# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
امتحان انجليزى وفرنساوي  مفاجئ للناس.English and French test for Egyptians

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Our Mohamed Salah Biography provides you with full coverage of his Childhood Story, Early Life, Parents, Family, Wife, Children, Lifestyle and Personal Life.

Simply put, this version of Mohamed Salah's Life Story gives an analysis of all notable events right from his childhood days to when he became famous.

Yes, everyone knows the forward is often regarded as one of the Best African players of his Generation.

However, only a few fans have read Mohamed Salah's Biography, which gives a complete picture of little known happenings in his life. Without further ado, let's begin.

Mohamed Salah Childhood Story:

To start with, Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly was born on the 15th day of June 1992 at the village of Nagrig in Basyoun, Egypt. He was born to a little known mother and to his father - Salah Ghaly.

Young Salah grew up at his birth village Nagrig alongside his brother Nasr Salah. In fact, Salah is widely known as "the son of Nagrig" and he is the only notable resident of the village at the time of writing.

Growing up years:

Growing up in Nagrig, young Salah was 7 years old when he fell in love with football. It was a sport that he did play with his brother.

In addition, Young Salah was big on watching Champions League games at the time and had legends like Brazilian Ronaldo, and as his childhood idols.

Family background:

It is worthwhile to note that Salah and his brother were not the only football lovers in their family. Their father Salah Ghaly and two uncles had a history playing the sport at the youth club of Nagrig village.

Mohamed Salah Early Life in Football - The Full Story:

Unlike his dad and uncles, Salah didn't settle for just the recreational side of football. He knew playing football was an enjoyable activity that he could transform into a rewarding career.

Thus, he became serious with participating in football games for local club Ittihad Basyoun, had a stint with Othmason Tanta (a club outside Basyoun) and went on to begin a professional career football buildup with El Mokawloon (El Arab Contractors).

Early Years in Professional Football:

Do you know that Salah was only 14 years of age when he began his professional career buildup with El Mokawloon? As such, he was made to play for the clubs under 15 side where his talent was evident.

In fact, one of El Mokawloon's coaches at the time - Said el-Shishini had these to say about young Salah's remarkable talents:

"He had the rare ability to torment opposition team defences by taking the ball from the middle of the field right up to the penalty area."

Mohamed Salah Biography - Road To Fame Story:

The youngster rose through the ranks of El Mokawloon in the ensuing years such that he was able to secure an international deal that took him off the shores of Africa to play in Switzerland for the Swiss side - Basel.

It was at Basel that Salah's performances caught the attention of the English side - Chelsea F.C which he lent his signature to in 2014. He made a number of appearances for the club which sent him on loan to Fiorentina and later Roma.

Mohamed Salah Biography - Rise To Fame Story:

The then winger did well to prove his worth at Roma by leading them to a second-place finish in Serie A in his first season.

What's more? he was the league's top scorer for the 2015/2016 season. Despite signing a long-term deal with 'Roma,' Salah couldn't resist an offer by 'Liverpool' in 2017.

The Reds made him transform from a natural winger to a forward. He had no challenges with the transformation and won many awards including the Premier League Golden Boot for the 2017/2018 season.

In the following season, Salah led Liverpool to win the 2019 UEFA Champions League. Fast forward to May 2020, Salah has high hopes of lifting the Premier League title with Liverpool.

Whichever way things go, the rest as they say would always be history.

Mohamed Salah Biography - Wife and Children:

Who is Mohamed Salah's wife and how many kids does he have? to start with the first question, Mohamed Salah's wife is no other person than Magi Sadeq.

The couples went to the same elementary and junior high school where they first met. They began dating years later and were married in 2013.

It is worthwhile to note that Mohamed Salah's wife has a twin sister. She holds a bachelor degree from the Faculty of Commerce in Alexandria and has borne two daughters for the amazing forward. They include Makka (born 2014) and Kayan (born 2020).

It is only a matter of time before Mohamed Salah's wife gives him a son who he would predictably mentor in football.

Mohamed Salah Family Life:

Asides Magi Sadeq, Mohamed Salah's family have partly been the invincible force that propels him to be successful.

There is practically no way we could put up this article on Mohamed Salah's childhood Story + biography without crediting his family when and where due.

We bring you facts about Mohamed Salah's parents and other members of his supportive family.

About Mohamed Salah's father:

Salah Ghaly is Mohamed Salah's father. He has interest in football and has been working behind the scenes to ensure that Salah has a successful football career.

Little wonder the forward never shy's from crediting his dad for helping him become a superstar.

According to Salah, it was Ghaly that did constantly instruct him on the importance of making sacrifices even as a kid as he had to travel for 4 hours to training.

About Mohamed Salah mother:

Not much is known about the mother of the super forward. Notwithstanding, she has once made headlines for calling out her son when he hugged a woman.

The development didn't go well with Salah's mom who believes he had unknowingly hurt his wife's feelings by hugging the fan.

Indeed, Mohamed Salah's parents are the perfect model of morals-promoting mom & dad. Arent they?

About Moammed Salah siblings:

The winger has a younger brother who goes by the name Nasr salah. They did both enjoy playing football together as kids but it was only Salah that made it to professional football.

A close study of the photo below would convince you that the siblings are evidently close pals, a development which speaks volumes of the role which Mohamed Salah's parents played in ensuring that love abounds within the family.

About Moammed Salah relatives:

About Mohamed Salah's relatives: Moving on to Mohamed Salah's parents and siblings, there isn't much known about his ancestry and family roots, particularly as it relates to his grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins.

Neither are there records of his nieces and nephews. Notwithstanding, we do know that his inlaws are Mohab, Mahy and Miram (Magi Sadeq sisters).

Mohamed Salah Personal Life:

Who is Mohamed Salah outside football and what is the nature of his character beyond being the nightmare of defenders? Sit back as we bring you facts about the winger's persona.

To start with, Salah exhibits traits of individuals who were born under the Gemini Zodiac sign. He is analytical, confident, emotionally in tune with his wife and daughter, imaginative, generous and open to revealing details about his personal and private life.

It is true that his life doesn't revolve just around football. In fact, when he is off-pitch he does engage some activities that count as his hobbies and interests.

They include watching movies, playing table tennis, enjoying video games and spending a good time with his family and friends. Not to forget, swimming is one of Salah's favourite hobbies.

Mohamed Salah Lifestyle:

This lengthy but engaging piece of write-up on Mohamed Salah's Biography would not be complete if we fail to give facts about how he makes and spend his money.

To start with he is worth over 15 Million euros as of May 2020. The bulk of Salah's wealth stems forth from the wages and salaries he receives for being an amazing player.

In addition, Salah does earn a great deal from endorsements. Thus, it is not surprising that he has a super expensive house in Egypt and lives in expensive apartments in Europe. What's more, When Salah rides, he rides big.

He has a fleet of amazing fast cars that include a Mercedes among other amazing rides.

Mohamed Salah Facts:

To wrap up Mohamed Salah's Biography and Childhood Story, here are little known or untold facts about the forward.

Fact #1- Body Double:

Do you know that Mohamed Salah has a convincing look-alike in Egypt? The resemblance is so tight that the look-alike - who goes by the name Ahmed Bahaa - can even impersonate the forward both on and off-pitch.

Salah and Bahaa met as far back as 2016 even before the forward became a sensation in English football. They have been close ever since.

Fact #2- Military Engagements:

There was a point in Salah's career when pressure was on him to return home with a view to undergoing Egypt's mandatory military service of 12 months.

This was due to the fact that his name was not on an educational program in the UK that was meant to be a substitute for the military service.

Fortunate for him high profile personalities in the UK wade in to help resolve the matter which could have seen to the forward's immediate return to Egypt.

Fact #3- Salary Breakdown in Comparison to the Average Citizen:

TENURE/CURRENCY

Earnings in Pounds (£)

Earnings in Dollars ($)

Earnings in Euros (€)

Earnings in Egyptian pound (E£)

Did you know?... The average British citizen who earns a monthly average of £585 per week would need to work for at least TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS AND FIVE MONTHS to earn 200,000 pounds which is Mo Salah's weekly salary.

Fact #4- Once slammed for allowing a Female Presenter to kiss him:

This incident happened when he picked the Player of the Year award in the Swiss League. However, after the award, Salah was heavily criticized in his home country for kissing the female presenter.

This was how Salah responded; He said "They have spoiled my joy. They forgot the prize and concentrated on the lady kissing me."

Salah added, "Anywhere I go here in Switzerland people applaud, while my native fans criticize me."

Fact #5- FIFA ratings:

The big names in football have superb FIFA ratings that differentiate them from others. This is true for Salah whose overall ratings stands at 90 at the time of drafting this Biography. He shares the high rating with who also has an overall of 90.

Mohammed Salah Bio - The Summary:

Conclusion:

Thanks for reading our insightful write-up on Mohamed Salah's Biography. At Lifebogger we always ensure that our childhood stories and biographies facts of African Footballers are told with accuracy and fairness.

You are welcome to draw our attention to anything that doesn't look right by using the comment box.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Mohamed Salah Childhood Story Plus Untold Biography Facts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Our Mohamed Salah Biography provides you with full coverage of his Childhood Story, Early Life, Parents, Family, Wife, Children, Lifestyle and Personal Life. Simply put, this version of Mohamed Salah's Life Story gives an analysis of all notable events right from his childhood days to when he became famous.

# data[].attributes.body
Promote Egypt independent culture.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Gamal Abdel Nasser (born January 15, 1918, Alexandria, Egypt-died September 28, 1970, Cairo) was an Egyptian army officer, prime minister (1954-56), and then president (1956-70) of Egypt who became a controversial leader of the Arab world, creating the short-lived United Arab Republic (1958-61), twice fighting wars with Israel (1956, 1967), and engaging in such inter-Arab policies as mediating the Jordanian civil war (1970).

Early life

Nasser was born in a mud-brick house on an unpaved street in the Bacos section of Alexandria, where his father was in charge of the local post office. In an effort to cultivate a more earthy image of the president as a member of the class of rural agrarians (fellahin), Egyptian government publications for years gave his birthplace as Banī Murr, the primitive Upper Egypt village of his ancestors. From Alexandria, Nasser's father was transferred to Al-Khaṭāṭibah, a squalid delta village, where the boy got his first schooling. Then he went to live in Cairo with an uncle who had just been released from a British prison and had rooms in a building occupied by nine Jewish families.

Constantly in trouble with schoolteachers, some of them British, Nasser took part in many anti-British street demonstrations. In one he received a blow on the forehead that left a lifelong scar. After secondary school he went to a law college for several months and then entered the Royal Military Academy, graduating as a second lieutenant.

While serving in the Egyptian army in the Sudan, Nasser met three fellow officers-Zakariyyā Muḥyi al-Dīn (Zakaria Mohieddine), later vice president of the United Arab Republic; ʿAbd al-Ḥakīm ʿĀmir, later field marshal; and Anwar el-Sādāt, who would succeed Nasser as president. Together, they planned a secret revolutionary organization, the Free Officers, whose composition would be known only to Nasser; their aim was to oust the British and the Egyptian royal family.

In the 1948 Arab war against the newly created State of Israel, Nasser was an officer in one of three battalions surrounded for weeks by the Israelis in a group of Arab villages called the Faluja Pocket. ( See Arab-Israeli wars.)

