promoted tourism in Egypt during his reign by establishing national tourism associations, hosting international conferences, and taking foreign dignitaries on trips to Egypt’s most famous archaeological sites. This paper also discusses and reflects upon Fuad’s organisation of an international competition to promote tourism in Egypt, which is understudied in the literature despite its importance for the history and development of Egyptian tourism. This paper contributes to the literature by examining previously unpublished archival sources and setting a timeline for the Egyptian state’s deep interest in promoting the country as a tourist attraction.

Haphazard urbanisation: Urban informality, politics and power in Egypt

The Egyptian military regime of Abd al-Fattah el-Sisi has announced as part of its Vision 2030 its intention to eliminate informal urban areas. The regime has identified these areas – commonly known by the Arabic term ‘ashwa’iyyat (which means haphazard) – as a threat to the nation. The Egyptian state, however, has no clear conception of what urban informality constitutes or what exactly it is eradicating. To understand how and why the state has placed urban informality as central to its politics, I contend that we have to examine the political processes through which this uncertain yet powerful concept is produced. Urban informality, I argue, is a political intervention that is always fleeting and geographically specific in an otherwise haphazard context. Haphazard urbanisation points to the complex power struggles by a range of actors, both within and beyond the state, through which the formal and informal divide can mark urban life. In a critical reading of the first major study of informality in Egypt, I show how the urban was divided into the formal and informal through outdated laws. I detail, by engaging sources in English and Arabic, how the Egyptian state militarised urban informality from the 1990s onwards. I argue that it is through this historical framing that we must understand el-Sisi’s current war against urban informality. In turn, I argue that the regime’s attempt to eliminate informality has not resulted in greater control over what and how urban informality appears but has deepened the hazardisation of urban life.

Традиции и новации в погребальном обряде для социальной элиты в додинастическом и раннединастическом Египте

Elite necropolises are the most important sources for studying the process of the formation of early states. In Ancient Egypt, this process took place over a long period of development of the sedentary culture Naqada, which developed in the 4th millennium BC, from its early phases to the final stages, when the political unification of Egypt took shape. Analysis of the burial architecture of elite burials from Hierakonpolis and Abydos, iconography, motifs and images depicted on ritual objects from tombs of the Late Dynastic and Early Dynastic times continue the scenes of hunting and battles characteristic of the earlier phases of the Naqada culture. However, their style is changing. The motives associated with the king as the protector of society, a successful warrior responsible for the stability and prosperity of Egypt come to the fore. Traditions and innovations, being oppositions, nevertheless work in an integral field, a kind of cultural and historical unity. And in terms of the socio-cultural development of Egypt, the elite necropolises of the Predynastic and Early dynastic periods provide extremely important and objective information about the formation of the first state in Egypt.

Between the Nile and the Red Sea

Abstract The Medjay were a group of desert nomads inhabiting the region between the Nile and the Red Sea contemporaneous to the Bronze Age of Ancient Egypt (c. 3100-1050 bce). Well-known from textual sources from Pharaonic Egypt and Kushite Nubia, it has proven difficult to produce basic societal descriptions of the Medjay and their political status, especially in their desert heartland. Most studies dedicated to the Medjay evaluate their presence as a nomadic diaspora and emigres on the Nile or focus on their interaction with the Ancient Egyptian state. These approaches place little emphasis on their indigenous geography and nomadic heritage in the Red Sea Hills. This study takes a very different tact and attempts to reconstruct some basic information on their political geography in their indigenous homeland. Although the sources, both textual and archaeological, are currently scarce regarding a Second Millennium bce desert occupation, they do demonstrate complex arrangements between Medjay political actors and nearby states. Particularly notable was the ability of individual tribes to enact varying policies of entente, détente, and aggression towards their Nile neighbours as well as exercise de facto sovereignty over a wealthy desert consistently threatened by Egyptian and Kushite imperialism.

When an Arab State Entered into International Refugee Instruments: Behind the Scenes of Egypt’s Accession to the 1951 Refugee Convention

AbstractThis article explores why Egypt, unlike the majority of Arab states in the Middle East, decided to accede to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1951 Convention) in 1981. Drawing on both primary and secondary source information, this article investigates the process of relevant negotiations between the Egyptian state and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The article’s historical analysis finds that Egypt’s major foreign policy reforms in the late 1970s became a key trigger for the country’s growing rapport with the UNHCR and the regime of the 1951 Convention. Yet, it is also argued that the UNHCR and pro-Western foreign ministry officials of Egypt played a pivotal role in leading to the successful outcome. Expanding on the state’s foreign policy rationale, this article provides useful insights into the conditions under which a previously reluctant state, like Egypt, could eventually become a party to the 1951 Convention.

Http://habibiaislamicus.com/index.php/hirj/article/view/232

Ibn Al-Saati lived in the second half of the sixth century A.H. He was born in 553 A,H and died in 604 A.H. This era witnessed important political events; like the fall of Fatimid state in Egypt and the establishment of the Ayyubid state on its ruins. It also witnessed the Crusades and the accompanying Arab victories and conquest, led by the conquest of Jerusalem in the year 583 A.H by Salah ul Din Al-Ayyubi. Ibn Al-Saati was a prominent poet of that era. The present article will highlight the main characteristics of his poetry. It is consisted on abstract, time period of the poet, biography of the poet, the characteristics of his poetry, conclusion of the discussion and bibliography. May Allah help us in each and every walk of life. Ameen.

