Tours of Cairo and Egypt in October 2012

Walking Tour of Islamic Cairo

Gates of Glory and Façades of Fame*

AhmedSeddik.com

Friday, 5 October, 2012

at 10:00 AM

For reservation: call: 0100-67-68-2-69

or email: ahmed.seddik@gmail.com

In this beautiful tour of words and deeds, history and architecture
are elegantly braided together. Travel back in time to the splendid
scents, sights and sounds of historic Cairo, the fabled bridge between
ancient Egypt and modern Egypt. This is the story of the rise and fall
of the Islamic Empire.

In this tour, I shall prove that there exists an architectural
historian technique whereby history can be interpreted through
architecture. Behold! Seddik technique is unique.

"Travel. Set out and head for pastures new. Life tastes richer when
you've rode warm feet. No water that stagnates is fit to drink, for
only that which flows is truly sweet ...." - Ibn Battuta

"behind the gates of glory and façades of fame lie unique stories of
rise and fall that teach us to never give in, in nothing great or
small, in the march of history against the juggernaut of time. When
domes dominate a relief of belief reveals the architecture of history
in the history of architecture through abodes beyond the boundaries of death.

The minarets dot the I's and cross the T's of architecture, furnishing
a Rosetta Stone to untangle the web of history. The palaces of
startling elegance provide visual biographies highlighting the
salience of sailing in the sea of history and granting us a passport
to the past.

List of what we might or might not see during our tour:

Al Sioufiyya
Al Khiyamiyya
The Mosque of Salih Tala'i
Ahmed Maher
El-Darb El-Gadid
Bab Zeweila
Mosque of Almuayyad Sheikh
Wekalat Nafisa Albayda
Haret Al-Zahabi
Haret Al-Roum
Haret Al-Aqqadeya
Mosque of Alfakahany
Al-Kahkiyeen
Funerary Complex of Sultan Qansuh al-Ghuri (a glimpse)
Al-Azhar Mosque
The Mosque of Muhammed Bek Abu El-Dahab
Al-Hussein Mosque
Khan Jarkas el-Khalili
Haret Al Sanadyqyah (Boxmakers)
Alhamzawi Al-Saghir
Sultan al-Ashraf Barsbay Complex
Jawhar Al-Qaid (Commander of the Army)
Bayn al-Qasrayn (Palace Walk of Naguib Mahfouz)
Mosque and Sabil-Kuttab of Shaykh 'Ali al- Mutahhar
Al Maqases
Sekket Al-Badistan
Al Westani
Al Bab Al Thaleth
Haret Al Saleheya
Madrasa and Mausoleum of al-Malik al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub
Al-Zahir Beibars
The Qalawun complex
Bait El Kadi (House of the Judge)
Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qala'un Madrasa and Mausoleum
Sabil-Kuttab Mohamed Ali
Sultan al-Zahir Barquq Funerary Complex
Egyptian Textile Museum (just make a brief mention of)
Darb Kormoz
Al Khoronfesh
Al Qasabi
Sabil-Kuttab of Abdel-Rahman Katkhuda (Ottoman)
The Mosque of al-Aqmar
Haret Al Sananeeri
Haret Al-Darb al-Asfar
Bayt Al-Suhaymi in Al-Darb al-Asfar
Mosque-Sabil of Suleiman Agha el-Silahdar
Haret Bergewan
Amir Al Gyosh Al Goani
Al Dabeeba
Darb Al Waraka
Bayn Al-Sayareg
Haret Al-Morakeshi
Al-Hakim Bi-Amr-Allah Mosque
Sour Misr Al Qadima
Bab Al Fotouh (Gate of Conquests)
Albanhawy
Bab Al Nasr (Gate of Victory)
Gamaliyya
Wekalat Qaitbey
Haret Alotoof
El-Jashankir Mosque
Kasr Alshok
Al Mashhad Al Husseini

*A digital version of this tour by Ahmed Seddik is available as a
'PocketGuide' with voice, downloadable from Apple Store.
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Behind the Sun: Revolutionary Tour of Cairo

Friday, 5 October, 2012 at 4 p.m.

For reservation: call: 0100-67-68-2-69

or email: ahmed.seddik@gmail.com

The Revolutionary Tour of Cairo presents an eyewitness epic account of
the rise and fall of a regime, the revolution and the revelations--the
decisive moments that led to the ultimate triumph of the power of
the people and the demise of a tyrant. Through the architectural,
sculptural and literary itinerary Ahmed Seddik sheds a flood of light
on the revolutionary figures in art, politics, economics, poetry and
singing.