Attainment of power

On July 23, 1952, Nasser and 89 other Free Officers staged an almost bloodless coup d'état, ousting the monarchy. Sādāt favoured the immediate public execution of King Farouk I and some members of the establishment, but Nasser vetoed the idea and permitted Farouk and others to go into exile. The country was taken over by a Revolutionary Command Council of 11 officers controlled by Nasser, with Major General Muḥammad Naguib as the puppet head of state. For more than a year Nasser kept his real role so well hidden that astute foreign correspondents were unaware of his existence, but in the spring of 1954, in a complicated series of intrigues, Naguib was deposed and placed under house arrest, and Nasser emerged from the shadows and named himself prime minister. That same year an Egyptian fanatic allegedly tried to assassinate Nasser at a mass meeting in Alexandria. When the gunman confessed that he had been given the assignment by the Muslim Brotherhood, Nasser cracked down on this extremist Muslim religious organization.

In January 1956 Nasser announced the promulgation of a constitution under which Egypt became a socialist Arab state with a one-party political system and with Islam as the official religion. In June, 99.948 percent of the five million Egyptians voting marked their ballots for Nasser, the only candidate, for president. The constitution was approved by 99.8 percent.

As Nasser took titular as well as actual control, Egypt's prospects looked bright. A secret contract had been signed with Czechoslovakia for war matériel, and Great Britain and the United States had agreed to put up $270 million to finance the first stage of the Aswān High Dam project. But on July 20, 1956, the U.S. secretary of state, John Foster Dulles, canceled the U.S. offer; the next day Britain followed suit. Five days later, addressing a mass meeting in Alexandria, Nasser announced the nationalization of the Suez Canal, promising that the tolls Egypt collected in five years would build the dam. Both Britain and France had interests in the canal and conspired with Israel-whose relations with Egypt had grown even more tense after the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948-49-to best Nasser and regain control of the canal. According to their plan, on October 29, 1956, Israeli forces invaded the Sinai Peninsula. Two days later, French and British planes attacked Egyptian airfields. Although the Israelis occupied the Sinai Peninsula to Sharm al-Shaykh and the Egyptian air force was virtually destroyed, Nasser emerged from the brief war with undiminished prestige throughout the Arab world. ( See Suez Crisis.)

In Philosophy of the Revolution, which he wrote in 1954, Nasser told of "heroic and glorious roles which never found heroes to perform them" and outlined his aspiration to be the leader of the 55 million Arabs, then of the 224 million Africans, then of the 420 million followers of Islam. In 1958 Syria and Egypt formed the United Arab Republic, which Nasser hoped would someday include the entire Arab world. Syria withdrew in 1961, but Egypt continued to be known as the United Arab Republic until 1971. That was as close as Nasser ever came to realizing his tripartite dream.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egyptian army officer who served as prime minister (1954-56) and then president (1956-70) of Egypt.

# data[].attributes.body
Soccer star from Egypt, he is playing in Liverpool F.C.

Highlights: https://www.youtube.c om/watch?v=iZ68OskGqow

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Every angle of Mo Salah's stunning solo goal against Manchester City

# data[].attributes.body
About 5% - 15% of Egyptians follow Christianity. These followers are members of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. Egyptian Christian followers are the largest group of Christians in the Middle East.

# data[].attributes.body
Tug of war was invented in Ancient Egypt. At the beginning of this game in Egypt, this sport was called "Tug-o-war", the rule was the same except for what they are pulling against each other. Nowadays, people play tug of war with a rope, but in Egypt, they used to play without ropes, they just pulled against each others with their own hands.

information about Tug of war in Egypt
https://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/braingames/iknowthat/Stickerbook/sbr/Ancient%20Egypt/kids/DiscoverMore/Tug-of-War.htm

# data[].attributes.body
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed-ball#:~:text=The%20players%20attempt%20to%20hit,there%20is%20a%20new%20service.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This article is about a sport. For other uses, see Speedball.

# data[].attributes.body
Falafel, or ta'ameya as we call it in Egypt, is all-time favorite street food. In most parts of the Middle East, falafel is made with ground chickpeas.

More information: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/254743/taameya-egyptian-falafel/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Egyptian falafel (called ta’ameya) is a popular street food all over Egypt. It’s made with fresh herbs and ground fava beans instead of chickpeas.

# data[].attributes.body
Falafel, or ta'ameya as we call it in Egypt, is an all-time favorite street food. In the middle East, this food is made with ground chickpeas. In Egypt they make it with dried fava beans.

# data[].attributes.body
Ancient Egyptians used the stem of the papyrus plant to make paper. Paper made from papyrus was the chief writing material that they used in Ancient Egypt.

URL:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/papyrus-writing-material

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
papyrus, writing material of ancient times and also the plant from which it was derived, Cyperus papyrus (family Cyperaceae), also called paper plant. The papyrus plant was long cultivated in the Nile delta region in Egypt and was collected for its stalk or stem, whose central pith was cut into thin strips, pressed together, and dried to form a smooth thin writing surface.

Papyrus is a grasslike aquatic plant that has woody, bluntly triangular stems and grows up to 4.6 m (about 15 feet) high in quietly flowing water up to 90 cm (3 feet) deep. The triangular stem can grow to a width of as much as 6 cm. The papyrus plant is now often used as a pool ornamental in warm areas or in conservatories. The dwarf papyrus ( C. isocladus, also given as C. papyrus 'Nanus'), up to 60 cm tall, is sometimes potted and grown indoors.

The ancient Egyptians used the stem of the papyrus plant to make sails, cloth, mats, cords, and, above all, paper. Paper made from papyrus was the chief writing material in ancient Egypt, was adopted by the Greeks, and was used extensively in the Roman Empire. It was used not only for the production of books (in roll or scroll form) but also for correspondence and legal documents. Pliny the Elder gave an account of the manufacture of paper from papyrus. The fibrous layers within the stem of the plant were removed, and a number of these longitudinal strips were placed side by side and then crossed at right angles with another set of strips. The two layers formed a sheet, which was then dampened and pressed. Upon drying, the gluelike sap of the plant acted as an adhesive and cemented the layers together. The sheet was finally hammered and dried in the sun. The paper thus formed was pure white in colour and, if well made, was free of spots, stains, or other defects. A number of these sheets were then joined together with paste to form a roll, with usually not more than 20 sheets to a roll.

Papyrus was cultivated and used for writing material by the Arabs of Egypt down to the time when the growing manufacture of paper from other plant fibres in the 8th and 9th centuries ce rendered papyrus unnecessary. By the 3rd century ce, papyrus had already begun to be replaced in Europe by the less-expensive vellum, or parchment, but the use of papyrus for books and documents persisted sporadically until about the 12th century.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Papyrus, writing material of ancient times and also the plant from which it was derived. The papyrus plant was long cultivated in the Nile delta region in Egypt and was collected for its stalk or stem, whose central pith was cut into thin strips, pressed together, and dried to form a smooth thin writing surface.

# data[].attributes.body
The sand castle event has become one of the most famous and important events in Egypt. A sand castle competition is held every year, which not only promotes tourism, but also allows the people of Egypt to enjoy the event.

# data[].attributes.body
Egyptian pottery included all objects of fired clay from Ancient Egypt which were all used at the time in Egyptian households. Other types of pottery were for some events purpose.

https://www.veniceclayartists.com/egyptian-pottery/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Egyptian Black Pot

National Museum of Natural History

Wahington DC

Glazed Faience Pottery Vessel Roman Period Egypt

Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose, California.

History Of Egyptian Pottery : The ancient Egyptians were gifted artisans and pottery was an art where they excelled. Egypt in the pre dynastic period produced pottery of very high quality. Egypt made pottery before building the Pyramids. This is evident from the presence of older hieroglyphic writing with characters which have images of earthen vessels. Pictures of pottery vessels and small pieces of pottery have been found in tombs of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Dynasties, contemporary with and after the building of the Great Pyramid. From 3000BC on their pottery was decorated with depictions of animals, humans, boats and various other patterns and symbols. Two main veins of pottery existed during this period, pottery from Nile clay ( red/brown after firing ) and pottery from marl clay ( usually polished to give a lustrous look )

Horus falcon vessel

Ancient Egyptian pottery was originally made for functional reasons rather than for decorative purposes. The different forms of Egyptian pottery had a multitude of applications.. The amphora, in Egypt as in all ancient countries was the most common and most useful vase, and was made in all sizes, from the three-inch oil or perfume holder to the immense jar of three or four feet in height, for holding water, wine, oil, or grain. The reason the amphora vessels had a tapered end was so they could be pushed into the earth and stand on their own when used for storage. The pithos (so called by the Greeks), was an immense tub, cask, or vase of pottery, made in Egypt as in all the Oriental countries. It was used in the household cellar, where meats and provisions were stored. This was sometimes six feet in diameter, always made of coarse unglazed pottery. The later artistic Egyptian pottery was siliceous, ( between earthenware and porcelain ), possessing a fine grain and being able to resist high temperatures. It was generally covered with a thin glaze, colored blue or green by oxides of copper. As Egyptian pottery became more decorated it also became an expression of religious sentiment and an expression of revered symbols.

Enameled pottery of Egypt : The art of covering pottery with enamel was invented by the Egyptians at a very early date. Steatite (or soapstone, as some varieties are called) is easily worked, and bears great heat without cracking. From this material the Egyptians carved small pieces-vases, amulets, images of deities, animals and other objects-and covered them with green, blue, and occasionally red, yellow, and white enamel, which when baked became brilliant and enduring. Objects in enamelled steatite were known from the very early periods. A small cylinder from the Trumbull-Prime collection, obtained at Thebes bears the cartouche of a king, Amunmhe III., of the Twelfth Dynasty, whose date is placed at about 2000 B.C. The enamel is pale-green, almost white, except in the engraved lines, where, being thicker, it shows more color.

Ancient Egyptian Lotus Chalice 1479 -1353 BCE

( Museum of Fine Arts Boston )

The beauty of the enamel on these pottery objects has been the envy of potters in modern times. The blue has never been surpassed, if, indeed, it has ever been equaled. Objects three thousand years old retain the splendor of their original color; and this leads to the inference that the variety of the shades of blue found on them is not the result of time, but the original intent of the makers. These shades vary from the most intense bleu-de-roi and pure turquoise to pale-blue tints approaching white. The color is usually remarkably uniform on the object. Several of the rare colors of old Chinese porcelain are thus found in ancient Egyptian enamels. The same enamel was occasionally applied to soft pottery. The Egyptians were the first to employ the potters wheel ( hand turned ) and some believe they were the first to implement glazing. They are also credited with being the first to use crockery ware ( 1500 BC ) .

Covering pottery with enamel was invented by the Egyptians at a very early date. Steatite (or soapstone, as some varieties are called) is easily worked, and bears great heat without cracking. Many small carved objects were covered with green, blue, and occasionally red, yellow, and white enamel, which when baked became brilliant and enduring.

Hand painted Egyptian pottery

Ancient Egyptian faience - Louvre, Paris

Egyptian cobalt blue glaze vessel , Louvre

Egyptian pot with spiral motif

Egyptian Lotus Chalice (siliceous faience)

22nd Dynasty, 945-715 BC Louvre

The vase reads, center line, then left, then right, top to bottom: center :

The good god, Nebmaatre, given life; left: the son of Re, Amenhotep, Ruler of (Wast-Uast)(Thebes), eternally; right: the king's great wife, Tiye

( Louvre Paris )

Egyptian pottery with hieroglyphs

Raised relief decoration faience pottery, Egypt

Neolithic Egyptian pottery bird

The sovereign's sphinx Amenothep III bidder to the gods

Faience hippopotamus, Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 11-12

In ancient Egypt blue (irtyu) was the colour of the heavens and hence represented the universe.

Egyptian pitchers with geometric decoration

Louvre, Paris

Woman with child. Terracotta phial, New Kingdom (16th-11th BCE), Egypt.

