Regarding the recent "and never ending" sectarian incidents in Upper Egypt

Earlier Thursday, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met with a delegation from the Egyptian Orthodox Church led by the head of Church himself Pope Tawadros II.
The meeting comes  after sectarian tensions and attacks took place in Upper Egypt. Despite Sisi told the church's delegation that all Egyptians were equal in front of the Constitution. He also added that all the recent sectarian attacks and tensions in the past few weeks were "individual acts".

Sisi and the Egyptian Orthodox Church delegation
"Egyptian Presidency" 

Amazingly the Church's spokesperson claimed that the meeting the Church leaderships with the President did not include any discussion about recent sectarian tensions !!
For the past four weeks, Egypt's south witnessed several sectarian tensions that evolved into deadly attacks in some cases.
 Most of those unfortunate cases were in Minya governorate. Interestingly , the head of Orthodox Church in Minya, Anba Macrious attended the Thursday meeting with the President.
At least three incidents happened in Minya's rural villages.
The last incident in "Tahna El-Gabl" village started as a fight between a group of young Muslim men "the oldest is 24 years old" and Christian children as the kids did not let the young men's car pass through their narrow street while playing !!
The fight ended deadly when the family of those kids came and a Christian man was killed and three other injured.
Many of the cases that end in sectarian fights and clashes start with trivial issues and end deadly because of the slowness of the security and executives authorities and their insistence to restore to the traditional reconciliation sessions between the elderly of both sides supported by the state, Al-Azhar and the church.

Seen in Cairo : The city from above

The glorious Cairo 

And here is the beautiful wild and glorious forever despite hardships Cairo during the sunset from its famous Cairo tower.
I went to Cairo tower on Monday with two dear friends afternoon where we saw the amazing sunset of Cairo and its night from above.
Unfortunately, I forgot my camera battery and could not get better shots using my mobile phone.
Source: instagram
Here is a timelapse for October bridge in the sunset.

And it is time to remember that coup tonight

And I have nothing this year to write about the anniversary of that original military coup that changed not only Egypt forever but the whole Middle East except that photo.

Hakim, Nasser and Sadat in early 1960s with big grin

Happy fucking 23 July Dear Egyptians.
It is 2016 and we still do not how to achieve the so-called 23 July goals except one to be precise : Having a strong army as the Egyptian armed forces rank as the 12th worldwide according to Global Fire ranking.

The Egyptian Museum of Cairo : Footwear in ancient Egypt in Video

It has been a while since I have posted any posts or photos or videos from my visits to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
Now, I am seizing the opportunity to share very shaky video footage I filmed at the Egyptian Museum when I went there in December.

Stepping through Time: Footwear in Ancient Egypt 

When I went there for the first time, I found out that the Museum was holding a special small exhibit about footwear in Ancient Egypt.

The "Stepping through time: Footwear in Ancient Egypt" exhibit showed how ancient Egyptians regardless of their social status and ranks had known footwear from sandals and shoes for their daily life as well their afterlife.

Yes, closed leather shoes and they looked amazing.

I know that it is not the best video ever and I apologize for the shaky filming in advance. Hope that enjoy and share that shaky Egyptian Chronicles-in-less-than-3-minutes-video-production. 

It is another opportunity as well to share photos from my Egyptian Museum in Cairo photo collection showing ancient footwear just as I have done with King Tutankhamun's extraterrestrial dagger.

Inside the small exhibition that held on the ground floor 

The danger of being a regular citizen now in Egypt !!

"He was tortured and killed like an Egyptian"  Allegedly those were the words of Paola Regeni, the mother of the mother of the 28-years-old Italian political science researcher tortured and killed in Egypt.
I remember this quote which means a lot to me as Egyptian when I read about two particular incidents.
The first one involving the current coach of Al-Masry SC football team in the Egyptian Premier League Hossam Hassan
The former so-called legendary of the Egyptian National team  , who is known for his bad and violent temper made headlines worldwide after attacking a person what thought to be a regular citizen in a football pitch !!
It started on 8 July after the football match between Al-Masry SC and Ghazal Al-Mahalla where it ended in a draw 2-2. After the game and while it was on air, we found Hossam Hassan running behind some photographer who was holding a camera. After knocking him down to the ground , Hassan punched him and then snatched his camera throwing it away.

Seen in Cairo : Waiting for the train

Seen : Inside Cairo's Ramses railway station, the biggest railway station in Egypt while waiting for the train heading to Alexandria
Source : Instagram 

Egyptian Media and Turkey's attempted coup "Updated"

Al-Ahram newspaper's Front page in its second edition for Saturday
"Turkish army ousts Erdogan" 

"The Turkish army ousts  Erdogan" This was State-owned Al-Ahram newspaper's front page's bold red headline in the second edition of Saturday's issue.
"The armed forces controls the country and declares martial laws, Recep Tayib disappeared" Those were the second bold headlines in black.
The first two editions of Egypt's most popular and semi-official newspaper claimed that the coup succeeded despite all news and indications in the media before 11 PM showed that things were not clear and the story was developing and changed per minute. We did not know how big the coup was already.
Updated : It turned out that Al-Ahram newspaper got a history with failed coups, unfortunately.
Here was the issue of Al-Ahram newspaper on 17 August 1972 declaring the Moroccan Republic after General Oufkir's infamous coup which failed actually !!!!!!!!!

