Essays on Cairo

Kamal Hussein’s Thartharah fawqa al-Nil (Adrift on the Nile, 1971) is the film adaptation of the 1966 novel by Naguib Mahfouz. The film was released in 1971, four years after the Six-day War and a year after the death of Gamel Abdel Nasser, the second president of Egypt and the man behind the Revolution of 1952. The movie stars some of the most iconic actors of the time including Emad Hamdy, Ahmed Ramz and Adel Adham. The film focusses primarily on the protagonist Anis, a civil servant, and his experiences with a group of men who have created ...

Art, architecture, and design are very important clues for historians to figure out what exactly a civilization, culture and society valued. Architecture, in particular, is a very important part of a larger material culture which may be used by historians as clues to figure out what impact these decisions had on the larger culture and the way each society organizes itself. In this sense, it is almost nearly inescapable that each piece of art or building will not in some way or another influence our thinking regarding how each of these societies is organized. This is true everywhere around ...

The square is a 2013 documentary film, shot by Jehane Noujaim, an Egyptian-American film director who grew up a few minutes away from Tahrir Square. The film covers two years of protests that began on 25th January 2011. Noujaim teamed up with several activists from all factions involved, documenting their and others’ struggles for more than two years. Khalid Abdalla, a movie star and son of an exiled former Egyptian liberal activist and politician, Ahmed Hassan, a Cairo resident is the guide in the chaos at Tahrir; Magdy Ashour, one of the Muslim Brotherhood; Aida El Kashef, a filmmaker ...

San Diego – prepare to see a little Mexico in the USA, on the southern coast of the wonderful and peaceful Pacific Ocean. Being a mix not only of the American and Mexican cultures but also their climates, you can experience here something really special. From the “spirit of Spanish Colonial times maintained in Balboa Park”(Alexandr) with its Botanical Garden, historical, artistic and anthropological museums, and the most famous of all – San Diego Zoo to simply relaxing or learning to surf on the sunny beaches – all of these and many more you can do in the always hot San ...

Middle East History: Trickster Travels by Natalie Zemon Davis

“Trickster Travels” was written by Natalie Davis, who is a historian of the early modern period. Her main interests are cultural history and social history. She has worked for the period ranging from 15th to 18th centuries, and focused on Europe (Princeton University, history.princeton.edu). She has taught history in many universities including the University of Toronto, Brown University, the University of California at Berkeley, and Princeton University. Her book “Trickster Travels” was published in 2006, and with the publication of this book, she successfully managed to sustain her name as one of the most interesting historians of the early ...

Introduction

Advertising is form of communication that is directly invoked in passing critical messages to the target audience. It is also termed as a promotional mode that has persuasive instincts of swaying buyers to a given direction. Therefore, advertisements for sales promotion are destined to orient the thinking and perception of buyers to a given product. While there are different forms of advertising, the main message expressed by these ads is always the same, and it holds one precept of persuasion to the target audience. It is the backdrop for competitive edge that most advertisers come up with different messages, ...

After analyzing the monuments of art, handed down to us from a distant era of the ancient Egyptian civilization, we can definitely identify the two main themes in the art of Egypt in the period around the IV millennium BC to 332 BCE. This is the theme of power and the theme of death. The power of the Pharaoh over the borders of Egypt, the Egyptian state supremacy over the neighboring tribes and kingdoms became firmly established. The question was how to combine it with the death, which is the worst thing that awaits man? It is not possible ...

Many energy companies begin from a humble background of marketing their products without any plan for further development. However, to reach a certain point in growth, they must embrace branding proactively. Overlooking this important step towards marketing would result in stagnation in growth. Ovo Energy is an energy supplying company through buying and selling electricity and gas to domestic properties (Bessant and Tidd 429). Creating the right image of the Ovo Energy through branding will be so fundamental in generating a market in Cairo. Branding must, therefore, satisfy the following characteristics: innovative, customer loyalty, quality products, and good design ...

The article dated 25th January 2016 on The Cairo Review of Global Affairs by Nabeel Khoury talks about the Syrian peace negotiation efforts fronted by the United Nations. Khoury gives reasons why the peace talks are destined to fail based on the current situations in Syria. Among the reasons is the continued offensive by the Assad’s regime with support from Russia airstrikes and Iranian forces. Lack of unity and coordination of strategies within rebel forces also complicate the negotiations. Besides, the US and Russia are almost always at loggerheads. Observing the current situation in Syria, it is right ...

Introduction

There may be different views about the influence of social media on the people’s lives, but it is absolutely evident that in the contemporary world the types and modes of communication became sophisticated due to the rapid technological process. The launch of the social media such as Facebook, Twitter or Reddit might have been one of the greatest technological breakthroughs in the 2000s. In 2006, Time magazine recognized the importance of the social media and wrote the following phrase on the cover of the “Person of the Year” edition: ‘You. Yes, you. You control the Information Age. Welcome ...

Introduction

The report is intended for the Al Naboodah Real Estate Company. The company, which engages in the real estate business, intends to expand its business from its native country, the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The company commissioned the report with the aim of exploring a suitable market for its products. Egypt in North Africa has been billed as the country that fits the company’s description of a suitable market both regarding moderate returns and sustainability of the company’s projects in the end. The report contains a brief background of the Al Naboodah Real Estate. It details its ...