Musée du Louvre

Musician. Blue faience glaze bowl (about 1300 BCE), 19th Dynasty, New Kingdom, Egypt.

Ushebti figure (servant of the defunct) of Pharaoh Seti I (1301-1290 BCE).19th dynasty. Blue faience. N 472

Louvre, Departement des Antiquites Egyptiennes, Paris, France

Ouadjet eye, the Sacred Eye of Horus

Cairo Egyptian Museum

Egyptian pot with a carved repetitive geometrical surface.

Faience amulet in the shape of an ankh, 25th dynasty to Late Period, about 700-500 BCE.

It represents a wish, probably for the king, of " life, power and stability for millions of years ".

The amulet was acquired by Lord Kitchener in the Sudan, probably at Gebel Barkal and originated in a temple.

( lessing Archive )

Egyptian Yoga ? wall relief fragment ( Lessing Archive )

An Egyptian long necked vessel, found at Abydos and dates from the New Kingdom period, ca. 1570 - 1070 BCE.

The ancient Egyptian potters were adept at using different colors of Egyptian paste to create patterns of color on the fired ware.

Ceramic Canopic Jars

Egyptian Bronze Head - Louvre, Paris

King Tut Canopic Shrine

Museum of Antiquities in Cairo, Egypt

( Hans Ollermann - Flickr )

Osiris wall painting in the vaulted tomb of Sennedjem , Luxor, Egypt

( Lessing Photo Archive )

Dynasty 18, joint reign of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III - (ca. 1473-1458 B.C.)

From Thebes, originally from Hatshepsut's temple at Deir el-Bahri

According to the inscription on the base, "Maatkare" (Hatshepsut) is represented here as "the one who gives Maat to Amun". Maat was the goddess of order, balance and justice. When a pharaoh offered an image of Maat to another deity, it was a reaffirmation that honor was the guiding principle of his/her rule.

The Met, New York

( ggnyc - flickr )

Blue painted terracotta jar decorated with flowers and grapes, and a jar lid. - Tell el-Amarna.

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

Flickriver-Su55

Faience Vessel with procession of four bulls and lotus flowers.

( Brooklyn Museum )

Egyptian Libation vase bearing the name of Thutmose IV.

( Brooklyn Museum )

Pilgrim flask - Egyptian New Kingdom Period 1570-1070 BC

Polychrome glass cup, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18. 1370-1335 BCE. Egypt, El-Amarna

Water bottle from Tutankhamun's embalming cache, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Tutankhamun, ca. 1336-1327 B.C

Egyptian alabaster jar

( EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD, DYNASTY I-III, 2920-2575 BC )

Update 13/5/2014

Jar with male figures Probably late Naqada I - early Naqada II (ca. 3700-3450 BC) Provenance: unknown; purchased in Luxor by Jean Capart, 1909

Ritual vessel (hes-jar) Egyptian, Early Dynastic Period to Old Kingdom,-Dynasty-1-,-2960-2465-B.C

Egyptian, Early Dynastic (Egyptian); Dynasty 2, Squat-jar, 2770-2152-BC

Canopic Jar with an Image Representing the Hieroglyph for Face Period New Kingdom Dynasty-18

Boeotian Late Geometric pyxis with depiction of a lion-fighter

An Egyptian veined serpentine vessel. Predynastic-Early Dynastic Period,-circa-3200-3000-B.C

Egyptian painted pottery jar. NewKingdom-1391-1307-BC

Egyptian Memphis Situla with raised relief decoration - DYNASTY XXV XXVI

Circa-6TH-7TH-century-BC

Egyptian Andesite Porphry Jar - 2920-2649-B.C

Calcite Jug 18th Dynasty,-reign of Tuthmosis III - Amenhotep III

1479-1353 BC

Egyptian Blue Faience Cat - 26th Dynasty

Sadigh Gallery

Vase, Coptic period-7th century. Egypt

Height 19 inches

The differences between the quality of ceramics owned by the rich and the poor were significant. Pottery found in the environs of the palaces at Amarna and Malqata and therefore sometimes referred to as "palace ware", was more often than not elaborately decorated or made of beautifully polished marl looking a bit like alabaster, while the crockery in the near-by villages was mostly red earthenware made of Nile mud.

Large storage jar with floral decoration Period: Ptolemaic Period Date: late 3rd-2nd century B.C.

Blue-Painted Ibex Amphora from Malqata. Ca. 1390-1353 B.C., Egypt, Upper Egypt; Thebes, Malqata.

This vase is in excellent condition and was found during the excavations of the palace of Amenhotep III

Egyptian bowl with a scene of a man hunting a hippopotamis

Late Naqada-I--early Naqada-II

Carved relief based on the sidelock of youth which was protective in nature, inspired by the young god Horus' hairstyle. It involved shaving the head, leaving only a single, plaited lock, sometimes shaped like a S, hanging down on the side of the head which had sacred amulets attached to it.

Small perfume vase Egypt. Blue and black petals are arranged like a collar around the neck of this white faience vase.

New Kingdom, late Dynasty 18, ca. 1350-1309 BC

peterjr1961 on Flickr (cc)

Egyptian pot with finely incised surface decoration from reign of Amenhotep IV Akhenaten

ca.-1353-1336-B.C

Wall relief art of Egyptian woman at the Tomb of Menna, Luxor, Egypt

Egyptian limestone cosmetic jar -raised relief of Horus Eye and the Sha with square-tipped ears and stiff tail.

Late kingdom, 18th Dynasty

Bes (cat) figure, hand carved surface decoration

New Kingdom Dynasty- Dynasty 18 - ca. 1550-1295 B.C.

Triple carved oil lamp from a single piece of alabaster. It represents lotus flowers growing from a pond

Egypt, New Kingdom.

Jar from Egypt with Was-scepters and Ankhs

Shawabti of the Lady of the House - Sati Medium

ca. 1390-1352 B.C.E.
Brooklyn Museum
...

More ancient Egyptian art HERE ( veniceclayartists post )

...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Egyptian Black Pot National Museum of Natural History Wahington DC Glazed Faience Pottery Vessel Roman Period Egypt Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose, California. History Of Egyptian Pottery : The ancient Egyptians were gifted artisans and pottery was an art where they excelled. Egypt in the pre dynastic period produced pottery of very high quality.

# data[].attributes.body
The Semsemia is used in one of the Egyptian music locally known as Sawahli (coastal) music, which is a type of popular Egyptian music in the northern coast of Egypt that is based around ancient Egyptian instrumentals. This instrument was invented in the 19th century.

# data[].attributes.body
This artwork includes 11 gods in Egypt.
List of Gods:
Osiris
Isis
Horus
Seth
Ptah
Re
Hathor
Anubis
Thoth
Bastet
Amon
More information: https://www.britannica.com/list/11-egyptian-gods-and-goddesses

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This Encyclopedia Britannica Philosophy and Religion list explores 11 Egyptian gods and goddesses.

# data[].attributes.body
This artwork is from ancient Egypt. This painting was to show respect to the dead person from the next generation and hope these dead people can have a very good life in the afterworld. These paintings also provides protection from the gods.
More information about Tomb Painting from Egypt.
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldcivilization/chapter/ancient-egyptian-art/#:~:text=The%20purpose%20of%20tomb%20paintings,%2C%20gold%2C%20black%20and%20yellow.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Learning Objective

Examine the development of Egyptian Art under the Old Kingdom

Key Points

Ancient Egyptian art includes painting, sculpture, architecture, and other forms of art, such as drawings on papyrus, created between 3000 BCE and 100 CE.

Most of this art was highly stylized and symbolic. Much of the surviving forms come from tombs and monuments, and thus have a focus on life after death and preservation of knowledge.

Symbolism meant order, shown through the pharaoh's regalia, or through the use of certain colors.

In Egyptian art, the size of a figure indicates its relative importance.

Paintings were often done on stone, and portrayed pleasant scenes of the afterlife in tombs.

Ancient Egyptians created both monumental and smaller sculptures, using the technique of sunk relief.

Ka statues, which were meant to provide a resting place for the ka part of the soul, were often made of wood and placed in tombs.

Faience was sintered-quartz ceramic with surface vitrification, used to create relatively cheap small objects in many colors. Glass was originally a luxury item but became more common, and was used to make small jars, for perfume and other liquids, to be placed in tombs. Carvings of vases, amulets, and images of deities and animals were made of steatite. Pottery was sometimes covered with enamel, particularly in the color blue.

Papyrus was used for writing and painting, and and was used to record every aspect of Egyptian life.

Architects carefully planned buildings, aligning them with astronomically significant events, such as solstices and equinoxes. They used mainly sun-baked mud brick, limestone, sandstone, and granite.

The Amarna period (1353-1336 BCE) represents an interruption in ancient Egyptian art style, subjects were represented more realistically, and scenes included portrayals of affection among the royal family.

Terms

scarabs

Ancient Egyptian gem cut in the form of a scarab beetle.

Faience

Glazed ceramic ware.

ushabti

Ancient Egyptian funerary figure.

Ka

The supposed spiritual part of an individual human being or god that survived after death, and could reside in a statue of the person.

sunk relief

Sculptural technique in which the outlines of modeled forms are incised in a plane surface beyond which the forms do not project.

regalia

The emblems or insignia of royalty.

papyrus

A material prepared in ancient Egypt from the stem of a water plant, used in sheets for writing or painting on.

Ancient Egyptian art includes painting, sculpture, architecture, and other forms of art, such as drawings on papyrus, created between 3000 BCE and 100 AD. Most of this art was highly stylized and symbolic. Many of the surviving forms come from tombs and monuments, and thus have a focus on life after death and preservation of knowledge.

Symbolism in ancient Egyptian art conveyed a sense of order and the influence of natural elements. The regalia of the pharaoh symbolized his or her power to rule and maintain the order of the universe. Blue and gold indicated divinity because they were rare and were associated with precious materials, while black expressed the fertility of the Nile River.

In Egyptian art, the size of a figure indicates its relative importance. This meant gods or the pharaoh were usually bigger than other figures, followed by figures of high officials or the tomb owner; the smallest figures were servants, entertainers, animals, trees and architectural details.

Before painting a stone surface, it was whitewashed and sometimes covered with mud plaster. Pigments were made of mineral and able to stand up to strong sunlight with minimal fade. The binding medium is unknown; the paint was applied to dried plaster in the "fresco a secco" style. A varnish or resin was then applied as a protective coating, which, along with the dry climate of Egypt, protected the painting very well. The purpose of tomb paintings was to create a pleasant afterlife for the dead person, with themes such as journeying through the afterworld, or deities providing protection. The side view of the person or animal was generally shown, and paintings were often done in red, blue, green, gold, black and yellow.

Ancient Egyptians created both monumental and smaller sculptures, using the technique of sunk relief. In this technique, the image is made by cutting the relief sculpture into a flat surface, set within a sunken area shaped around the image. In strong sunlight, this technique is very visible, emphasizing the outlines and forms by shadow. Figures are shown with the torso facing front, the head in side view, and the legs parted, with males sometimes darker than females. Large statues of deities (other than the pharaoh) were not common, although deities were often shown in paintings and reliefs.

Colossal sculpture on the scale of the Great Sphinx of Giza was not repeated, but smaller sphinxes and animals were found in temple complexes. The most sacred cult image of a temple's god was supposedly held in the naos in small boats, carved out of precious metal, but none have survived.

