Egypt's Generation Gap

Egypt has had many generations gaps due to the the fundamentals and beliefs of who ever is in charge. An article posted in Al-Ahram pleads "If one wishes to assess the achievements of various generations of Egyptians, one has to differentiate between the achievements of leaders and those of the nation. One has to assess not only the policies, but the end result. The history of contemporary Egypt, since the 1952 Revolution, can be divided into two parts. The first covers the 1950s and 1960s, a generation that saved the country's wealth. The second part covers the 1970s and 1980s, a generation that squandered the country's wealth...... We now have a generation that has forgotten how to fight foreign pacts. Instead, it prefers to stay on the good side of the Americans and Israelis. The result is that the Arab world has never been more vulnerable than it is today, when imperialism and Zionism threaten to shape the present of the region, and its future."

"Al-Ahram Weekly | Opinion | In Focus: The generation gap." Al-Ahram Weekly | Front Page. Web. 9 Jan. 2012. <http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/828/op33.htm>

Recent News in Egypt

Currently, there is a lot going on in the news in Egypt. Because it is one of the most populous countries in the Arab world, and there haev been many protests over the past year discussing the parlimentary elections, there is a bit of chaos that has been underway. Since January of 2011 there have been many protests as well as not much support from their military or the U.S once their president, Mr. Mubarak, resigned. The Muslim Brotherhood Freedom believed that it was expected that the Parliament needs to be in control of who become the prime minister of the interim government. Although the military rulers want to make sure that there isnt a takeover Islamicist. There were many deaths in November as thousands of angry protestors appeared in Cairo at Tahrir Square. In December 2011, there were a couple hundred judges who wanted to quit after all the violence happening, such as the demonstrators getting attacked and beaten by the military police.

Recently, this new year 2012, prosecutors have asked a court to give the former president, Mr. Mubarak a very harsh penalty for everything that has happened recently in Egypt. The Obama administration is looking better in the eyes of Egypt because of the strength of the Muslim Brotherhood in the elections of the parliament. Egypt is becoming more trusting of the Obama administration. As of January 5th, because theres no proof of the authenticity of the allegations from the former president, the United States is willing to tolerate more action because of it.




"Egypt News - Revolution and Aftermath - The New York Times." Times Topics - The New York Times. 8 Jan. 2012. Web. 8 Jan. 2012. <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/egypt/index.html>

Traditional Egyptian Music and Dance

Music is very big in Egypt, every festivity, party, wedding, or celebration has vibrant music and dancing. In the Anceint period, the Egyptians tended to use a large variety of instruments, and the scale of the music was based on tones of five with no halftones. They used symbols, clappers, bells, tambourines, drums, flutes, trumpets, the harp and many more. Dancing was a very important custom in Egypt during celebrations and a ritual during weddings. Although Egyptians werent known to dance around in public if it wasnt for an event. Dancing was for both social and religious importance.

Here is a link to a short youtube video, in which an Arab man is dancing and twirling around for a few minutes with swords and other objects. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfAl8jEJ1hk&feature=related>

Another video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6uS5a5u954 was from an Egyptian wedding that was held in Los Angeles, California were a belly dancer performed in the middle of the dance floor at the wedding reception.

The Wedding of Leila and Ahmed was a beautiful video to watch. It was an Egyptian wedding held in Jew Jersey. At the wedding reception there was Hisham Barakat and his band that led the bride and groom down the stairs on to the dance floor, playing their instruments. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4Oy4orPFmg

"Music and Dance in Egypt, Music and Dance of Egypt, Egyptian Music and Dance, Ancient Egypt Music and Dance." Cheap Hotels & Accommodation at AsiaRooms, the Last Minute Hotel reservations booking experts. Web. 6 Jan. 2012.
<http://www.asiarooms.com/en/travel-guide/egypt/culture-of-egypt/music-and-dance-in-egypt.html>

" Egyptian Wedding in Los Angeles - YouTube ." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. . N.p., 20 Oct. 2010. Web. 6 Jan. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6uS5a5u954>.

" Arab Wedding Leila & Ahmed Part 1 - YouTube ." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. . N.p., 12 June 2011. Web. 6 Jan. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4Oy4orPFmg>.

Literary Art in Egypt

The Art in the earliest times in Egypt consisted of drawings that were engraved on the cliffs, which was very different than the huge pyramids and temples that were built later on. These engravings were in Upper Egypt and Nubia near the Nile Valley. Some of the drawings consisted of hunting scenes while other depicted other fundamentals of their lives in the Neolithic period, such as herds of cattle and boats on rivers. There were some paintings on pottery during the Predynatic period to display and reflect preoccupations and different styles. There are many unique forms of literary art in Egypt that can be found on this website: <http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/artoverview.htm>

Ancient Egyptians made their own unique monuments and designed them to represent their religious beliefs. These cut statues would represent meaningful aspects of their religion that were important to their cult as well. Some were images of the dead portraying that they will survive in their next world.

The Egyptian art that is normally seen in museums or books pertain to modern aesthetic interests. Most of the Egyptian society's work was due to conformity and not individualistic portrayals.

All of the beautiful and unique forms of their literary art that I have come across, I have not been able to insert the photos taken of the art, but there are many that can be seen on: <http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17321/17321-h/v1a.htm> They are definitely worth looking at to compare the earliest finding of their art to the most modern.

Dunn, Jimmy. "Egypt: An Introduction to Egyptian Art 2." Egypt Travel Guide - Tour Egypt. Web. 4 Jan. 2012.

<http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/artoverview.htm>

KING, L. W., and H. R. HALL. " Maspero's History of Egypt, Volume 13a by L. W. King and H. R. Hall ."Project Gutenberg. Web. 4 Jan. 2012. <http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17321/17321-h/v1a.htm>

A few of the Seven Wonders of Egypt

There were many artistic wonders and archeological sites in Egypt. The ancient civilization is what Egypt is most known for and some of the most famous sights and monuments in the world have been in Egypt. One of the sights to see is the Great Pyramid of Giza, located in Giza Egypt. This pyramid is one of the largest out of three, and this one is the oldest. This was built around 2560 BC over a twenty year period of time.

Abu Simbel is also another one of the Seven Wonder of Egypt and is an archaeological site made of two enormous rock temples. This is located in the Southwest of Aswan in Egypt and was also built over about a twenty-year span in the 13^th century. Of all the temples of this time when the Pharaoh Ramesses II reigned, this was considered the most beautiful.

The Saqqara is located South of Cairo in Egypt and is a huge burial ground which has the largest step pyramid in the world. Imhotep for King Djoser was the designer of this pyramid at Saqqara and this served as the cemetery during Ancient Egypt even for Memphis, the capital at the time.

Sunita. "Sacred Rock-Cut Temple - "Abu Simbel" ." Blogger Base. Web. 3 Jan. 2012. <http://www.bloggersbase.com/travel/sacred-rock-cut-temple-abu-simbel/>

"Cobra Figures and the Step Pyramid Saqqara Egypt picture, Cobra Figures and the Step Pyramid Saqqara Egypt photo, Cobra Figures and the Step Pyramid Saqqara Egypt wallpaper."City Pictures, City Photos, City Wallpapers. Web. 3 Jan. 2012.<http://www.citypictures.org/r-africa-143-egypt-216-cobra-figures-and-the-step-pyramid-saqqara-egypt-2413.htm>

"Seven Wonders of Egypt." The Travel Channel. Web. 3 Jan. 2012. <http://www.travelchannel.com/interests/seven-wonders-of-the-world/articles/seven-wonders-of-egypt>