Declaring the Republic in Morocco !! 

Almost all Egyptian newspapers followed Al-Ahram newspaper's steps on Saturday and published news reports in their Frontpages about how successful the Turkish coup was !!

Kodak Agfa presents Spring Flowers Show 2016

First of all , I apologize that I am posting this now. It is very belated post as I have should post it in April but then it was one hell of a month.
On the same day I went to the fair in late March , I woke up to find some man hijacked an EgyptAir Flight. 
Still, it is never too late to celebrate Egypt's Spring Flowers show for this year.

At the entrance of the Show this year , a company arranged its flowerbeds like
the Egyptian flag. It replaced the color black with purple flowers   

Last year, Egyptian Chronicles proudly presented Egypt's Spring Flowers show 2015 and this year it continued the tradition and it covered Egypt's longest running annual Flowers Show.
On 19 March 2016, minister of agriculture and Giza governor inaugurated the 81st annual Spring Flowers Show in Giza's El-Orman botanical public garden .

Inside El-Orman botanical public garden

Comparing to Spring Flowers Show 2015 , I think the exhibition in 2016 was bigger for with more colorful flowers and plants.
It also attracted more visitors than last year judging from what I saw at least on the day in the Middle of the day in the middle of the week.
I saw foreigners and Egyptians , families and singles as well couples from all ages.

I did not mean to sneak on that beautiful old couple but they were moving
around with the help of their younger chauffeur buying flowers pots together 

From all backgrounds , they came to enjoy a little breeze and greener view in greater Cairo.

Egyptians from all background were there enjoying a fresh air in the Flowers show 

I saw many Syrians in the Spring Flowers show. I think the Show reminded them with their beautiful country during Spring.

Seen in Cairo : Photos left to remember in Railway station

For some unknown reason to me, people leave their photos in Cairo's Ramses railway station aka Misr station model in its famous hall.
Taken on a hurry in May at Egypt's main station , I keep thinking why people leave their personal photos like that and how it started.
Via Instagram 

Where is Massouny ? A year and 13 days of no answer

On 26 June 2016, a young called a 27-years-old Mostafa Massouny went to buy dinner for him and his friends in Downtown Cairo and never came back since then.
For a year and 13 days , most of the people do not know the fate of that young film editor.

Mostafa Massouny 

For a year and 13 days , each day passes and people fear the worse.
After his disappearance by couple of months , I remember that his family said that they knew from someone that knew someone in Egypt's Homeland security that he was detained for a couple of days and he would be released.
But days became months and months became a year and there is no trace for Mostafa Massouny officially.
In the first anniversary of his disappearance , Massouny's friends revealed that a dead body for an unknown young man in the same height of Massouny appeared in the morgue from several months ago.
That dead body was found in the Nile allegedly tortured according to Massouny's friends who saw it in the morgue. They could not identify his face because of the decomposition and traces of torture as they say.
Massouny's friends are now attacking the family directly and indirectly for not doing the DNA test to calm them down.  Mostafa Massouny's sister, Omayma stated that she saw a picture of the dead body and it was not her brother. She added in a tweet that for that reason, the family decided not to go forward with the DNA test.
Omayma Massouny also said that the dead body of a man who not tortured but drowned.

The North Coast whale and the fact that we have Whales in Egypt !!

First , happy Eid
Second , I will just keep it light here in the blog before returning to serious stuff.
Now aside from the depressing economic as well diplomatic news , the major news catching the attention of Egyptians especially on Social media was about the North Coast's Whale.
Yes, a whale suddenly appeared so close to Egypt's Western North Coast and it became the talk of the town.
It started with a Facebook video uploaded on 5 July by Sherif Aly Dabbous showing what appeared to be a small size whale in one of the lagoons inside the famous upscale Marina resort
The video which was sent to Mr. Dabbous was surreal because you can hear the two men speaking in Arabic as you can hear one of them saying that the people on the other bank of the lagoon were hurling rocks at the poor creature.

I was amazed at first because I did not know that there were whales living in the Mediterranean in the first place. I have always thought that they used to come from the Indian ocean to the Red Sea.
But I was wrong, whales do live in the Mediterranean sea. The fin whale and sperm whale live in the Mediterranean and they are endangered species.
Still , I did not understand what a whale even a small size one will do in shallow waters like in Marina.
On 6 July right after Eid Prayers , Mr. Yasser Said uploaded photos and videos showing the small whale swimming closely near to the beach at "Green beach" resort , which is East of Marina resort. "8 km away from Marina"

Seen in Cairo : Eid Nile Cruise

It is a traditional thing in Cairo and Giza to have a Nile cruise during the Eid in those boats with your family and friends. Taken on 7 July in Giza.
Via : instagram 
More photos and videos for those cheerful Nile cruises after the break

#Ramadan Arabian Nights 2016 : King Rokn El-Zaman's tale "Ep.30"

It is our finale tonight and we will know the fate of King Rokn El-Zaman.
But first , I would like to share this very rare TV interview for late renowned author Abbas Al-Aswani in 1960s along three other renowned figures in Egyptian culture : Poet and cartoonist Salah Jahin , journalist and satirist Mahmoud Saadany as well comedian Mohamed Reda.
The TV host was famous 1960s movie star and journalist Lobna Abdel Aziz who ironically starred decades year in the TV adaption of Alaa Abbas Al-Aswani's best-selling "The Yacoubian building". 