Ka statues, which were meant to provide a resting place for the ka part of the soul, were present in tombs as of Dynasty IV (2680-2565 BCE). These were often made of wood, and were called reserve heads, which were plain, hairless and naturalistic. Early tombs had small models of slaves, animals, buildings, and objects to provide life for the deceased in the afterworld. Later, ushabti figures were present as funerary figures to act as servants for the deceased, should he or she be called upon to do manual labor in the afterlife.

Many small carved objects have been discovered, from toys to utensils, and alabaster was used for the more expensive objects. In creating any statuary, strict conventions, accompanied by a rating system, were followed. This resulted in a rather timeless quality, as few changes were instituted over thousands of years.

Faience was sintered-quartz ceramic with surface vitrification used to create relatively cheap, small objects in many colors, but most commonly blue-green. It was often used for jewelry, scarabs, and figurines. Glass was originally a luxury item, but became more common, and was to used to make small jars, of perfume and other liquids, to be placed in tombs. Carvings of vases, amulets, and images of deities and animals were made of steatite. Pottery was sometimes covered with enamel, particularly in the color blue. In tombs, pottery was used to represent organs of the body removed during embalming, or to create cones, about ten inches tall, engraved with legends of the deceased.

Papyrus is very delicate and was used for writing and painting; it has only survived for long periods when buried in tombs. Every aspect of Egyptian life is found recorded on papyrus, from literary to administrative documents.

Architects carefully planned buildings, aligning them with astronomically significant events, such as solstices and equinoxes, and used mainly sun-baked mud brick, limestone, sandstone, and granite. Stone was reserved for tombs and temples, while other buildings, such as palaces and fortresses, were made of bricks. Houses were made of mud from the Nile River that hardened in the sun. Many of these houses were destroyed in flooding or dismantled; examples of preserved structures include the village Deir al-Madinah and the fortress at Buhen.

The Giza Necropolis, built in the Fourth Dynasty, includes the Pyramid of Khufu (also known as the Great Pyramid or the Pyramid of Cheops), the Pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Menkaure, along with smaller "queen" pyramids and the Great Sphinx.

The Temple of Karnak was first built in the 16th century BCE. About 30 pharaohs contributed to the buildings, creating an extremely large and diverse complex. It includes the Precincts of Amon-Re, Montu and Mut, and the Temple of Amehotep IV (dismantled).

The Luxor Temple was constructed in the 14th century BCE by Amenhotep III in the ancient city of Thebes, now Luxor, with a major expansion by Ramesses II in the 13th century BCE. It includes the 79-foot high First Pylon, friezes, statues, and columns.

During this period, which represents an interruption in ancient Egyptian art style, subjects were represented more realistically, and scenes included portrayals of affection among the royal family. There was a sense of movement in the images, with overlapping figures and large crowds. The style reflects Akhenaten's move to monotheism, but it disappeared after his death.

Sources

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Examine the development of Egyptian Art under the Old Kingdom Ancient Egyptian art includes painting, sculpture, architecture, and other forms of art, such as drawings on papyrus, created between 3000 BCE and 100 CE. Most of this art was highly stylized and symbolic.

# data[].attributes.body
Alaa Awad was created and made public during the Cairo Revolution. This kind of art is painted on walls in the city, including the walls like roadblocks. This is to show the dissatisfaction with the government of the past.

# data[].attributes.body
Donkeys were the most important social transportation in Ancient Egypt. They were also used in agriculture for planting seeds into the ground.

# data[].attributes.body
This festival celebrates the two dates per year when the sun fills the innermost temple room where there are four statues. This is celebrating the anniversary of Ramses.

URL: https://www.twinkl.com.tw/event/abu-simbel-sun-festival-2022

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
October 22, 2022 - November 30, 2000
Suggested by Twinkl
What are the Abu Simbel Temples?

The 19th Dynasty king Ramesses II built two massive rock-cut temples (well, not personally, but he had them commissioned) in the 13th century BC. Both temples are dedicated to the gods, with the first dedicated to Amun (the king of the gods), Ptah (the god of darkness) and Re-Harakty, a merger of the two deities Ra (the sun god) and Horus (god of the sky). The second temple is dedicated to the goddess Hathor (goddess of women and love) in order to honour his favourite wife, Nefartari.

The temples feature lots of giant statues, including statues showing Nefartari. This is a great honour and shows the status of Nefartari, along with her husband's love and respect for her. At the entrance of the temple, there's a 65-foot tall seated statue of Ramesses II and further inside an even larger 108-foot tall Ramesses statue watches over visitors. These temples are an example of fantastic architectural design. They were crafted so that the innermost temple containing four statues is only lit up by the sun on two days each year- February 22nd and October 22nd.

Who was Ramesses?

Ramesses II was the second-longest reigning monarch in ancient Egypt and was the third pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. Ramesses' rule followed the death of Seti I and lasted 66 years. He built lots of cities, monuments and temples during his reign, and is often known as Ramesses the Great. His was originally laid to rest in the Valley of the Kings but can now be found in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

What does the Abu Simbel Sun Festival celebrate?

The Abu Simbel Sun Festival celebrates the two dates each year when the sun fills the innermost temple room where there are four statues. This happens to celebrate the anniversary of Ramesses' ascension to the throne (in February) and his birthday (in October). The statues in this temple room depict Ramesses, Ra, Amun and Ptah. Ramesses sits alongside these gods because, as a pharaoh, he too was considered a god. On February 22nd and October 22nd each year, light fills the temple to illuminate three out of the four of these statues- Ptah, as the god of darkness, forever remains in the dark. The sun illuminates the temple corridor back more than 200 feet to reach these statues.

How do people celebrate the Abu Simbel Sun Festival?

Many people gather extremely early in order to watch as the sunlight starts to hit the innermost temple room at sunrise. Once the statues fall back into shadow after the sun continues to rise, people tend to gather to eat and drink and celebrate. There are often traditional singers and dancers to celebrate the event.

Was Abu Simbel moved?

In the 1960s, the building of the Aswan Dam threatened to submerge the great temple in water. Because of this, a massive reconstruction project took place where different countries worked together to take apart and rebuild this great temple where it was safe 200 metres away.

Useful teaching resources

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Abu Simbel Sun Festival 2022 - Event Info and Resources

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Suggested by Twinkl The 19th Dynasty king Ramesses II built two massive rock-cut temples (well, not personally, but he had them commissioned) in the 13th century BC. Both temples are dedicated to the gods, with the first dedicated to Amun (the king of the gods), Ptah (the god of darkness) and Re-Harakty, a merger of the two deities Ra (the sun god) and Horus (god of the sky).

# data[].attributes.body
This festival is on January 7th as the day Jesus born. This day is Coptic Orthodox Christmas. This festival is kind of another Christmas.

Link: https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/2022/01/05/what-is-coptic-christmas-and-how-will-egypt-celebrate-this-year/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on Friday, nearly two weeks after most of Christendom's other denominations.

Of the world's Christian communities, the orthodox churches in Russia, Ethiopia, Serbia and Ukraine are the major ones that join Egypt's Orthodox Copts in celebrating Christmas on January 7.

One of the world's oldest Christian communities, Egypt's Christians account for 10 per cent of the country's predominantly Muslim population. Most of the country's Christians are Orthodox, with tiny Catholic and Anglican communities.

Here is what you need to know about Egypt's Christians:

The Coptic Orthodox Church traces its origins to the first century AD when the Apostle Mark is said to have visited Egypt. Mark is regarded by Egypt's Christians as the first Pope of Alexandria, the original seat of the church.

Early Christians in Egypt suffered persecution under Roman rule and continued to suffer systematic, albeit intermittent, persecution for centuries afterward.

Egypt was almost entirely Christian on the eve of the Muslim Arab conquest around 640AD. It remained majority Christian until around the 13th century.

The genesis of the word "Coptic" is the Greek word for Egypt, Aeygyptus.

Pope Tawadros II, 69, is currently the spiritual leader of Egypt's Orthodox Christians. He is the 118th pontiff of the Coptic Orthodox church. He ascended the "throne" of St Mark the Apostle in 2012 following the death of his predecessor, Pope Shenouda III.

Primarily because of the difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The emergence of two Christian calendars is steeped in a complex process that dates back to the early days of Christianity. In some ways, the two calendars are also a reflection of the centuries-old "schism" between the Catholic Church in Rome and the eastern churches.

They celebrate Christmas in much the same way as other Christians, but with some of the western, modern-era traditions such as the decorated tree and exchange of gifts embraced only by the well-to-do rather than everyone.

The Christmas Mass begins around 8pm and ends at midnight, when worshippers go home to break their 43-day vegan-pescatarian fast with indigenous meat dishes such as the fatah, which is made of white rice, meat cubes and crispy bread soaked in soup and covered with a layer of garlicky yoghurt.

Yes, it will, but not much more than it has over the past two years.

After a period of total closure, churches in Egypt have since the summer of 2020 introduced a set of rules to prevent the spread of the coronavirus among members of their congregations. Face masks are obligatory and social distancing is diligently observed. Because of the reduced capacity of churches, the first-come-first served rule is applicable. Late comers to the Christmas service will be turned away.

Pope Tawadros will lead the service in the seldom-used cathedral built in Egypt's new capital in the desert east of Cairo. The number of people allowed to attend that service will be severely limited, but it will be broadcast live.

January 6 has been declared a national holiday in lieu of Christmas day, which falls on the Egyptian Friday-Saturday weekend.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What is Coptic Christmas and how will Egypt celebrate this year?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on Friday, nearly two weeks after most of Christendom's other denominations. Of the world's Christian communities, the orthodox churches in Russia, Ethiopia, Serbia and Ukraine are the major ones that join Egypt's Orthodox Copts in celebrating Christmas on January 7.

# data[].attributes.body
The Flooding of the Nile Festival is a festival from ancient Egypt. This festival started during the ages of the Pharaohs, and now Egypt is still celebrating it. The date of the celebration is related to the time of the Nile flooding. It is usually the second half of August every year.

More information: https://www.arabicpod101.com/lesson/culture-class-holidays-in-egypt-25-flooding-of-the-nile-festival/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Flooding of the Nile Festival - ArabicPod101

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In this lesson, you’ll learn about the Flooding of the Nile FestivalVisit ArabicPod101 and learn Arabic fast with real lessons by real teachers.

# data[].attributes.body
This temple is located in Egypt. This building is built from two massive rocks. 1353–1336 BC because of religious wars, the body of the broken statue's "dead body" is still on the floor.

The information about the Abu Simbel Temple:
britannica.com/place/Abu-Simbel

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This article was most recently revised and updated by

Abu Simbel, site of two temples built by the Egyptian king Ramses II (reigned 1279-13 bce), now located in Aswān muḥāfaẓah (governorate), southern Egypt. In ancient times the area was at the southern frontier of pharaonic Egypt, facing Nubia. The four colossal statues of Ramses in front of the main temple are spectacular examples of ancient Egyptian art. By means of a complex engineering feat in the 1960s, the temples were salvaged from the rising waters of the Nile River caused by erection of the Aswan High Dam.

Travel down the Nile to discover important ancient Egyptian cultural sites such as the Pyramids of Giza Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. See all videos for this article

Carved out of a sandstone cliff on the west bank of the Nile, south of Korosko (modern Kuruskū), the temples were unknown to the outside world until their rediscovery in 1813 by the Swiss researcher Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. They were first explored in 1817 by the early Egyptologist Giovanni Battista Belzoni.