Introduction

The thesis consisting in the issue whether women are allowed to visit graves has to either proven or denied. The former will be analyzed from different point of view with simultaneous answers to other questions arising in terms of whether women are permitted to visit graves; if yes, are there any restrictions regarding such visits; if no, what is the reason for it. The issue regarding the matter whether women are allowed to visit both grave and graveyard is still highly debated. It does not merely a discussion between the scholars, who analyze the Middle East tradition, but for ...

Introduction and Thesis

A reflection on various countries all around the world depicts the persistent emergence of revolts against the ruling government (s). In the year 2011, the world woke up to the news that a major revolution was developing in Egypt. Often connoted as the “Arab Spring,” the revolution was characterized by the polarization of the Egyptians who had developed a negative notion against the government. The Egyptians perceived their government as corrupt, tyrannical, and oppressive. As a result, a significant portion of the Egyptians occupied the Tahrir Square in Cairo protesting against the ruling regime. In the beginning, only thousands ...

Question 1: Use of Yacoubian Building as a Metaphorical of Egyptian Society

This building and the tenant that lived for the longest period have been used metaphorically to describe the nature of the Egyptian society. To start with, it is located in the downtown part of Cairo and actually exists. The fact that the building exist in reality is a metaphorical representation of the contemporary Egyptian society. On the other hand, the fact that it is located in the downtown is an indication of unification of people. The downtown part of Cairo comprises of people from diverse backgrounds such that it reflects the true metropolitan nature of the Egyptian society. In ...

Introduction

The medieval Islamic city was influenced by the enthusiastic patronage of art and architecture, examples being Mamluk rulers and the amirs of the Mamluk era. The architectural projects from this period comprised of both small and multifaceted complexes. The buildings helped the society in many ways and could be used to hold important functions, religious and commercial activities amongst others. Buildings were developed in the form of mosques, hospitals, kuttab, and Kurf amongst others. The architectural projects demonstrated the urban and artistic order that was significant in ensuring that the fundamental pillars of Islam were observed within the society. ...

The game which I chose from the social change website is ‘Garbage Dreams’ which is a game inspired by a documentary of the same name and is based on the theme of environmental conservation and economic growth that can be attained by recycling the waste (garbage). The game involves the player to act as the ‘Zaballeen’ community boys from Cairo who collect, sort, and recycle the garbage to ensure that at least 80% of collected waste gets recycled rather than getting dumped into landfills (Games for Change 1). The game also inspires the player to sort garbage in a ...

Literature and history are forms of self-reflection, self-expression of society, their main topic. Like in historical research much depends on the intuition of the historian, writers and literary critics at the unconscious level are capable of deep comprehension of life. Traditionally, researchers have turned to fiction only in the absence of more reliable sources. In studying the history of modern and contemporary time only an exemplary role was assigned to literature, but new directions of historical thought are changing attitude to the source. The artistic image, as a rule, is characterized by accuracy and persuasiveness; and it facilitates the ...

Notably, the Arab World consists of around 385 million people living in 22 countries stretching from the Atlantic coast of Morocco to the Arabian Sea (“Data; Arab World”). Ninety percent of the population in the Arab world belong to Islamic religion, while the remaining ten percent belong to other religions, for example, Christian and Jewish religions. The idea of unifying the Arab nations started with the formation of the Arab League in 1945. Most Arab states gained their independence from British and French colonialists in this era. The Arab League allowed the independent states to maintain their sovereignty as ...

Architecture is viewed as the art of science that involves coming up with design in the form of a drawing, managing, and constructing structures such as building complexes, swimming pools, parks, and other various structures in a particular proportion and shape. It is in this regard that since time immemorial architecture has grown from simple ideas to the amazing and intriguing structures that exist in our lives today. One of the magnificent works of architecture has been the Burj Khalifa building in Dubai, UAE; that is the highest sky scraper to date. The enormous growth of the architectural world ...

28th of March 2016

2B. Introduction Egypt is one of the few countries in the world that is mentioned in the Scriptures several times. There Moses the prophet was born and bred. Moreover, to there, after the birth of the promised Messiah, Jesus fled from Herod's persecution. There labored the early Christian hermits, who became the founders of monasticism. Today, this ancient country is in a difficult political environment, compounded by the religious factor that causes instability in the whole region. Throughout history Egypt saw many religions becoming a national policy, however, never before has one religion overpowered others and was as superior ...

The western world looks at the city of Venice to be distinctly oriental. On the surface, the city fits an Italian profile, but it has always mainland an arm’s distance. The essential Moslem culture influenced the architecture of Venice unlike its chief competitors such as Genoa and Pisa. Another stream of thought claims that Byzantine artistic heritage influenced Venetian civilization and, therefore, those characteristics of Islamic architecture. The author of the essay argues on the subject of Islamic influence on the medieval architecture of Venice is indeed a complex and challenging one. The paper focuses on those characteristics ...

Egyptian Pyramids

"Visiting card" of Egypt is the pyramids. There are about hundreds of them - large and small, with smooth and stepped sides that have survived virtually unchanged and more look like a shapeless heap of stones. They are located along the West Bank of the Nile in small groups near the place, where in the era of the Old Kingdom was the capital of the country - Memphis. The most famous of the pyramids are on the outskirts of Cairo, on the edge of the desert plateau of Giza, looming over the green valley of the Nile. Here at ...