Days at the Egyptian Museum of Cairo: Hapi of the Nile Flood

Today, Egypt is officially celebrating Wafaa al-Nil or the Nile Loyalty Festival.

If you think this is a newly invented holiday, think again. Wafaa al-Nil is one of the oldest festivals still celebrated in Egypt today, alongside Sham El-Nassim. In fact, it is among the country’s most ancient traditions—dating back over 7,000 years.

Hapi and the River Nile generated by Sora 

The ancient Egyptians linked the festival to the annual inundation of the Nile, which typically began in mid-July and peaked between mid-August and early September. 

The date most often associated with it is August 15, when the floodwaters became clearly visible in Memphis (and later Cairo). The exact timing, however, depended on rainfall in Ethiopia.

Historical evidence traces the festival back as far as the Old Kingdom (c. 2686–2181 BCE), with inscriptions and temple reliefs depicting rituals dedicated to Hapi, the god of the Nile’s flood.

On this occasion, I’m sharing a couple of photos of Hapi from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Alexandria Storm: Unusual Weather for This Time of Year "Updated"

For the record, the Egyptian Meteorological Authority did warn of rain on the Western North Coast — but it did not mention that it would be a full-blown thunderstorm capable of paralyzing a city preparing for summer.

A thunderstorm did indeed strike Alexandria and Matrouh, but its impact on Alexandria was especially severe, with the city appearing to be overflooded once again.

According to many Alexandrians commenting online, this was an unprecedented storm — unlike anything they had seen in decades, not even during the winter.

Alexandrians tend to have their own informal calendar for storms, and it seems that tonight’s event doesn’t correspond to any known seasonal patterns.

Ramadan Arabian Nights 2025: The Tale of Fatima, Halima and Karima “Prince Karwan” EP.23

Ramadan Karim

But first, it is our time for a little chit-chat.

Tonight, we are introduced to a new character, as you may have guessed from the title of our night, “Prince Karwan”

In Classical Arabic, Karwan or الكروان typically refers to a curlew, which is a type of wading bird known for its long, curved bill and distinctive, melancholic call.

A curlew or a Karwan

However, in Egyptian Arabic, especially in literature and songs, Karwan is often used more poetically to refer to a nightingale or a songbird—a bird with a beautiful voice.

Curlews live in Egypt, mostly as migratory birds. Thanks to its location along the East Africa–West Asia Flyway, Egypt serves as an important stopover and wintering site for many migratory species, including curlews. While they are not permanent residents, curlews are regular visitors during the autumn and spring migration seasons.

Thanks to its location along the East Africa–West Asia Flyway, Egypt serves as an important stopover and wintering site for many migratory species, including curlews. While they are not permanent residents, curlews are regular visitors during the autumn and spring migration seasons.

While not extremely common, nightingales can be found in Egypt’s gardens, groves, and along the Nile, particularly during migration seasons or in more temperate, vegetated areas.

Egypt is also home to a diverse array of songbirds, both native and migratory, thanks to its strategic location on major migratory routes and its varied habitats.

Now we will stop talking about birds and let’s continue our tale.

And without further delay, here is the 695th episode of our Arabian Nights Egyptian radio show—or the 23rd night in this year’s tale, The Tale of Fatima, Halima, and Karima.

Kodak Agfa Presents : Egypt’s Spring Flowers Show 2024 “91st edition”

Another belated post. How can you post a post about flowers show when there are ongoing genocides whether in Gaza or Sudan, especially Gaza.

Again, I was waiting for a truce, so I can’t post this, but it seems there is no hope.

A truck full of flowers and plants of every type you can imagine 

Also, I went to the Autumn Flowers Show 2024. “Yeah, it turned out that Egypt got one,” and I must share the Spring flowers before I go for the Autumn flowers.

The Spring Flowers Show 2024 was delayed nearly four times as I have read.

It was not inaugurated by the Minister of Agriculture as the custom for unknown reasons.

Into one of the partitions in the show

It was not held at its original time on 21 March because it was during Ramadan at that time.

I can’t find a reason why because actually it was used to be held in Ramadan and even with activities after the Iftar.

The show kicked off on 19 May till the last day of Eid Al-Adha which was on 19 June.

Kodak Agfa Presents: August’s Super blue Moon

Kodak Agfa is back with a supermoon photo.