The 66-foot (20-metre) seated figures of Ramses are set against the recessed face of the cliff, two on either side of the entrance to the main temple. Carved around their feet are small figures representing Ramses' children, his queen, Nefertari, and his mother, Muttuy (Mut-tuy, or Queen Ti). Graffiti inscribed on the southern pair by Greek mercenaries serving Egypt in the 6th century bce have provided important evidence of the early history of the Greek alphabet. The temple itself, dedicated to the sun gods Amon-Re and Re-Horakhte, consists of three consecutive halls extending 185 feet (56 metres) into the cliff, decorated with more Osiride statues of the king and with painted scenes of his purported victory at the Battle of Kadesh. On two days of the year (about February 22 and October 22), the first rays of the morning sun penetrate the whole length of the temple and illuminate the shrine in its innermost sanctuary.

Aswān, Egypt: Great Temple of Ramses II Glen Allison/Getty Images

Just to the north of the main temple is a smaller one, dedicated to Nefertari for the worship of the goddess Hathor and adorned with 35-foot (10.5-metre) statues of the king and queen.

Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. Subscribe today

In the mid-20th century, when the reservoir that was created by the construction of the nearby Aswan High Dam threatened to submerge Abu Simbel, UNESCO and the Egyptian government sponsored a project to save the site. An informational and fund-raising campaign was initiated by UNESCO in 1959. Between 1963 and 1968 a workforce and an international team of engineers and scientists, supported by funds from more than 50 countries, dug away the top of the cliff and completely disassembled both temples, reconstructing them on high ground more than 200 feet (60 metres) above their previous site. In all, some 16,000 blocks were moved. In 1979 Abu Simbel, Philae, and other nearby monuments were collectively designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Abu Simbel, Egypt: Small Temple murals Mike Cumberbatch/age fotostock

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Adam Zeidan, Assistant Editor.

Learn More in these related Britannica articles:

key people

related places

related topics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Abu Simbel | History, Temples, Map, & Images

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Abu Simbel, site of two temples built by the Egyptian king Ramses II, located in ancient times at pharaonic Egypt's southern frontier facing Nubia. Endangered by the erection of the Aswan High Dam in the mid-20th century, the temples were disassembled and reconstructed on higher ground.

# data[].attributes.body
The Great Sphinx of Giza is a building from Ancient Egypt (4th dynasty).  This statue was made for religious purposes to protect the citizens of Egypt.

URL: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Great-Sphinx

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Table of Contents

Great Sphinx of Giza, colossal limestone statue of a recumbent sphinx located in Giza, Egypt, that likely dates from the reign of King Khafre ( c. 2575- c. 2465 bce) and depicts his face. It is one of Egypt's most famous landmarks and is arguably the best-known example of sphinx art.

The Great Sphinx is among the world's largest sculptures, measuring some 240 feet (73 metres) long and 66 feet (20 metres) high. It features a lion's body and a human head adorned with a royal headdress. The statue was carved from a single piece of limestone, and pigment residue suggests that the entire Great Sphinx was painted. According to some estimates, it would have taken about three years for 100 workers, using stone hammers and copper chisels, to finish the statue.

Most scholars date the Great Sphinx to the 4th dynasty and affix ownership to Khafre. However, some believe that it was built by Khafre's older brother Redjedef (Djedefre) to commemorate their father, Khufu, whose pyramid at Giza is known as the Great Pyramid. These theorists claim that the face of the Great Sphinx bears more resemblance to Khufu than Khafre, and that observation also led to speculation that Khufu himself built the statue.

The Great Sphinx has greatly deteriorated over the years, and since ancient times-possibly beginning in the reign of Thutmose IV (1400-1390 bce)-various efforts have been undertaken to preserve the statue. Whereas the body has suffered the most erosion, the face has also been damaged, and its nose is notably missing. According to some, the damage was caused by Napoleon's troops, who shot off the nose with a cannon. However, illustrations that date before Napoleon reveal a noseless sphinx. Another theory contends that Muhammad Saʾim al-Dahr, a Sufi Muslim, mutilated the statue in the 14th century to protest idolatry.

Amy Tikkanen

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Great Sphinx of Giza | Description, History, & Facts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Great Sphinx of Giza, colossal limestone statue of a recumbent sphinx in Giza, Egypt, that likely dates from the reign of King Khafre.

# data[].attributes.body
The pyramids were built during ancient times in Egypt. There are at least 118 identified Ancient Egyptian pyramids. Most of the pyramids were built for the pharaohs' tombs.

# data[].attributes.body
There are 17.6 percent of the Egyptian population that speak English.

# data[].attributes.body
3.2% of the Egyptian population speak French which makes around 2.8 million Egyptians are French speakers.

# data[].attributes.body
68% of Egyptians speak modern Egyptian Arabic. This language is locally known as the major language in Egypt.

# data[].attributes.body
There are only less than 1% of the Egyptian population who are not either Christian or Muslim.

# data[].attributes.body
Muslims are most of the Egyptian population religious followers, as over 90 percent of the Egyptians follow Islam. The mosque that most of the followers go to is  Al-Azhar Mosque.

Information about the church: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Azhar_Mosque
information about Muslims in Egypt: https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/egyptian-culture/egyptian-culture-religion

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Al-Azhar Mosque ( Arabic: الجامع الأزهر, al-Jāmiʿ al-ʾAzhar, 'The Resplendent Congregational Mosque'), known simply in Egypt as al-Azhar, is an Egyptian mosque in Islamic Cairo. Jawhar al-Siqilli commissioned its construction for the newly established capital city in 970. Its name is usually thought to derive from az-Zahrāʾ (meaning "the shining one"), a title given to Fatimah bent Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam. It was the first mosque established in Cairo, a city that has since gained the nickname "the City of a Thousand Minarets".

After its dedication in 972, and with the hiring by mosque authorities of 35 scholars in 989, the mosque slowly developed into what is today the second oldest continuously run university in the world after Al Karaouine in Idrisid Fes. Al-Azhar University has long been regarded as the foremost institution in the Islamic world for the study of Sunni theology and , or Islamic law. The university, integrated within the mosque as part of a mosque school since its inception, was nationalized and officially designated an independent university in 1961, following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952.

Over the course of its over a millennium-long history, the mosque has been alternately neglected and highly regarded. Because it was founded as a Shiite Ismaili institution, Saladin and the Sunni Ayyubid dynasty that he founded shunned al-Azhar, removing its status as a congregational mosque and denying stipends to students and teachers at its school. These moves were reversed under the Mamluk Sultanate, under whose rule numerous expansions and renovations took place. Later rulers of Egypt showed differing degrees of deference to the mosque and provided widely varying levels of financial assistance, both to the school and to the upkeep of the mosque. Today, al-Azhar remains a deeply influential institution in Egyptian society that is highly revered in the Sunni Muslim world and a symbol of Islamic Egypt.

The city of Cairo was established by the Fatimid general Jawhar al-Ṣiqillī, a former Greek slave from Sicily, on behalf of his then-master Caliph al-Mu'izz, following the Fatimid conquest of Egypt in 969. It was originally named al-Manṣūriyya (المنصورية) after the prior seat of the Fatimid caliphate, al-Mansuriya in modern Tunisia. The mosque, first used in 972, may have initially been named Jāmiʿ al-Manṣūriyya (جامع المنصورية, "the mosque of Mansuriyya"), as was common practice at the time. It was al-Mu'izz who renamed the city al-Qāhira (القاهرة, "Cairo", meaning, "the Victorious"). The name of the mosque thus became Jāmiʿ al-Qāhira (جامع القاهرة, "the mosque of Cairo"), the first transcribed in Arabic sources.

The mosque acquired its current name, al-ʾAzhar, sometime between the caliphate of al-Mu'izz and the end of the reign of the second Fatimid caliph in Egypt, al-Aziz Billah. ʾAzhar is the masculine form for zahrāʾ, meaning "splendid" or "most resplendent". Zahrāʾ is an epithet applied to Muhammad's daughter Fatimah, wife of caliph Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib. She was claimed as the ancestress of al-Mu'izz and the imams of the Fatimid dynasty; one theory is that her epithet is the source for the name al-ʾAzhar. The theory, however, is not confirmed in any Arabic source and its plausibility has been both supported and denied by later Western sources.

An alternative theory is that the mosque's name is derived from the names given by the Fatimid caliphs to their palaces. Those near the mosque were collectively named al-Quṣūr az-Zāhira (القصور الزاهرة, "the Brilliant Palaces") by al-Aziz Billah, and the royal gardens were named after another derivative of the word zahra. The palaces had been completed and named prior to the mosque changing its name from Jāmiʿ al-Qāhira to al-ʾAzhar.

The word Jāmiʿ is derived from the Arabic root word jamaʿa (g-m-ʿ), meaning "to gather". The word is used for large congregational mosques. While in classical Arabic the name for al-Azhar remains Jāmiʿ al-ʾAzhar, the pronunciation of the word Jāmiʿ changes to Gāmaʿ in Egyptian Arabic.

Caliph al-Mu'izz li-Din Allāh, the fourteenth Ismāʿīli Imam, conquered Egypt through his general Jawhar, wresting it from the Sunni Ikhshidid dynasty. By order of the Caliph, Jawhar then oversaw the construction of the royal enclosure of the Fatimid Caliphate and its army, and had al-Azhar built as a base to spread Ismāʿīli Shi'a Islam. Located near the densely populated Sunni city of Fustat, Cairo became the center of the Ismāʿīli sect of Shi'a Islam, and seat of the Fatimid empire.

Jawhar ordered the construction of a congregational mosque for the new city and work commenced on April 4, 970. The mosque was completed in 972 and the first Friday prayers were held there on June 22, 972 during Ramadan.

Al-Azhar soon became a center of learning in the Islamic world, and official pronouncements and court sessions were issued from and convened there. Under Fatimid rule, the previously secretive teachings of the Ismāʿīli (school of law) were made available to the general public. Al-Nu'man ibn Muhammad was appointed (judge) under al-Mu'izz and placed in charge of the teaching of the Ismāʿīli madh'hab. Classes were taught at the palace of the Caliph, as well as at al-Azhar, with separate sessions available to women. During Eid ul-Fitr in 973, the mosque was rededicated by the caliph as the official congregational mosque in Cairo. Al-Mu'izz, and his son-when he in turn became caliph-would preach at least one Friday (sermon) during Ramadan at al-Azhar.

Yaqub ibn Killis, a polymath, jurist and the first official vizier of the Fatimids, made al-Azhar a key center for instruction in Islamic law in 988. The following year, 45 scholars were hired to give lessons, laying the foundation for what would become the leading university in the Muslim world.

The mosque was expanded during the rule of the caliph al-Aziz (975-996). According to al-Mufaddal, he ordered the restoration of portions of the mosque and had the ceiling raised by one cubit. The next Fatimid caliph, al-Hakim, would continue to renovate the mosque, providing a new wooden door in 1010. However, al-Hakim's reign saw the completion of the al-Hakim Mosque, and al-Azhar lost its status as Cairo's primary congregational mosque. In May 1009 the al-Hakim Mosque became the sole location for the caliph's sermons; prior to this, al-Hakim would rotate where the Friday sermon was held. Following al-Hakim's reign, al-Azhar was restored by al-Mustanṣir. Additions and renovations were carried during the reign of the remaining Fatimid caliphs. Al-Hafiz undertook a major refurbishment in 1138, which established the keel-shaped arches and carved stucco decoration seen in the courtyard today, as well as the dome at the central entrance of the prayer hall.

Initially lacking a library, al-Azhar was endowed by the Fatimid caliph in 1005 with thousands of manuscripts that formed the basis of its collection. Fatimid efforts to establish Ismāʿīli practice among the population were, however largely unsuccessful. Much of its manuscript collection was dispersed in the chaos that ensued with the fall of the Fatimid Caliphate, and Al-Azhar became a Sunni institution shortly thereafter.

