The Other Side of Me

It was back in 1902 on the Good Land of our graceful Cairo - El Mahrousa - when our ancestors' treasures finally found a home to settle.  The idea of a museum for Pharaonic antiquities, however, was born earlier in 1835 in El Azbakeya  during the reign of Mohamed Ali Pasha. The contents were then moved to a storage room in the Citadel, and later to an old royal palace in Boulaq through the efforts of the Great French Egyptologist  Auguste Mariette.  After moving to another palace in Giza, it finally settled in Khedivate Egypt, when Khedive Abbas Helmi II ordered to build a museum for the Ancient Egyptian antiquities in Tahrir Square, which was then known as El Ismaeeilia Square (after Khedive Ismaeel, the father of the Khedivate Cairo architecture). The current building, which Egyptians used to call the Antique Khana (the antiquities' chamber),  was given its "neoclassical" style by  French Architect Marcel Dourgnon. It was built over...

In our veins runs blood, in our souls runs the Nile. Our Nile is a tale as old as this country, a country that was set along its path. It carries teachings for all of us; people and rulers. Our Nile is the one source of unity that never saw division. It has witnessed the best of times, and the worst of times and kept us fed through it all. It has lived and adapted to change, change of land, people, atmosphere, and its own path. Even today, even with fights over its waters, we know it shall never give  up on us. It's this water that tells stories of thousands of years. Stories of words still used although language has changed, feasts still celebrated although religion has changed, of recipes still popular although appetite has changed. The Nile carries stories of hardships and great rewards. Of the flourishing land, defying death over and over. Stories of crops growing on its waters, of fish living in its depth. Of waters quenching thirst, fire, and love, stor...

The wonders of the sea are not necessarily under water; in his boat, one can see the seven wonders... He moves from darkness to light with the sharpest of sights. He passes the strongest of obstacles with endless will. He catches "kheir", what he calls his fish, from a sea as deep as a demon’s eyes. In the silent emptiness his reverberations draw hope. It may be his hobby, or just his source of living, but this poor man gives life, rich with health, to many. He lives between two blues, but never does he give up until he reaches the light of the open seas.  A part of "Egypt, the Good Land" project Written by: Mariam Saleh Photography by: Mahmoud Gamal El-Din Full photoset found here