The Egyptian Textile Museum in Al-Muizz li-Din Allah Street in the Gammaliya district of Islamic Cairo is a gem. It is in a populous area and worthy of a visit as a delightful getaway from the crowds and busy streets around about.
First of all, the (...)
When studying the churches of Cairo, it is as well to remember that they are not imposing buildings: the Coptic Orthodox Church did not enjoy the patronage of a court to help fund them. Moreover they have suffered over the millennia, sometimes from (...)
In the light of sectarian tension following the downfall of Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's most respected Coptologist, Gawdat Gabra, thought long and hard before confirming the location of the sixth Coptic symposium. Despite assurances from locals that it (...)
Timbuktu flourished in centuries past as a hub for Islamic scholarship, as a bustling crossroads where traders exchanged salt, gold and cattle. It played a central role in the spread of the Arabic language and Islamic culture across West Africa. The (...)
The features that collectively make up a "Cairo 2050" vision are both amazing and in many ways enlightening, as Jill Kamil learns from a new book on the market
Its sub-title held me: "The logic of a city out of control"; and the Forward by Janet (...)
He stayed only a few years in Egypt yet Alexander left a lasting legacy. Jill Kamil looks into recent research
Macedonian conquest of Egypt, its consequences and its reflection in literature and art were the subject of an international workshop at (...)
A workshop on heritage management was convened last month at the Dutch Institute in Zamalek, Jill Kamil reports
Netherlands/Flemish Institute in Cairo (NVIC) and the American Research Centre in Egypt (ARCE) convened a one-day Heritage Management (...)
A new book on the market inspires Jill Kamil to offer an original perspective on tourism development in Egypt, and outline an unusual and original expedition
Religion and Tourism: Crossroads, Destinations and Encounters by Michael Stausberg (...)
In this final, Part 7 of the series on the Crescent and the Cross, Jill Kamil carries the reader through to new beginnings
The aim of Napoleon Bonaparte's highly organised military campaign in Egypt in 1798 was to establish a sphere of French (...)
In this fifth and final article of the series, Jill Kamil takes a look at national identity
The inspiration behind this series of articles (which appeared on the Opinion Page of Al-Ahram Weekly in the issues of 31 March, 21 April, 5 May and 9 June) (...)
Responding to readership requests, Jill Kamil summarises the religious dynamics between Muslims and Copts during the Ottoman era
The Ottoman Turks, who by the 16th century had built up a great empire in Asia Minor with its capital in Istanbul, (...)
Babylon of Egypt: The Archaeology of Old Cairo and the Origins of the City Peter Sheehan The American University in Cairo Press, 2010. Reviewed by Jill Kamil
Every so often a book comes on the market which is extraordinary, not only in production, (...)
In part IV of this series tackling the relationship between Muslims and Christians, Jill Kamil considers leadership qualities
The Internet was a fine tool for gathering together thousands of young people in Tahrir Square, but it is of little (...)
In the third and final part of a series investigating the relationship between Muslims and Copts, Jill Kamil traces social conditions under the Mamluks
When the grand sheikh of Al-Azhar visited the head of the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church on the (...)
In Part II of this series, Jill Kamil traces the amity between Muslim and Christian under the Fatimids and Ayyubids
It is difficult today to visualise Cairo's capital as it was in mediaeval times. For one thing, the Salah Salem Highway today (...)
In the first in a series of articles, Jill Kamil traces the historical amity between Muslims and Christians in Egypt
As we recall banners with the symbols of the Bible and the Quran hoisted high by pro-democracy demonstrators in Tahrir Square in (...)
It was officially confirmed on Sunday, 6 March, that has stepped down as minister of antiquities in Egypt, Jill Kamil writes
, the international face of Egypt's archaeology for some 10 years, has admitted that he was no longer able to protect the (...)
Fragile papyrus scrolls known collectively as the Book of the Dead ; a glossy hardback entitled Life in Paradise ; and archaeologists and epigraphers at work on the Theban necropolis spark the interest of Jill Kamil
The British Museum's current (...)
As the Epigraphic Survey at Chicago House in Luxor enters its 87th six-month season in Luxor, Jill Kamil talks to director Ray Johnson about the work in progress
"Preserving Egypt's ancient records for present and future generations is what we (...)
Reviewed by Jill Kamil
Lise Manniche, The Akhenaten Colossi of Karnak, The American University in Cairo Press, Cairo and New York, 2010
You will want to read this book -- but perhaps not in the order in which it is published. In The Akhenaten (...)
There are so many travellers' guidebooks on the market that one is hard-pressed to know what to choose. Jill Kamil offers some suggestions
Once upon a time and not so long ago, which is to say 60-odd years ago when the monarchy sailed away and the (...)
Reviewed by Jill Kamil
Jason Thompson's Edward William Lane, "is no mere biography", he explains. "It is a collective biography, in the sense that it is about the clusters of people around Lane. He was a central figure, a planner. They tended to (...)
Framed by steep cliffs and poised in elegant relief is the mortuary temple of Deir Al-Bahri, known in ancient times as the "Most Holy of Holies". We now know more than ever before about the plans and ideas of the remarkable woman who built it, says (...)
Reviewed by Jill Kamil
Coptic Identity and Ayyubid Politics in Egypt (1218 -- 1250) by Kurt J. Werthmuller, The American University in Cairo Press, Cairo and New York (2010)
The building blocks of history form a far more complex pattern than is (...)
Among Zahi Hawass's ambitious plans to introduce specialised museums across the country is a proposed predynastic museum at Qena. This is good news, says Jill Kamil
Anyone interested in the antecedents of the Egyptian civilisation and the cultures (...)