Saladin, who overthrew the Fatimids in 1171, was hostile to the Shi'ite principles of learning propounded at al-Azhar during the Fatimid Caliphate, and under his Ayyubid dynasty the mosque suffered from neglect. Congregational prayers were banned by Sadr al-Din ibn Dirbass, appointed qadi by Saladin. The reason for this edict may have been Shāfi'ī teachings that proscribe congregational prayers in a community to only one mosque, or mistrust of the former Shi'a institution by the new Sunni ruler. By this time, the much larger al-Hakim Mosque was completed; congregational prayers in Cairo were held there.

In addition to stripping al-Azhar of its status as congregational mosque, Saladin also ordered the removal from the of the mosque a silver band on which the names of the Fatimid caliphs had been inscribed. This and similar silver bands removed from other mosques totaled 5,000 . Saladin did not completely disregard the upkeep of the mosque and according to al-Mufaddal one of the mosque's minarets was raised during Saladin's rule.

The teaching center at the mosque also suffered. The once well stocked library at al-Azhar was neglected, and manuscripts of Fatimid teachings that were held at al-Azhar were destroyed. The Ayyubid dynasty promoted the teaching of Sunni theology in subsidized madrasas (schools) built throughout Cairo. Student funding was withdrawn, organized classes were no longer held at the mosque, and the professors that had prospered under the Fatimids were forced to find other means to earn their living.

Al-Azhar nevertheless remained the seat of Arabic philology and a place of learning throughout this period. While official classes were discontinued, private lessons were still offered in the mosque. There are reports that a scholar, possibly al-Baghdadi, taught a number of subjects, such as law and medicine, at al-Azhar. Saladin reportedly paid him a salary of 30 dinars, which was increased to 100 dinars by Saladin's heirs. While the mosque was neglected by Saladin and his heirs, the policies of the Sunni Ayyubid dynasty would have a lasting impact on al-Azhar. Educational institutions were established by Sunni rulers as a way of combating what they regarded as the heretical teachings of Shi'a Islam. These colleges, ranging in size, focused on teaching Sunni doctrine, had an established and uniform curriculum that included courses outside of purely religious topics, such as rhetorics, math, and science. No such colleges had been established in Egypt by the time of Saladin's conquest. Saladin and the later rulers of the Ayyubid dynasty would build twenty-six colleges in Egypt, among them the Salihiyya Madrasa.

Al-Azhar eventually adopted Saladin's educational reforms modeled on the college system he instituted, and its fortunes improved under the Mamluks, who restored student stipends and salaries for the (teaching staff).

Congregational prayers were reestablished at al-Azhar during the Mamluk Sultanate by Sultan Baibars in 1266. While Shāfi'ī teachings, which Saladin and the Ayyubids followed, stipulated that only one mosque should be used as a congregational mosque in a community, the Hanafi madh'hab, to which the Mamluks adhered, placed no such restriction. Al-Azhar had by now lost its association with the Fatimids and Ismāʿīli doctrines, and with Cairo's rapid expansion, the need for mosque space allowed Baibars to disregard al-Azhar's history and restore the mosque to its former prominence. Under Baibars and the Mamluk Sultanate, al-Azhar saw the return of stipends for students and teachers, as well as the onset of work to repair the mosque, which had been neglected for nearly 100 years. According to al-Mufaddal, the emir 'Izz al-Din Aydamur al-Hilli built his house next to the mosque and while doing so repaired the mosque. Al-Maqrizi reports that the emir repaired the walls and roof as well as repaving and providing new floor mats. The first khutbah since the reign of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim took place on 16 January 1266 with the sermon delivered on a new pulpit completed five days earlier.

An earthquake in 1302 caused damage to al-Azhar and a number of other mosques throughout Mamluk territory. The responsibility for reconstruction was split among the (princes) of the Sultanate and the head of the army, Sayf al-Din Salar, who was tasked with repairing the damage. These repairs were the first done since the reign of Baibars. Seven years later a dedicated school, the Madrasa al-Aqbughawiyya, was built along the northwest wall of the mosque. Portions of the wall of the mosque were removed to accommodate the new building. Construction of another school, the Madrasa al-Taybarsiyya began in 1332-1333. This building, which was completed in 1339-1340, would also impact the structure of the mosque as it was built over the site of the mida'a, the fountain for ablution. Both of the madrasas were built as complementary buildings to al-Azhar, with separate entrances and prayer halls.

Though the mosque had regained its standing in Cairo, repairs and additional work were carried out by those in positions lower than sultan. This changed under the rule of al-Zahir Barquq, the first sultan of the Burji dynasty. Both Sultan Barquq and then Sultan al-Mu'ayyad tried, in 1397 and 1424 respectively, to replace the minaret of al-Azhar with a new one in stone, but on both occasions the construction was found to be defective and had to be pulled down. The resumption of direct patronage by those in the highest positions of government continued through to the end of Mamluk rule. Improvements and additions were made by the sultans Qaytbay and Qansuh al-Ghuri, each of whom oversaw numerous repairs and erected minarets that still stand today. It was common practice among the Mamluk sultans to build minarets, perceived as symbols of power and the most effective way of cementing one's position in the Cairo cityscape. The sultans wished to have a noticeable association with the prestigious al-Azhar. Al-Ghuri may also have rebuilt the dome in front of the original mihrab.

Although the mosque-school was the leading university in the Islamic world and had regained royal patronage, it did not overtake the madrasas as the favored place of education among Cairo's elite. Al-Azhar maintained its reputation as an independent place of learning, whereas the madrasas that had first been constructed during Saladin's rule were fully integrated into the state educational system. Al-Azhar did continue to attract students from other areas in Egypt and the Middle East, far surpassing the numbers attending the madrasas. Al-Azhar's student body was organized in riwaqs (fraternities) along national lines, and the branches of Islamic law were studied. The average degree required six years of study.

By the 14th century, al-Azhar had achieved a preeminent place as the center for studies in law, theology, and Arabic, becoming a cynosure for students all around the Islamic world. However, only one third of the (Islamic scholars) of Egypt were reported to have either attended or taught at al-Azhar. One account, by Muhammad ibn Iyas, reports that the Salihiyya Madrasa, and not al-Azhar, was viewed as the "citadel of the ulema" at the end of the Mamluk Sultanate.

With the Ottoman annexation of 1517, despite the mayhem their fight to control the city engendered, the Turks showed great deference to the mosque and its college, though direct royal patronage ceased. Sultan Selim I, the first Ottoman ruler of Egypt, attended al-Azhar for the congregational Friday prayer during his last week in Egypt, but did not donate anything to the upkeep of the mosque. Later Ottoman amirs likewise regularly attended Friday prayers at al-Azhar, but rarely provided subsidies for the maintenance of the mosque, though they did on occasion provide stipends for students and teachers. In contrast to the expansions and additions undertaken during the Mamluk Sultanate, only two Ottoman (governors) restored al-Azhar in the early Ottoman period.

Despite their defeat by Selim I and the Ottomans in 1517, the Mamluks remained influential in Egyptian society, becoming ("chieftains"), nominally under the control of the Ottoman governors, instead of amirs at the head of an empire. The first governor of Egypt under Selim I was Khai'r Bey, a Mamluk amir who had defected to the Ottomans during the Battle of Marj Dabiq. Though the Mamluks launched multiple revolts to reinstate their Sultanate, including two in 1523, the Ottomans refrained from completely destroying the Mamluk hold over the power structure of Egypt. The Mamluks did suffer losses-both economic and military-in the immediate aftermath of the Ottoman victory, and this was reflected in the lack of financial assistance provided to al-Azhar in the first hundred years of Ottoman rule. By the 18th century the Mamluk elite had regained much of its influence and began to sponsor numerous renovations throughout Cairo and at al-Azhar specifically.

Al-Qazdughli, a powerful Mamluk bey, sponsored several additions and renovations in the early 18th century. Under his direction, a riwaq for blind students was added in 1735. He also sponsored the rebuilding of the Turkish and Syrian riwaqs, both of which had originally been built by Qaytbay.

This marked the beginning of the largest set of renovations to be undertaken since the expansions conducted under the Mamluk Sultanate. Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda was appointed katkhuda (head of the Janissaries) in 1749 and embarked on several projects throughout Cairo and at al-Azhar. Under his direction, three new gates were built: the Bab al-Muzayinīn (the Gate of the Barbers), so named because students would have their heads shaved outside of the gate, which eventually became the main entrance to the mosque; the Bab al-Sa'ayida (the Gate of the Sa'idis), named for the Sa'idi people of Upper Egypt; and, several years later, the Bab al-Shurba (the Soup Gate), from which food, often rice soup, would be served to the students. A prayer hall was added to the south of the original one, doubling the size of the available prayer space. Katkhuda also refurbished or rebuilt several of the riwaqs that surrounded the mosque. Katkhuda was buried in a mausoleum he himself had built in Al-Azhar; in 1776, he became the first person (and the last) to be interred within the mosque since Nafissa al-Bakriyya, a female mystic who had died around 1588.

During the Ottoman period, al-Azhar regained its status as a favored institution of learning in Egypt, overtaking the madrasas that had been originally instituted by Saladin and greatly expanded by the Mamluks. By the end of the 18th century, al-Azhar had become inextricably linked to the ulema of Egypt. The ulema also were able to influence the government in an official capacity, with several sheikhs appointed to advisory councils that reported to the (honorary governor), who in turn was appointed for only one year. This period also saw the introduction of more secular courses taught at al-Azhar, with science and logic joining philosophy in the curriculum. During this period, al-Azhar saw its first non- Maliki rector; Abdullah al-Shubrawi, a follower of the Shafii , was appointed rector. No follower of the Maliki madhab would serve as rector until 1899 when Salim al-Bishri was appointed to the post.

Al-Azhar also served as a focal point for protests against the Ottoman occupation of Egypt, both from within the ulema and from among the general public. Student protests at al-Azhar were common, and shops in the vicinity of the mosque would often close out of solidarity with the students. The ulema was also on occasion able to defy the government. In one instance, in 1730-31, Ottoman harassed the residents living near al-Azhar while pursuing three fugitives. The gates at al-Azhar were closed in protest and the Ottoman governor, fearing a larger uprising, ordered the aghas to refrain from going near al-Azhar. Another disturbance occurred in 1791 in which the wāli harassed the people near the al-Hussein Mosque, who then went to al-Azhar to demonstrate. The wāli was subsequently dismissed from his post.

Napoleon invaded Egypt in July 1798, arriving in Alexandria on July 2 and moving on to Cairo on July 22. In a bid to placate both the Egyptian population and the Ottoman Empire, Napoleon gave a speech in Alexandria in which he proclaimed his respect for Islam and the Sultan:

People of Egypt, you will be told that I have come to destroy your religion: do not believe it! Answer that I have come to restore your rights and punish the usurpers, and that, more than the Mamluks, I respect God, his Prophet and the Koran ... Is it not we who have been through the centuries the friends of the Sultan?

On July 25 Napoleon set up a made up of nine al-Azhar sheikhs tasked with governing Cairo, the first body of Egyptians to hold official powers since the beginning of the Ottoman occupation. This practice of forming councils among the ulema of a city, first instituted in Alexandria, was put in place throughout French-occupied Egypt. Napoleon also unsuccessfully sought a from the al-Azhar imams that would deem it permissible under Islamic law to declare allegiance to Napoleon.