It is super blue moon but I could not make it blue because it is blue per se

It is August’s Super Blue Moon that the world witnessed on Monday.

What is the Super Blue Moon? “Chat-GPT answer”

A superblue moon is a rare astronomical event that occurs when two unusual lunar phenomena align: a supermoon and a blue moon.

A supermoon happens when the full moon coincides with its closest approach to Earth in its elliptical orbit, making the moon appear larger and brighter in the night sky.

A blue moon refers to the second full moon in a single calendar month, an occurrence that is infrequent due to the lunar cycle being about 29.5 days long.

When these two events occur together, it's called a super blue moon—a striking sight that captures the imagination, as it combines the rarity of a blue moon with the enhanced visual impact of a supermoon.

At the same time the Super Blue Moon was covering the skies and photographers around the globe, the ongoing genocide in Gaza did stop at night. More children and civilians were killed.

The Palestinians in Gaza did not have the time to enjoy looking to the moon despite most of them being technically without a proper roof.

The ceasefire agreement seemed to be like a “blue moon” as we are hearing reports that Donald Trump asking Netanyahu to reject and sabotage technically any ceasefire deal or any deal by Biden/Harris administration, so the Democrats won’t achieve a bonus.

But at the same time here we are having a blue moon, there is still a hope.

Watch this: Long Live us and Long Live Palestine in video

In the wake of the 2023 Gaza War, a surge of Arab and Palestinian artists took to the internet to express their solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza through their art. This outpouring of creative expression is not a new phenomenon for the Arab world.

Long Live Us and Long Live Palestine "Omar Rammal"

On the contrary, Palestine and the Palestinian resistance have long been a source of inspiration for artworks across various mediums, including painting, literature, poetry, cinema, and music.

This time arts found a bigger and quicker platform online. I wanted to share samples of those artworks. After all, it is important to share with the world what we say because it seems that the world does not see us as humans. 

Please watch this short film by Palestinian director Omar Rammal. It went viral on social media across the Arab world in the past few days.

It is called “Long Live Us, Long Live Palestine.”
And yes, there are whole younger generations of Palestinians that won’t forget nor forgive.

Pray for Libya: Storm Daniel Strikes Derna, Killing Thousands

Libya Needs Our Prayers, Thoughts, and Aid

Storm Daniel hit the eastern parts of Libya on Sunday, bringing heavy rains and flooding. The results were horrifying.

The heaviest rainfall occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning, with some areas receiving up to 250 mm (10 inches) of rain in just a few hours. There were two dams protecting the city. The two dams were the Wadi Derna Dam and the Al-Gharbi Dam. 

Both dams collapsed as a result of the heavy rains and flooding caused by Storm Daniel Medicane. The collapse of the dams released a massive amount of water into the city, which caused widespread damage and loss of life.

The Wadi Derna Dam is located on the Wadi Derna River, which is a major waterway that runs through the city. The dam was built in the 1970s to control flooding and provide water for irrigation. The Al-Gharbi Dam is located on the Al-Gharbi River, which is a smaller river that flows through the city. The dam was built in the 1980s to provide water for drinking and industrial use.

Both of them could not stand against the heavy rain that turned into floods. The floodwaters swept away homes, businesses, and vehicles.

The storm also caused mudslides, which further damaged infrastructure and made it difficult for rescue workers to reach affected areas. There are rescue workers who died while saving the people.

The power grid was knocked out in many areas, leaving people without electricity. The water supply was also disrupted, making it difficult for people to get clean water.

At first, it was reported that 150 people had been killed. By Monday afternoon, that number had jumped to 2,000 in the city of Derna alone. The Libyan government says that over 5,000 people are still missing.

Derna survived ISIS and civil war but did not survive Storm Daniel 

The death toll in Derna is higher than the number of victims of the recent earthquake in Morocco. That earthquake, which was the worst in over a century, killed over 2,800 people nationwide according to the latest official numbers on Monday

In Derna, whole neighbourhoods have been wiped out by the floods. One Libyan official called it the worst natural disaster to hit the country since 1963.

How Can We help Morocco Now after the deadly quake ?

Morocco was hit with a deadly 6.8 degrees earthquake on Friday killing in a few moments 2000 according to the latest death toll officially released by Moroccan State TV.