Making and unmaking masculinities in Cairo through sonic infrastructural violence

This article explores the Egyptian state’s production of desired manhood and destruction of unwanted masculinities in relation to home and displacement through audio-focused analysis and a focus on sonic infrastructures. While sonic infrastructures can be used as a form of political control and violence, my work in Egypt also shows how people, through sound and sonic resistance, navigate and shape sonic landscapes of insecurity, violence and liminality, as well as resisting displacement and claiming space. In Cairo, where political unrest over the past decade has produced new imaginaries and maps of belonging, men opposing the politics of the current regime have been expelled by the state from their own city; deprived of rights, safety, status and dignity. The institutions of state power employ sound as a political representation, and control, monitor, limit as well as threaten the population through the sonic. All of these sound systems operate at auditory, corporeal and sociocultural frequencies. There are countless examples of how materialised sonic experiences are consciously constructed and used by the autocratic military regime in Egypt to discipline and ‘produce’ its subjects, through for example forbidding particular music; monitoring its residents and thereby employing control by listening; using unbearable loud sounds during torture; or closing downtown bars, cafes and bookshops and thereby sonically controlling and limiting parts of the cityscape of Cairo. These sonic materialised experiences are connected to how gendered bodies are excluded, un/remade, produced, expressed and negotiated.

The language situation and status of the turkic language in the egyptian Mamluk state and Golden Horde

The Turkic language, called Türki, the Old Kipchak or Kipchak language, which was actively used in the Mamluk state in Egypt and the Golden Horde in the 13th-15th centuries, is the proto-language of the modern Turkic languages. Most of its lexical layer, which includes various dialects of the Turks of that period, is reflected in the lexical fund of the modern Kazakh language. The study of Mamluk-Kipchak manuscripts, written in Egypt and stored in world archives and libraries, is especially necessary for Kazakhstan Oriental studies and Turkic studies. For further comprehensive research from the point of view of language, including the vocabulary and grammar of these written monuments, stored for more than six centuries, it is necessary to determine the prerequisites for their creation, in particular, to describe the linguistic situation in society and determine the status of the Turkic language. The study is based on a comparative historical method in order to determine the status and describe the linguistic situation of the Kypchaks, who are geographically distant, but spiritually united, including linguistically. As a result, the status of the Turkic language in the Golden Horde and the Mamluk state in Egypt was determined, and the linguistic situation in the region was described. The Turks were able to preserve the language both in their homeland under the rule of the Mongol Empire, and in a foreign land in Egypt, where, along with Arabic, the Mamluks continued to use their native language and create valuable written monuments. In the Golden Horde, the Turks, gradually replacing the Mongolian language, turned from the Turkic a key language of communication both within the country and abroad, in particular, in the development of relations with Mamluk Egypt. Key words: Turki, Kipchak, Mamluk, Golden Horde, language, language situation

A revival of the Aqueduct of old Cairo, “Magra Al Ayoun”

The Aqueduct of old Cairo, “Magra Al Ayoun” is a major medieval water work in old Cairo. one of the most prominent historical Islamic monuments in Cairo, because of its historical and geographical value since its establishment during the reign of Sultan Nasser Saladin, the founder of the Ayyubed state in Egypt who took power from 565 Ah / 1169 AD to 589 Ah / 1193 AD. It was neglected over the past 100 years by Egypt's rulers. Consequently, the aqueduct was exposed to natural deterioration and human encroachments. The valorization of the Aqueduct could greatly contribute to the enhancement of the old city fabric. The aqueduct could also constitute a major site for tourist development, because of its linear shape that allows crossing to an important part of the Old City. The Governorate of Cairo works in coordination with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities permanently to develop this area to revive this monument, after this area was subjected to major infringements and irregularities, where the place was surrounded by waste and animal pens, so the project works on the restoration of the parts that were demolished and revive the drivers through laser lighting and the establishment of gardens, restaurants, and shops of handicrafts in addition to halls of cultural performances and heritage concerts, in order to represent this area a new addition to the tourist and cultural places in the capital. This paper aims to shed light on the huge project of revival of Aqueduct.

Places of Worship of the Common People in Ancient Egypt.

The ancient Egyptian considered the king the only priest in ancient Egypt. He is the link between the deities and human beings. Therefore, the priests were the substitutes that replace the king in performing the rituals. By consequence there is no place for the common people inside worship buildings. Therefore, their chapels are one of the most important manifestations of personal piousness in ancient Egypt. Although the common people did not enter the temples during the performance of the rituals, they were known for their extreme piety and endless religiosity. Based on the foregoing, the study explores the rituals of worship of the common people and the places of this worship away from the temple, which wasn’t accessible area for them. The study attempts to answer the following questions: If the temple is the house of God and to which many people take refuge, then what is the case with the inhabitants of far villages and the workers of the desert? Where was the cult of the common people practiced? Did the Egyptian state at that time seek to establish private places or chapels for the common people? If they existed, did the ancient Egyptian satisfied with these places, or they had alternative places of worship for himself and his family? What were their characteristics? Was it restricted to certain people?

How Did Sisi Reproduce Authoritarianism in Egypt?

‘Respecting the will of Egyptians is nobler than assuming power.’ Thus said Field Marshal Abdel Fattah El-Sisi before assuming power in 2014, referring to his popular mandate to take charge and eliminate ‘terrorism’. Our main question in this study is: How did Sisi reconstitute authoritarianism and come to dominate the state and its bureaucracy? Starting with his evocation of the 1967 defeat and his allusion to internal strikes at the Egyptian state that year, we posit several explanations, drawing on other research and the speeches of President Sisi himself. We examine the nature of the 2013 coup and the importance of the ‘mandate’ for the reconstitution of authoritarianism, as well as the significance of Sisi’s discourse and the various elements that aided his rise to power and supported his narrative of events. Finally, we analyse the practical strategy for assuming control of state institutions and subordinating them to his rule and dominance, considering his identification of the military with the state itself.