Napoleon's efforts to win over both the Egyptians and the Ottomans proved unsuccessful; the Ottoman Empire declared war on 9 September 1798, and a revolt against French troops was launched from al-Azhar on 21 October 1798. Egyptians armed with stones, spears, and knives rioted and looted. The following morning the diwan met with Napoleon in an attempt to bring about a peaceful conclusion to the hostilities. Napoleon, initially incensed, agreed to attempt a peaceful resolution and asked the sheikhs of the diwan to organize talks with the rebels. The rebels, believing the move indicated weakness among the French, refused. Napoleon then ordered that the city be fired upon from the Cairo Citadel, aiming directly at al-Azhar. During the revolt two to three hundred French soldiers were killed, with 3,000 Egyptian casualties. Six of the of al-Azhar were killed following summary judgments laid against them, with several more condemned. Any Egyptian caught by French troops was imprisoned or, if caught bearing weapons, beheaded. The French troops intentionally desecrated the mosque, walking in with their shoes on and guns displayed. The troops tied their horses to the mihrab and ransacked the student quarters and libraries, throwing copies of the Quran on the floor. The leaders of the revolt then attempted to negotiate a settlement with Napoleon, but were rebuffed.

Napoleon, who had been well respected in Egypt and had earned himself the nickname Sultan el-Kebir (the Great Sultan) among the people of Cairo, lost their admiration and was no longer so addressed. In March 1800, French General Jean Baptiste Kléber was assassinated by Suleiman al-Halabi, a student at al-Azhar. Following the assassination, Napoleon ordered the closing of the mosque; the doors remained bolted until Ottoman and British assistance arrived in August 1801.

The conservative tradition of the mosque, with its lack of attention to science, was shaken by Napoleon's invasion. A seminal innovation occurred with the introduction of printing presses to Egypt, finally enabling the curriculum to shift from oral lectures and memorization to instruction by text, though the mosque itself only acquired its own printing press in 1930. Upon the withdrawal of the French, Muhammad Ali Pasha encouraged the establishment of secular learning, and history, math, and modern science were adopted into the curriculum. By 1872, under the direction of Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī, European philosophy was also added to the study program.

Following the French withdrawal, Ali, the (governor) and self-declared (viceroy) of Egypt, sought to consolidate his newfound control of the country. To achieve this goal he took a number of steps to limit, and eventually eliminate, the ability of the al-Azhar ulema to influence the government. He imposed taxes on rizqa lands (tax-free property owned by mosques) and madrasas, from which al-Azhar drew a major portion of its income. In June 1809, he ordered that the deeds to all rizqa lands be forfeited to the state in a move that provoked outrage among the ulema. As a result, Umar Makram, the naqib al-ashraf, a prestigious Islamic post, led a revolt in July 1809. The revolt failed and Makram, an influential ally of the ulema, was exiled to Damietta.

Ali also sought to limit the influence of the al-Azhar sheikhs by allocating positions within the government to those educated outside of al-Azhar. He sent select students to France to be educated under a Western system and created an educational system based on that model that was parallel to, and thus bypassed, the system of al-Azhar.

Under the rule of Isma'il Pasha, the grandson of Muhammad Ali, major public works projects were initiated with the aim of transforming Cairo into a European styled city. These projects, at first funded by a boom in the cotton industry, eventually racked up a massive debt which was held by the British, providing an excuse for the British to occupy Egypt in 1882 after having pushed out Isma'il Pasha in 1879.

The reign of Isma'il Pasha also saw the return of royal patronage to al-Azhar. As khedive, Isma'il restored the Bab al-Sa'ayida (first built by Katkhuda) and the Madrasa al-Aqbughawiyya. Tewfik Pasha, Isma'il's son, who became khedive when his father was deposed as a result of British pressure, continued to restore the mosque. Tewfik renovated the prayer hall that was added by Katkhuda, aligned the southeastern facade of the hall with the street behind it, and remodeled the facade of the Madrasa al-Aqbughawiya along with several other areas of the mosque. Abbas Hilmi II succeeded his father Tewfik as khedive of Egypt and Sudan in 1892, and continued the renovations started by his grandfather Isma'il. He restructured the main facade of the mosque and built a new three-story riwaq in neo-Mamluk style along the mosque's southwestern corner (known as the Riwaq al-'Abbasi) which was completed in 1901. Under his rule, the Committee for the Conservation of Monuments of Arab Art (also known as the "Comité"), also restored the original Fatimid . These renovations were both needed and helped modernize al-Azhar and harmonize it with what was becoming a metropolis.

The major set of reforms that began under the rule of Isma'il Pasha continued under the British occupation. Muhammad Mahdi al-'Abbasi, sheikh al-Azhar, had instituted a set of reforms in 1872 intended to provide structure to the hiring practices of the university as well as to standardize the examinations taken by students. Further efforts to modernize the educational system were made under Hilmi's rule during the British occupation. The mosque's manuscripts were gathered into a centralized library, sanitation for students improved, and a regular system of exams instituted. From 1885, other colleges in Egypt were placed directly under the administration of the al-Azhar Mosque.

During Sa'ad Zaghloul's term as minister of education, before he went on to lead the Egyptian Revolution of 1919, further efforts were made to modify the educational policy of al-Azhar. While a bastion of conservatism in many regards, the mosque was opposed to Islamic fundamentalism, especially as espoused by the Muslim Brotherhood, founded in 1928. The school attracted students from throughout the world, including students from Southeast Asia and particularly Indonesia, providing a counterbalance to the influence of the Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia.

Under the reign of King Fuad I, two laws were passed that reorganized the educational structure at al-Azhar. The first of these, in 1930, split the school into three departments: Arabic language, , and theology, with each department located in buildings outside of the mosque throughout Cairo. Additionally, formal examinations were required to earn a degree in one of these three fields of study. Six years later, a second law was passed that moved the main office for the school to a newly constructed building across the street from the mosque. Additional structures were later added to supplement the three departmental buildings.

The ideas advocated by several influential reformers in the early 1900s, such as Muhammad Abduh and Muhammad al-Ahmadi al-Zawahiri, began to take hold at al-Azhar in 1928, with the appointment of Mustafa al-Maraghi as rector. A follower of Abduh, the majority of the ulema opposed his appointment. Al-Maraghi and his successors began a series of modernizing reforms of the mosque and its school, expanding programs outside of the traditional subjects. Fuad disliked al-Maraghi, and had him replaced after one year by al-Zawahiri, but al-Maraghi would return to the post of rector in 1935, serving until his death in 1945. Under his leadership, al-Azhar's curriculum was expanded to include non-Arabic languages and modern sciences. Al-Zawahiri, who had also been opposed by the ulema of the early 1900s, continued the efforts to modernize and reform al-Azhar. Following al-Maraghi's second term as rector, another student of Abduh was appointed rector.

Following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, led by the Free Officers Movement of Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser, in which the Egyptian monarchy was overthrown, the university began to be separated from the mosque. A number of properties that surrounded the mosque were acquired and demolished to provide space for a modern campus by 1955. The mosque itself would no longer serve as a school, and the college was officially designated a university in 1961. The 1961 law separated the dual roles of the educational institution and the religious institution which made judgments heeded throughout the Muslim world. The law also created secular departments within al-Azhar, such as colleges of medicine, engineering, and economics, furthering the efforts at modernization first seen following the French occupation. The reforms of the curriculum have led to a massive growth in the number of Egyptian students attending al-Azhar run schools, specifically youths attending primary and secondary schools within the al-Azhar system. The number of students reported to attend al-Azhar primary and secondary schools increased from under 90,000 in 1970 to 300,000 in the early 1980s, up to nearly one million in the early 1990s, and exceeding 1.3 million students in 2001.

During his tenure as Prime Minister, and later President, Nasser continued the efforts to limit the power of the ulema of al-Azhar and to use its influence to his advantage. In 1952, the were nationalized and placed under the authority of the newly created Ministry of Religious Endowments, cutting off the ability of the mosque to control its financial affairs. He abolished the sharia courts, merging religious courts with the state judicial system in 1955, severely limiting the independence of the ulema. The 1961 reform law, which invalidated an earlier law passed in 1936 that had guaranteed the independence of al-Azhar, gave the President of Egypt the authority to appoint the sheikh al-Azhar, a position first created during Ottoman rule and chosen from and by the ulema since its inception. Al-Azhar, which remained a symbol of the Islamic character of both the nation and the state, continued to influence the population while being unable to exert its will over the state. Al-Azhar became increasingly co-opted into the state bureaucracy after the revolution-independence of its curriculum and its function as a mosque ceased. The authority of the ulema were further weakened by the creation of government agencies responsible for providing interpretations of religious laws. While these reforms dramatically curtailed the independence of the ulema, they also had the effect of reestablishing their influence by integrating them further into the state apparatus. The 1961 reform law also provided the ulema with the resources of the state, though the purse strings were outside of their control. While Nasser sought to subjugate the ulema beneath the state, he did not allow more extreme proposals to limit the influence of al-Azhar. One such proposal was made by Taha Hussein in 1955. Hussein sought to dismantle the Azharite primary and secondary educational system and transform the university into a faculty of theology which would be included within the modern, secular, collegiate educational system. The ulema opposed this plan, though Nasser's choice of maintaining al-Azhar's status was due more to personal political considerations, such as the use of al-Azhar to grant legitimacy to the regime, than on the opposition of the ulema.

Al-Azhar, now fully integrated as an arm of the government, was then used to justify actions of the government. Although the ulema had in the past issued rulings that socialism is irreconcilable with Islam, following the Revolution's land reforms new rulings were supplied giving Nasser a religious justification for what he termed an "Islamic" socialism. The ulema would also serve as a counterweight to the Muslim Brotherhood, and to Saudi Arabia's Wahhabi influence. An assassination attempt on Nasser was blamed on the Brotherhood, and the organization was outlawed. Nasser, needing support from the ulema as he initiated mass arrests of Brotherhood members, relaxed some of the restrictions placed on al-Azhar. The ulema of al-Azhar in turn consistently supported him in his attempts to dismantle the Brotherhood, and continued to do so in subsequent regimes. Despite the efforts of Nasser and al-Azhar to discredit the Brotherhood, the organization continued to function. Al-Azhar also provided legitimacy for war with Israel in 1967, declaring the conflict against Israel a "holy struggle".

Following Nasser's death in 1970, Anwar Sadat became President of Egypt. Sadat wished to restore al-Azhar as a symbol of Egyptian leadership throughout the Arab world, saying that "the Arab world cannot function without Egypt and its Azhar". Recognizing the growing influence of the Muslim Brotherhood, Sadat relaxed several restrictions on the Brotherhood and the ulema as a whole. However, in an abrupt about-face, in September 1971 a crackdown was launched on journalists and organizations that Sadat felt were undermining or attacking his positions. As part of this effort to silence criticism of his policies, Sadat instituted sanctions against any of the ulema who criticized or contradicted official state policies. The ulema of al-Azhar continued to be used as a tool of the government, sparking criticism among several groups, including Islamist and other more moderate groups. Shukri Mustafa, an influential Islamist figure, accused the ulema of providing religious judgments for the sole purpose of government convenience. When Sadat needed support for making peace with Israel, which the vast majority of the Egyptian population regarded as an enemy, al-Azhar provided a decree stating that the time had come to make peace.