Now we return to our tale, the tale of King Rokn El-Zaman which Abbas Al-Aswani wrote for Egyptian State Radio in the late 1960s.
You can listen after the break to the finale of this Ramadan Radio Arabian tale , which was 789th episode of the famous "One Thousand and One-night show".

#Ramadan Arabian Nights 2016 : King Rokn El-Zaman's tale "Ep.29"

And we are coming too close to the end of our tale this Ramadan , the tale of King Rokn El-Zaman and his family.
Tonight, we will know in the 29th episode of our radio Arabian nights this year what evil vizier Samsem will do after knowing that Salman escaped from jail.
You can hear after the break the 788 episode of the "One Thousand and One Night" Radio showed by the Egyptian State Radio show.

Seen in Cairo : El-Sayida Zeinab Mosque and Shrine

El-Sayida Zeinab Mosque and Shrine in Cairo besides its famous traditional market.
Egyptians believe that Lady Zeinab , Prophet Mohamed "PBUH" granddaughter is buried there.
El-Sayida Zeinab is considered Cairo's Islamic Patron Saint.
Sunni Muslims believe that the Prophet's granddaughter was buried in Cairo while Shiite Muslims believe that she was buried in Damascus.
Via Instagram 

#Ramadan Arabian Nights 2016 : King Rokn El-Zaman's tale "Ep.28"

Prince Hassan and his company reach Farafash's cave hoping that she will return back Shoms once again as a human.
We will know what will happen tonight and what will happen to Shoms in the 28th episode of our tale of this Ramadan , the tale of King Rokn El-Zaman and his family.
We are getting near to the end of our tale this Ramadan for sure, I hope you like it.
Now after the break , you can listen to 787th episode of "One Thousand and One night" Radio show produced by the Egyptian State Radio.

Seen in Cairo : More Lanterns one more time

It is only 48 hours before the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan so it is not late to share one more photo of colorful Egyptian traditional lanterns at El-Sayida Zeinab Market. 
Source : Instagram 

When Egyptian High school students headed to Tahrir square to protest

This photo is The Photo of last week in Egypt, it summarizes and represents the situation in the country perfectly.

Running away from the security "Mohamed Meteab" 

This is the photo of a young Egyptian teenager chased by security forces during the high school students' protest in Cairo against the ministry of education and its minister in Downtown Cairo on Wednesday
The Photo was taken as the security forces were dispersed the protest of the young students who have fed up with the stupid failed educational system.

Captured by photojournalist Mohamed Meteab, the photo is so expressive in so many ways. It is like the police state of Egypt running behind its future who wants a better education as well a better life.
The look in the eyes of the young boy who was being identified and hailed as a hero and the look and the facial expression of the security personnel say it all !!

Tens of students protested in Downtown Cairo for the third time this week against the minister of education and his decision to reschedule the exams of the Egyptian general secondary certificate "Thanwya Amma/High school" demanding the dismissal of education minister El-Hilali Sharbini .

Their protest was dispersed and they were not let near the education ministry. Some of them were arrested and were released later. Some of them are standing a trial. They were mistreated during their arrest and their transfer to detention. 

#Ramadan Arabian Nights 2016 : King Rokn El-Zaman's tale "Ep.27"

Abbas Al-Asawni 

And now Prince Hassan got a plan with Shoms , who is currently trapped in a body of a dear to steal King Solomon's seal from wicked Darkar.
We will know in the 27th episode of our tale this Ramadan , the tale of Rokn El-Zaman tonight if they will do it or not.
But first as we come near to the end of our Ramadan audio Arabian nights 2016 season this year , I would like to share with you another Radio show written by author Abbas Al-Aswani and produced by the Egyptian State Radio in the 1960s : Maqamat Al-Aswania
The Maqamat Al-Aswani or Aswani prosimetra is based upon Al-Aswani's most famous book by the same name.
Now you can listen after the break to the 787th episode of the famous "One thousand and one nights" Radio show written by Abbas Al-Aswani.

Seen in Cairo : Back to Bab El-Ghouri

Once again I am back to Khan El-Khalili and its Bab Al-Ghouri in the heart of Islamic Cairo in Ramadan.
Wait for more photos this year.
You can watch my periscope video from there here. 
Via Instagram. 

#Ramadan Arabian Nights 2016 : King Rokn El-Zaman's tale "Ep.26"

And Omar Shah reached out to Dada and he began not only to connect the dots but also the truth about Safwan.
We will know tonight what Omar Shah will do in the 26th episode of our tale tonight , the tale of king Rokn El-Zaman and his family .
You listen to the 787th episode of the famous "One thousand and one night" Egyptian State Radio show.