Seddik takes note of the seminal influential figures who made Egypt
revolutionable and the Egyptians susceptible to revolt. We start from
Zamalek and end in Tahrir.

Egypt is a gift of the Nile and the Egyptian freedom is a gift of
Tahrir. Every time I give the Tahriri Tour -- from evolution to
revolution -- I update it as we, Egyptians, continue the struggle to
eliminate the micro-Mubaraks from the sclerotic institutions in the
country. Egyptians have nothing to fear but fear itself.

Like Ahmed Seddik on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/seddikspeak
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Tour of Saqqara Pyramids, Temples and Tombs

“Let Stone Set the Tone”

Saturday, 6 October, 2012

at 10 a.m.

www.AhmedSeddik.com

For reservation: call: 0100-67-68-2-69
or email: ahmed.seddik@gmail.com

We plan to visit the recently opened tomb of the Prime Minister of
Egypt Mereruka.

"The glorious ground around the mound abounds with countless reliefs
revealing the site's majestic nature through a hieroglyphic
signature." --- Ahmed Seddik

Monuments we are likely to see and/or explore:

Tomb of the Manicurists and Pedicurists of the King
The Valley Temple of King Unas
The Step Pyramid Complex
The Oldest Museum Label
Ancient Egyptian Graffiti
The Philosophers' Circle
The Museum of Imhotep
The Pyramid of Userkaf
Tomb of Mereruka
Tomb of Kagemni
Pyramid of Unas
The Serapeum
 Pyramid of Teti
Tomb of Ti
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Shine from the Shrine: Photographic Tour of the City of the Dead
The Sahara of the Slave Sultans

Brought to Life by Ahmed Seddik

Friday, 19th, October at 10 a.m.

For reservation: call: 0100-67-68-2-69
or email: ahmed.seddik@gmail.com

The scintillating City of the Dead, anecdotally known as Al-Qarafa, is
so full of life and amenities that if you sum, you realize it is more
town than slum. We will be able to label the fabled vast necropolis
and feast our eyes on monuments glorious from the City Victorious.
True to the vision of some of its founders, the City of the Dead has
the power to entertain the mind and retain the body. Thousands of
Cairenes live here amongst the dead. At the pinnacle of Islamic art,
the monuments are architected to articulate the vision of the stellar
dweller. The  Mameluke Sahara is the modern Sakkara. Picnic among the
graves in the City Beyond the Walls!

We attempt to see:

Mamelukes St.
Sultan Ahmed St.
Mausoleum of Sir Ahmed Hassanein Pasha (1889-1946), Author of the Lost Oases
"Ahmad Mohammad Makhluf Hasanein al-Buluki"
Tomb of Narriman Sadek, Cinderella of the Nile, the Last Queen of Egypt
War Martyrs Tombs
Amir Kabir Qurqumas Complex
Mausoleum of Princess Shwikar
Tomb of Minister of War and Poet Mahmoud Samy El-baroudy
Mausoleum of Muhammed Talaat Harb, Egypt's Leading Economist
Tomb of Omar Makram, Revolutionist
Tomb of Noubar, First Prime Minister of Egypt
Mosque and Mausoleum of Sultan Faraj ibn Barquq
Mausoleum of Mamluk Sultan Al-Ashraf Barsbay
Tomb of René Jean Marie Joseph Guénon, French Author and Intellectual
Mausoleum of Khedive Muhammed Tewfik Pasha
Mausoleum of Mahmoud Fahmy Alnoqrashy
Mausoleum of Sheikh Albany Alhalaby
Tomb of Professor Ali Moustafa Mosharafa Pasha, Egyptian Theoretical
Physicist, 20th Century AD
Compound of Mamluk Sultan Al-Ashraf Sayf al-Din Qa'it Bay, 15th Century AD
Tomb of Emir Tashtimur
Chinese Tomb

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Making El Fayoum Bloom

Tour of El Fayoum, the Garden of Egypt

Saturday, 20 October, 2012 at 8:00 am

www.AhmedSeddik.com

For reservation: call: 0100-67-68-2-69
or email: ahmed.seddik@gmail.com

Sites we are hoping to explore:

The Graeco-Roman City of Karanis (Kom Oshim)
Quick visit of Fayoum Museum (most likely closed)
The Village of Tunis, the St Ives of Egypt
Medinet El-Fayoum, the Venice of Egypt
Lake Qarun (the Birka)
The Water Wheels (Al-Sawaqi)