Ahmed Seddik: Egyptologist, Lecturer, Translator, Editor, Media Producer and Tour Guide: سبتمبر 2012

الخميس، 20 سبتمبر 2012

Tour of Cairo and Egypt in September and October 2012

Walking Arabic Classroom, Tour to Learn Arabic!

Tuesday, 25 September, 2012 at 5 p.m.

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

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Early to Rise Walking Tour of Islamic Cairo

Gates of Glory and Façades of Fame*

AhmedSeddik.com

Friday, 28th, September at 10 a.m.

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.
------

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

Like Ahmed Seddik on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/seddikspeak
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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, 28th, September 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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Behind the Sun: Revolutionary Tour of Cairo

Friday, 28th, September at 5 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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Walking Tour of the West Bank of Luxor

Saturday, 29th, September at 6 a.m.

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

Walk back in time to explore the treasure-laden landscape of the
Valley of the Kings. It's not for me to say, let the deities lead the
way, and listen to the Egyptians in their own words! When in doubt,
Hieroglyph it out.

Then literally walk in the footsteps of the workmen of Deir el-Medina,
the Silicon Valley of ancient Egypt. We climb to the peak and let the
goddess of silence speak, but she loves silence.

Thereafter, we are granted an audience with the glorious Queen
Hatshepsut in her mountainous amphitheater-like temple.

We visit the lavishly decorated tombs of Sennefer and Rekhmire.

This tour on the west bank helps us crack the code of Karnak.

Our entertaining itinerary takes you to:

-The Valley of the Kings
-The Tombs of the Nobles (Prime Minister Rekhmere...)
-The Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut
-Deir el-Medina
-Howard Carter's House
-The Colossi of Memnon
-Felucca as the sun sinks below the horizon

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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

"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

السبت، 15 سبتمبر 2012

Tours of Egypt in September 2012: Cairo and Luxor

Early Bird Walking Tour of Islamic Cairo

Gates of Glory and Façades of Fame*

AhmedSeddik.com

Wednesday, 19 September, 2012

at 5:42 AM (Sunrise)

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

or email: ahmed.seddik@gmail.com

Walking Arabic Classroom, Tour to Learn Arabic!

Tuesday, 25 September, 2012 at 5 p.m.