According to scientists, it is the worst earthquake the North African country has seen in 120 years. Yes, it is worse than the deadly 5.8 degrees Agadir earthquake in 1960. One only can pray that the number of victims would be less “inshallah it will be less” than in 1960.

In the High Atlas Mountain range earlier on Saturday
after the earthquake by Mosaab El-Shamy for AP

The quake struck Morocco on Friday, September 8, 2023, at 11:11 p.m. local time (18:11 UTC). The epicentre was located in the Moroccan High Atlas Mountain range, about 72 kilometres (45 miles) southwest of Marrakech.

Kodak Agfa Presents : Once in a super blue moon "Updated"

Kodak Agfa is back to photograph the space and whatever appears in our skies, especially on our long summer nights.

Updated on Wednesday: 

Here are a couple of photos from Wednesday night as the Super Blue Moon reached its peak.

A full Super Blue Moon

Super blue moons occur on average every 19 years. The last super blue moon occurred on August 31, 2023, and the next one will occur on May 20, 2026, inshallah.

A full Super Blue Moon

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Earth is having one big Super Blue Moon lightening its night and it is not to be missed

A super blue moon is a special event in the night sky that happens when the moon looks bigger and brighter than usual. As you may have known already if you are a regular friend of Egyptian Chronicles, Supermoons are called "super" because the moon is closer to Earth, making it appear larger.

Kodak Agfa presents The Shot : A peacock in full action

It is not every day you can see a peacock; thus, I could not waste the opportunity to see that magnificent up and close.

As you have known from my post and quick camera tour at the Spring Flowers Fair 2023, there was a peacock and its female partner on display.

A peacock or Indian peafowl displaying his tail in action 

It was the first time for me to see a peacock in person alive in its magnificent glory. I have not seen a peacock alive at the Giza Zoo during my visits to the famous landmark currently in danger.

I have seen one taxidermized at Giza Zoo’s Zoological Museum.

A taxidermized Indian Peafowl at Giza Zoo's Zoological Museum 

The label read its official name in Arabic and English: Indian Peafowl.

Yes, its official name is Indian peafowl because that species originated originally from the Indian subcontinent specifically in modern-day India and Sri Lanka.

I am not embarrassed to admit that I did not know this fact.

Kodak Agfa presents: Egypt’s Spring Flowers Fair 2023 at the Agricultural Museum

Usually, the Ministry of Agriculture holds the annual Spring Flowers Fair from March to April. However, this year, the fair was neither held on time nor in its usual location.

To the surprise, or rather shock, of its regular visitors, the Ministry of Agriculture announced that the Orman Botanical Garden would be closed for renovations right after the Ramadan supplies exhibit in March.

The closure of the Orman Botanical Garden for a major renovation operation has raised concerns among many, including myself.

This renovation also includes the oldest Zoo in Africa and the Middle East, the Giza Zoo. According to reports in the Egyptian media, the renovation process, which is led by the Military Production Ministry and a consortium of foreign companies, is expected to take a year and a half.

This situation is so alarming that it has left me feeling depressed to even speak about it. According to Al-Shorouk Newspaper, both the Orman Botanical Garden and the Giza Zoo will remain open until July 9th before they are closed for renovations to become "One Grand Zoo."

The government cannot close the Giza Zoo during Eid because it is the main attraction for Egyptians during the Eid Adha holiday, and thousands of people from all over the country visit it during this time.

I, along with others who fear losing the zoo as we know it, visited it in the winter. The zoo holds a special place in the hearts of all Egyptians with its classical historical look.

I was hoping to visit Orman Garden during the Spring Flowers Fair, but for the first time in decades, the fair was not held there.

Initially, I believed the fair had been cancelled due to ongoing renovation works and the economic crisis, which had affected imports in Egypt. However, I was mistaken.

It turned out that the fair was indeed held but in a different location.

The 90th Spring Flowers Fair took place at the Agricultural Museum in Giza from May 27th to June 27th, running from 9 AM to 9 PM. The video tour of the fair is at bottom of this post, so yes you must read it to the end. 👼

The Spring Flowers Fair 2023 was held at Egypt's Agricultural Museum in Giza 

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the 90th edition of Egypt's longest-running fair saw the participation of over two hundred exhibitors.

The fair displayed more than 1,000 types of plants, including flowers and fruit trees.

Jasmine tree sold at a partition inside Egypt's Spring Flowers Fair 2023

One would expect the Ministry of Agriculture or the government to have promoted the fair more, especially considering it was the 90th edition.

