Egyptian Arabic

assimilated herself into the city to be relatable to her friends in Cairo by dressing and speaking in a particular way, she never understood why she was doing the things she did. She was acting a part and mimicking, she had not adopted these new customs. This mirrored the experiences of Egypt as a nation under the rule of the British. They had adopted and endorsed the new western ways of doing things but they had never actually fully indoctrinated themselves into doing things that way. They were acting to fit in the same way that Zanuba was acting to fit in. Tawfiq Al-Hakim in Return of the Spirit is proposing that they shed these false personas and return to the Egyptian way of doing things. These changes to the Egyptian population were psychological and could be easily fixed because the original model for Egyptian life still existed within the lives they were living now. Al-Hakim creates this idea when he describes Zanuba and her trip into the ancient parts of Cairo. Having to pass through “ancient alleys” and “old quarters” of the city in order to arrive at their destination, Zanuba gets off the omnibus at Sayyiduna al-Husayn, which in itself is significant because of al-Husayn’s connection with the Islamic faith as well as the prophet Muhammad-and…

While no evidence exists demonstrating that Sinuhe from The Story of Sinuhe is an actual person and while The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant is clearly fiction, both works of Egyptian literature are rooted in some form of historical fact in that they were likely written by Egyptian elite and, therefore, they can give us important insights into Egyptian social life, how Egyptians viewed their society and the greater world, and how different classes in Egypt might have interacted. Namely, both…

I have always had a fascination with Mesopotamia and the cultures that develop in this region of the world. Their ability to cultivate the land and create organized city states, established a stable support system, which allowed for the exchange ideas, culture, laws, religion, and trade. Trading fostered the cross-cultural sharing of their celebrated Gods. However, each Sumerian city state had its own chief protector God. Within the temples, devoted to the city’s divine protector, there have…

In the United States, I found the Metropolitan Museum of Art presentation of the Temple of Dendur as an example of the internalized exhibition of ancient Egyptian culture in a large-scale urban environment. In a similar manner, the Louvre presents large rooms with Egyptian columns and statuary that also depict the replication of Egyptians historical sites within the confines of the museum. This contemporary placement of Egyptian artifacts presents architectural amalgamations in the museum for…

Atum Atum had a very important role in the everyday lives of the ancient Egyptians. For example since they have Atum they can live in Egypt. The ancient Egyptians believed that Atum was the first god. His role was creation and the first sun god. Also at times he was associated with the Ra, the supreme solar god. Adding on Atum created all of the other gods. So, when Atum did this it gave the Egyptians a chance to have other gods to pray for that specialized in certain things. Like, Horus the…

God had given Samson, an Israelite hero, phenomenal strength to protect his people of Nazareth with one condition: to never cut his hair. One night, Samson’s lover, Delilah, had betrayed him by calling a man over to cut Samson’s seven locks, in which the Philistine enemies easily captured and imprisoned Samson, whose power was lost with his hair. Hair, especially facial and body hair, is perceived as a masculine trait that signifies dominance and maturity. As the industry of modern sanitation…

In The Committee by Sun’Allah Ibrahim, the open-door policy has resulted in an economic and social dependency on the Western world as Egyptians pride themselves in using American and European commodities and global ideals they believe will enrich and improve their lives and country; however, in reality these are detrimental to their society. Through the diversification of Western commodities into Egypt, Egyptians lose their self-sufficiency and nationalist values, allowing the Western world to…

Summer was one on the civilizations in the southern Mesopotamia. They were pretty civilized for people that existed thousands of years Before Crist. They had constructions that will protect them from nature. In their case they lived in the desert so they had construction with low doors and small windows. This would protect them from the dust and will keep the interiors cool. People slept on the roof because they were cooler than inside their house. Merchants will try to do business in the early…

Egypt Question 1: Describe some significant aspects of this country's culture. (Food, language, religion, customs) Egyptian culture is a vast and extensive things. Culture is the food, language, religion and customs. Egyptian food consist of; bread, corn, barley, rice, couscous, beans, fruits, and beef, lamb, or rabbit. Their language is French Arabic. Egyptians are mostly Sunni Muslim. Customs of Egypt include; handshakes, Giving gifts to the hostess of your dinner not salting your foods.…

“Egyptian Concepts on the Orientation of the Human Body” Maarten J. Raven The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology Vol. 91, (2005), pp. 37-53 Maarten Raven article on the Egyptian Concepts on the Orientation of the Human Body is a well written and well argued article that does not relate to postmodernism, also it is a very broad concept on how the Egyptian thought about the human body. Marteen’s thesis is that the four magical bricks of cosmological principles that he underlined in the article,…