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

----------------------------------------------------------------

~~~~~~~~~~
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, 28th, September at 10 a.m.

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

الخميس، 6 سبتمبر 2012

Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo, Weekly Lectures

September 13: Dr. Rudolf de Jong
Bedouin Dialects of the Sinai Desert

Through the ages, the northern Sinai Desert has served as the natural land bridge between Asia and Africa. With the spread of Islam from the 7th century, speakers of Arabic came from the Arabian Peninsula and crossed into non-Arabic speaking regions like Egypt and farther west into North Africa.
Today we find Bedouin tribes inhabiting the entire Sinai Peninsula. Most tribes arrived there during the Middle Ages and some even before Islam.
The northern Sinai littoral today is identified as an area of transition: from the dialect of the tribes in the Negev Desert in the east, the transition is embodied by a number of dialect groups forming a continuum from the ‘Bedouin’ dialect type of Northwestern Arabic to the ‘sedentary’ dialect type of the eastern Nile Delta.
Although more recent developments such as the completion of the Suez Canal and the creation of the state of Israel may blur the picture of the area as culturally homogeneous, we can still clearly see how the dialects of Bedouin tribes of northern Sinai linguistically interconnect with the dialects spoken in the Negev and the Nile Delta.
Based on findings of field research in the area for over fifteen years, the speaker will show how this area of transition has taken its linguistic shape; the transition inside Sinai is visible in the gradual disappearance of ‘Bedouin’ features of the Negev, yielding to more typically ‘sedentary’ features of the Delta.
Dr de Jong will use techniques of ‘multi-dimensional scaling’ to illustrate differences and similarities of the dialects of Sinai in slides.

As of July 2012 Rudolf de Jong (PhD 1999) is the new director of NVIC. He studied Arabic at the University of Amsterdam and specialises in dialects of Arabic. He has authored two volumes on the Bedouin dialects of Bedouin tribes in the Sinai Desert of Egypt as well as several articles on a variety of Arabic dialects. He has taught Arabic language at Amsterdam University College, the University of Amsterdam, Leiden University and the University of Groningen. He is Secretary of the ‘Association Internationale de Dialectologie Arabe’ and co-General Editor of the Online Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics at Brill.

September 20: Marcel Seyppel en Florentine Visser
Less is More. MED-ENEC. Energy Efficiency in the Mediterranean Construction Sector

"The population in most southern Mediterranean states is growing rapidly. More and more people are moving to cities in search of work and housing. As a result, energy consumption in these countries is set to double over the next two decades. At the same time, the world's fossil energy reserves are dwindling, and energy prices are expected to soar in the near future. However, there are alternatives to this scenario: energy efficiency and renewable energies. These solutions have considerable potential in the construction sector, as between 25 and 45% of overall electricity consumption can be attributed to buildings. The use of energy-efficient technologies and renewable energies such as solar-powered water heaters will help to reduce fossil energy consumption significantly.MED-ENEC is funded by the EU to promote energy efficiency in the construction sector of the south east Mediterranean countries. GIZ, the German development organization, together with its consortium partners Ecofys (Netherlands) and ADEME (France) are implementing the project in nine countries.More Info: www.med-enec.eu."

Florentine Visser is MED-ENEC’s Key Expert for Low Energy Building and Urban. As architect Florentine is specialized in energy efficient design and construction for dry hot climates. With over 15 years experience in design and construction of buildings, first in the Netherlands, recent years in Jordan and Egypt, her portfolio includes environmental, (energy and water efficient) Urban Planning and Building Projects. She managed the Jordan Pilot Project of MED-ENEC and was involved in the construction of the Dutch Embassy in Amman (the first LEED certified Building in Jordan).
Marcel Seyppel is MED-ENEC’s Key Expert for Communication and Knowledge Management. Recently Marcel moved to Egypt to join the MED-ENEC team for his experience in media, journalism and communication, not only in Germany, also for the EU and in Croatia. Leading his own PR agency in Germany for the last 13 years, he produced the documentary film: "Nature is the future”. This film tells the story of ten Energy Efficient Buildings supported by MED-ENEC.

September 27: Dr. Geoffrey Tassie
The Process of Neolithisation in Egypt

The spread of domesticated cereals and animals out of the Levant to both Europe and Africa has been a subject of much debate. In Egypt the earliest evidence of farming practices are at present found in the Faiyum and Merimde Beni Salame ca. 7,000 cal BP (5,000 BC), some 3,000 years after the beginning of agricultural practices in the Levantine PPNB. Recent research has shown that there was a time delay in mixed economy farming reaching the Southern Levant. Whereas in the Negev and Sinai rather than taking up mixed economy farming, the Timnian herder-gatherer tradition based on goat herding supplemented by hunting developed just before 7,950 cal BP (6,000 BC). It appears that it was this group that transmitted goat herding practices to Egypt at 7,850 cal BP (5,800 BC), whereas the full farming package was transmitted to Egypt ca. 5,350 BC by Late Neolithic Levantine migrants.The uptake of farming practices by communities in the Nile Valley only occurred because they already had a predilection to manage wild animals, manipulate wild grasses and had a technology that was ready for the process of Neolithisation. The choices taken and adaptations made to the new environment and different ecological zones that developed after the Last Glacial Maximum laid the foundations for the distinctly different cultures of Egypt and the Sudan to those of the Levant. These heterogeneous regions took separate paths to food production, and it was the path that was chosen by the communities in the Nile Valley that formed the basis of many of their cultural and religious traits even after farming practices had been introduced from the Fertile Crescent. Within 500 years of the end of the Neolithic, a relatively short timespan, the agrarian communities of Egypt had formed into proto-states and by 3,060 BC had formed one of the first pristine states, while the Southern Levant, restricted by its limited resources, remained at a stage of relatively small-scale social complexity.

Dr Tassie has participated in, and is still engaged in, numerous expeditions in Europe (Beddingham Roman Villa, Sussex; Slaughterbridge Medieval Village, Cornwall), the Levant (Tell Jezreel), Arabian Peninsula (Qatar) and Egypt, (Kafr Hassan Dawood, East Delta; Faiyum; Quesna and Kom el-Ahmar, Central Delta; Sais, West Delta; Alexandria and the South Sinai). His fieldwork interests are mainly, but not exclusively, excavation methodology, surveying techniques, environmental and biological archaeology, archaeological drawing, epigraphy and photography. This concern with standards of archaeological fieldwork is shown by the publication of Standards of Archaeological Excavation: A Fieldguide to Methodology, Recording Techniques, and Conventions.

http://www.institutes.leiden.edu/nvic/news/lectures-nvic.html

الثلاثاء، 4 سبتمبر 2012

Ahmed Seddik Tours of Cairo in September 2012

Behind the Sun: Revolutionary Tour of Cairo

Friday, 7th September, at 7:00 AM

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 I shed a flood of light on the
revolutionary figures in art, politics, economics, poetry and singing.
They are 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 reload it as we, Egyptians, continue the struggle
to eliminate the micro-Mubaraks from the sclerotic institutions in the
country.

Like Ahmed Seddik on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/seddikspeak
------------------------``````

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Early Bird Walking Tour of Islamic Cairo

Gates of Glory and Façades of Fame*

AhmedSeddik.com

Wednesday, 19 September, 2012

at 5:42 AM (Sunrise)

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.
------

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

Like Ahmed Seddik on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/seddikspeak

Ahmed Seddik: Egyptologist, Lecturer, Translator, Editor, Media Producer and Tour Guide