A belated Khamsin storm to remember in Egypt

Thursday afternoon Egypt was on a date with one of those Sandstorms that remind Egyptians that there is something called Khamsin storms Egypt is famous for in spring.

I was in the street, and I saw firsthand the results of removing trees. In a couple of hours, we had in Great Cairo extremely hot weather, rain, and sandstorm.

What I saw firsthand Thursday afternoon, minutes earlier it was raining 

We saw great Cairo under the ‘Mexican filter’ afternoon as some like to call it online.

We paid the price of removing hundreds if not thousands of trees across the country for real today. It has been ages since we saw a similar storm.

I believe the officials especially in the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture know that but fear to say it in public.

We need a green belt around Greater Cairo today before tomorrow. We need to regrow trees again.

This is a typical and original Khamsin Egypt is famous for, but it is a very belated Khamsin. Khamsin storms usually do not happen on 1^st June or June at all. Summer should start after 20 days officially.

Ramadan Arabian Nights 2023: Tale of Mando “Mando at the Greater Bear’s court” #EP24

Ramadan Karim😀

The Greater Bear, also known as Ursa Major or "El-Dobb El-Akbar" in Arabic, is a well-known constellation that has been recognized by ancient civilizations, including the Egyptian, Babylonian, and Assyrian.

This constellation, which is the third largest in the sky, was depicted by the ancient Egyptians as a large bull plowing the earth led by a Nile crocodile.

The Greater Bear had significant religious and agricultural symbolism in the lives of ancient Predynastic and Dynastic Egyptians, who believed that the four sons of Horus resided in Ursa Major.

Interestingly, Arab astronomers named this constellation "El-Dobb El-Akbar" due to its resemblance to a bear, which highlights the cultural influence of this constellation on Islamic civilization. The Greater Bear was also included in Arab Muslim astronomer Mohamed Ibn Hilal's famous brass celestial globe.

In the meantime, let's revisit El-Anwar planet with our Mando.

From Nile Floods to Ramadan Celebrations: Exploring the History of Cairo's El-Sadd El-Barani Street

If you are a veteran Egyptian Chronicles blog reader who has not got bored of my rants, you will know that in Ramadan I got some traditions like fewer politics, more of 1001 posts and the usual as well as annual trip to the Ramadan lanterns market at Cairo’s El-Seyada Zeinab.

It is an annual tradition which I love, and I hope that insh Allah I continue doing it.

Now there has been something that puzzled me concerning that market. It was one question that I have not yet had a definite answer to.

When or how did the Ramadan market start in El-Sadd El-Barani Street!?

My online research led me to the history behind El-Sadd El-Barani Street and that is what I share in the video below.

While ranting about what I discovered, you can see how packed the Ramadan lanterns market was despite the economic crisis. I filmed this on 15 March. 

I believe that people especially from the working and middle classes want to celebrate Holy Month and its traditions despite the truly hard economic conditions.

The Ramadan Market at El-Sadd El-Barani street 

Historically and officially, the name "El-Sadd El-Barani Street" first appeared in modern Egyptian official records in 1898 when the Cairo Municipal authorities decided to backfill the "Egyptian Gulf".

 This gulf was an artificial water canal utilized to link the Nile River with a lake that served as a means of preserving the Nile flood's excess.

Kodak Agfa Presents : Egypt’s Fossil and Climate Change Museum in Fayoum’s Wadi El-Hitan Protectorate in 2017 (#EP4: A Desert to remember)

We are back in the fourth post of our series about Egypt’s Wadi El-Hitan Climate Change Museum in Fayoum.

In February 2017, I paid a visit to Wadi El-Hitan or the Whale valley in a quick visit to the beautiful Fayoum governorate.

In the first post of this series, we shared the history of Egypt’s fossilized Jurassic Park as well as part of its indoor museum. In the second post, we continued our visit to the very rich indoor museum in the valley. In the third post, we saw part of the very interesting outdoor museum in the desert.

In this part, I am focusing on the outdoor museum’s interior or rather exterior aka the desert where the outdoor museum is located aka the amazing and breathtaking Wadi El-Hitan as well as the way back to Wadi El-Rayan.

Inside Wadi El-Hitan Protectorate 

Aside from the priceless exhibits from millions of years ago, this place is like a haven for those who love desert nature and photography for real.

Formations that were once part of a big continental ocean millions of years ago 

The formations that were once part of the prehistoric ocean bed make you feel small.

Kodak Agfa Presents : Egypt’s Fossil and Climate Change Museum in Fayoum’s Wadi El-Hitan Protectorate in 2017 (#EP3: When the desert turns into a museum)

We are back in the third post of our series about Egypt’s Wadi El-Hitan Climate Change Museum in Fayoum.

In 2017, I paid a visit to Wadi El-Hitan or the Whale valley in a quick visit to the beautiful Fayoum governorate. In the first post of this series, we shared the history of Egypt’s fossilized Jurassic Park as well as part of its indoor museum.

In the second post, we continued our visit to the very rich indoor museum in the valley.

Now we continue our trip in this post to the UNESCO World Heritage Site but this time we visit the outdoor museum.

Inside Wadi El-Hitan Protectorate in Fayoum's desert 

When you finish visiting the indoor museum, you go outside carrying your backpack or whatever but you must have a bottle of water to keep you hydrated and must wear your best hiking shoes because you will have one hell of a hike in the middle of the desert.

You will see why. 

Inside Wadi El-Hitan Protectorate in Fayoum's desert 

Head for the trail in front of you and just imagine that this was a huge ocean bed from millions of years ago.

The road to the outdoor museum and its exhibits from fossils 

The trail takes you up to a hill and seriously it is one of the best hikes I have ever taken so far.

Post COP27: Minimum levels of wins for everybody

The 27^th United Nations Conference on Climate Change “COP27” concluded on Sunday after two dramatic weeks with a statement that included a minimum level of wins for everybody and a huge concern for future COPs as fossil fuels companies are gaining more power and power.

The COP27 logo inside the conference in Sharm El-Sheikh "Bloomberg"

The biggest achievement we have is the victory of the island nations and developing countries in establishing a loss and damage fund.

Yes, it will take years to have this fund operating for real but we all saw the battle those nations had to fight in Sharm El-Sheikh.

Another interesting achievement was recognizing the food problem aka “safeguarding food security and ending hunger”. 

keeping the limit of global warming to 1.5 C as it was another achievement.

Kodak Agfa Presents: The Blood Moon of Cairo

It is another belated, truly belated post. But once again it is not late to celebrate 2022’s last blood moon lunar eclipse.

Earlier this month, exactly on 8 November Earth had a lunar eclipse that many countries witnessed.

We were among the countries that witnessed

It was the first time I witnessed a blood moon in the mid of the buzzing Downtown Cairo.

I could not take more photos because I did not have my tripod where I was standing.

Remembering Professor Hamed Gohar: A long belated respect for an Egyptian and Arab scientist

Google celebrated in the Arab world celebrated on Tuesday the 115^th of Egypt and the Arab’s founding father of oceanography Dr Hamed Gohar with a cute and geeky doodle.

Dr Hamed Gohar featured on 15 November's Google Doodle in the Arab World 

Thanks to Google, many Arab newspapers from the Gulf to the Ocean ran small news reports about who that Egyptian scientist was and how he was the first in his field in the region as well as he tried to spread his knowledge to the public audience through his famous nearly two-decades-long “Sea World” on Channel Two on Egypt’s State-owned TV.

One week of COP27: Important numbers in the World Climate Coachella’s first week

One week has passed after the launch of the meetings of the 27^th session of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change “COP27” in Sharm El-Sheikh under Egypt’s presidency and there are significant numbers that were shared in those seven days.

The most important and alarming number of all is the annual global carbon dioxide (CO2) emission from fossil fuels and cement in 2022.

COP27 gate in Sharm El-Sheikh "AFP"

According to the Global Carbon Project’s “Global carbon budget 2022”, global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels are projected to hit an all-time high in 2022.

The Global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and cement have increased by 1.0% in 2022 and the new estimates suggest, hitting a new record high of 36.6 billion tonnes of CO2.

The report attributes the increase in fossil emissions in 2022 to be primarily driven by a substantial increase in oil emissions as global travel continues to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. Well, one look at Sharm El-Sheikh airport and we can see why.

The Coal and gas emissions grew more slowly despite both having record emissions in 2022 from what I understood. You can read more in that report at the World Economic Forum.

It amazes me how this report is not front and centre in the discussions of COP27.