Hosni Mubarak succeeded Sadat as President of Egypt following Sadat's assassination in 1981. While al-Azhar would continue to oblige the government in granting a religious legitimacy to its dictates, the mosque and its clergy were given more autonomy under Mubarak's regime. Under Jad al-Haq, the sheikh of al-Azhar from 1982 until his death in 1994, al-Azhar asserted its independence from the state, at times criticizing policies of the state for instigating extremist Islamist sects. Al-Haq argued that if the government wished al-Azhar to effectively combat groups such as al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya then al-Azhar must be permitted greater independence from the state and for it to be allowed to make religious declarations without interference. Under Mubarak, a number of powers of the state were ceded to al-Azhar. During the 1990s, modifications to existing censorship laws gave al-Azhar the ability to censor both print and electronic media. Though the law stipulates that al-Azhar may only become involved following a complaint, in practice its role has been much more pervasive; for example, television scripts were routinely sent to al-Azhar for approval prior to airing.

Al-Azhar continues to hold a status above other Sunni religious authorities throughout the world, and as Sunnis form a large majority of the total Muslim population al-Azhar exerts considerable influence on the Islamic world as a whole. In addition to being the default authority within Egypt, al-Azhar has been looked to outside of Egypt for religious judgments. Prior to the Gulf War, Saudi Arabia's King Fahd asked for a fatwa authorizing the stationing of foreign troops within the kingdom, and despite Islam's two holiest sites being located within Saudi Arabia, he asked the head sheikh of al-Azhar instead of the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia. In 2003, Nicolas Sarkozy, at the time French Minister of the Interior, requested a judgment from al-Azhar allowing Muslim girls to not wear the hijab in French public schools, despite the existence of the French Council of Islam. The sheikh of al-Azhar provided the ruling, saying that while wearing the hijab is an "Islamic duty" the Muslim women of France are obligated to respect and follow French laws. The ruling drew much criticism within Egypt as compromising Islamic principles to convenience the French government, and in turn the Egyptian government.

Al-Azhar was not unaffected by the 2011 Egyptian revolution that saw the removal of Hosni Mubarak as president of Egypt. Student government elections in the months following the revolution resulted in an overwhelming victory for the once banned Muslim Brotherhood. Protests demanding that the military junta ruling Egypt restore the mosque's independence from the state broke out, and the mosque itself commissioned the writing of a draft law that would grant al-Azhar greater independence from the government. Within al-Azhar, debate on its future and rightful role within the state has replaced what had been a mollified single-voice in support of the policies of the Mubarak regime. The various views on al-Azhar's future role in Egypt come from several parties, including leading Islamist organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood, liberal voices that wish to see al-Azhar stand as a bulwark against ultra-conservative Islamists (known as Salafists), and those that hope to see al-Azhar become wholly independent from the state and in complete control of its finances, leadership, and further that it be placed in charge of the religious ministries of the state.

In 2020, representatives from the mosque spoke out against sexual violence in Egypt, prompted by the social media campaign instigated by student Nadeen Ashraf.

The architecture of al-Azhar is closely tied to the history of Cairo. Materials taken from multiple periods of Egyptian history, from the Ancient Egyptians, through Greek and Roman rule, to the Coptic Christian era, were used in the early mosque structure, which drew on other Fatimid structures in Ifriqiya. Later additions from the different rulers of Egypt likewise show influences from both within and outside of Egypt. Sections of the mosque show many of these influences blended together while others show a single inspiration, such as domes from the Ottoman period and minarets built by the Mamluks.

Initially built as a prayer hall with five aisles and a modest central courtyard, the mosque has since been expanded multiple times with additional installations completely surrounding the original structure. Many of Egypt's rulers have shaped the art and architecture of al-Azhar, from the minarets added by the Mamluks and the gates added during Ottoman rule to more recent renovations such as the installation of a new mihrab. None of the original minarets or domes have survived, with some of the current minarets having been rebuilt several times.

Completely surrounded by dependencies added as the mosque was used over time, the original structure was 280 feet (85 m) in length and 227 feet (69 m) wide, and comprised three arcades situated around a courtyard. To the southeast of the courtyard, the original prayer hall was built as a hypostyle hall, five aisles deep. Measuring 260 feet (79 m) by 75 feet (23 m), the qibla wall was slightly off the correct angle. The marble columns supporting the four arcades that made up the prayer hall were reused from sites extant at different times in Egyptian history, from Pharaonic times through Roman rule to Coptic dominance. The different heights of the columns were made level by using bases of varying thickness. The stucco exterior shows influences from Abbasid, Coptic and Byzantine architecture. Ultimately a total of three domes were built, a common trait among early north African mosques, although none of them have survived Al-Azhar's many renovations. The historian al-Maqrizi recorded that in the original dome al-Siqilli inscribed the following:

In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate; according to the command for its building from the servant of Allah, His governor abu Tamim Ma'ad, the Imam al-Mu'izz li-Dīn Allāh, Amir al-Mu'minin, for whom and his illustrious forefathers and his sons may there be the blessings of Allah: By the hand of his servant Jawhar, the Secretary, the Ṣiqillī in the year 360.

Gawhar included the honorific Amir al-Mu'minin, Commander of the Faithful, as the Caliphs title and also included his nickname "the Secretary" which he had earned serving as a secretary prior to becoming a general.

The original , uncovered in 1933, has a semi-dome above it with a marble column on either side. Intricate stucco decorations were a prominent feature of the mosque, with the mihrab and the walls ornately decorated. The mihrab had two sets of verses from the Quran inscribed in the conch, which is still intact. The first set of verses are the three that open al-Mu'minoon:

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ - الَّذِينَ هُمْ فِي صَلَاتِهِمْ خَاشِعُونَ - وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ عَنِ اللَّغْوِ مُعْرِضُونَ

Successful indeed are the believers - who are humble in their prayers - and who avoid vain talk

The next inscription is made up of verses 162 and 163 of al-An'am:

قُلْ إِنَّ صَلَاتِي وَنُسُكِي وَمَحْيَايَ وَمَمَاتِي لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ - لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَبِذَلِكَ أُمِرْتُ وَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ

Say: Surely my prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are (all) for Allah, the Lord of the worlds - No associate has He; and this am I commanded, and I am the first of those who submit.

These inscriptions are the only surviving piece of decoration that has been definitively traced to the Fatimids.

The marble paved central courtyard was added between 1009 and 1010. The arcades that surround the courtyard have keel shaped arches with stucco inscriptions. The arches were built during the reign of al-Hafiz li-Din Allah. The stucco ornaments also date to his rule and were redone in 1891. Two types of ornaments are used. The first appears above the center of the arch and consists of a sunken roundel and twenty-four lobes. A circular band of vegetal motifs was added in 1893. The second ornament used, which alternates with the first appearing in between each arch, consists of shallow niches below a fluted hood. The hood rests on engaged columns which are surrounded by band of Qu'ranic writing in Kufic script. The Qu'ranic script was added after the rule of al-Hafiz but during the Fatimid period. The walls are topped by a star shaped band with tiered triangular crenellations. The southeastern arcade of the courtyard contains the main entrance to the prayer hall. A Persian framing gate, in which the central arch of the arcade is further in with a higher rectangular pattern above it, opens into the prayer hall.

A new wooden door was installed during the reign of al-Hakim in 1009. In 1125, al-Amir installed a new wooden mihrab. An additional dome was constructed during the reign of al-Hafiz li-Din Allah. He additionally ordered the creation of a fourth arcade around the courtyard and had a porch built on the western end of the sahn.

The Fatimid dynasty was succeeded by the rule of Saladin and his Ayyubid dynasty. Initially appointed vizier by the last Fatimid Caliph Al-'Āḍid (who incorrectly thought he could be easily manipulated), Saladin consolidated power in Egypt, allying that country with the Sunni Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad. Distrusting al-Azhar for its Shi'a history, the mosque lost prestige during his rule. However, the succeeding Mamluk dynasty made restorations and additions to the mosque, overseeing a rapid expansion of its educational programs. Among the restorations was a modification of the mihrab, with the installation of a polychrome marble facing.

The Madrasa al-Taybarsiyya, which contains the tomb of Amir Taybars, was built in 1309. Originally intended to function as a complementary mosque to al-Azhar it has since been integrated with the rest of the mosque. The Maliki and Shāfi'ī madh'hab were studied in this madrasa, though it now is used to hold manuscripts from the library. The only surviving piece from the original is the qibla wall and its polychrome mihrab. Al-Maqrizi reported that the madrasa was used only for studying the Shāfi'ī while the historian Ibn Duqmaq reported that one of the liwans in the madrasa was reserved for Shāfi'ī teachings while the other was for Maliki teachings.

The madrasa was completely rebuilt by Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda, leaving only the southeastern wall and its mihrab untouched. The mihrab was described by K. A. C. Creswell as being "one of the finest in Cairo". The niche of the mihrab is 1.13 meters (3.7 ft) wide and 76 centimeters (30 in) deep. On each side of the niche stands a 2.78 meters (9.1 ft) high porphyry column. Above the columns are impost blocks decorated with colored geometrical designs. The semi-dome at the top of the mihrab is set within an outer arch. Surrounding this arch is a molding that forms a rectangular outer frame. This is the first mihrab in Egypt to have this type of frame. Inside the frame are glass mosaics depicting pomegranate trees.

A dome and minaret cover the Madrasa al-Aqbughawiyya, which contains the tomb of Amir Aqbugha, which was built in 1339. Intended by its founder, another Mamluk amir called Sayf al-Din Aqbugha 'Abd al-Wahid, to be a stand-alone mosque and school, the madrasa has since become integrated with the rest of the mosque. It includes both a small tomb chamber and a larger hall, both with mihrabs. The entrance, qibla wall, and the mihrab s with glass mosaics are all original, while the pointed dome was rebuilt in the Ottoman period. Parts of the facade were remodeled by Khedive Tewfik in 1888. The top of the minaret was remodelled by Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda so as to have a pointed top like the other Ottoman-style minarets he built around the entrances of the mosque, but at some point after 1932 the top was once again refashioned to end with a Mamluk-style finial which we see today.

Built in 1440, the Madrasa Gawhariyya contains the tomb of Gawhar al-Qanaqba'i, a Sudanese eunuch who became treasurer to the sultan. The floor of the madrasa is marble, the walls lined with cupboards, decoratively inlaid with ebony, ivory, and nacre. The tomb chamber is covered by small stone dome whose exterior is carved with an arabesque pattern, making it one for the earliest domes in Cairo with this type of decoration (later refined in the dome of Qaytay's mausoleum in the Northern Cemetery). The structure was restored between 1980 and 1982.

Built in 1483 or in 1495, it has a square base, a transitional segment leading into an octagonal shaft, then a 10-sided polygon shaft, followed by a cylindrical shaft that consists of 8 brick pillars, each two adjoined by bricks in between. The Minaret of Qaytbay also has three balconies, supported by , a form of stalactite vaulting which provide a smooth transition from a flat surface to a curved one (first recorded to have been used in Egypt in 1085), that adorn the minaret. The first shaft is octagonal is decorated with keel-arched panels on each side, with a cluster of three columns separating each panel. Above this shaft is the second octagonal shaft which is separated from the first by a balcony and decorated with plaiting. A second balcony separates this shaft with the final cylindrical shaft, decorated with four arches. Above this is the third balcony, crowned by the finial top of the minaret.

The minaret is believed to have been built in the area of an earlier, Fatimid-era brick minaret that had itself been rebuilt several times. Contemporary accounts suggest that the Fatimid minaret had defects in its construction and needed to be rebuilt several times, including once under the direction of Sadr al-Din al-Adhra'i al-Dimashqi al-Hanafi, the qadi al-qudat (Chief Justice of the Highest Court) during the rule of Sultan Baibars. Recorded to have been rebuilt again under Barquq in 1397, the minaret began to lean at a dangerous angle and was rebuilt in 1414 by Taj al-Din al-Shawbaki, the and of Cairo, and again in 1432. The Qaytbay minaret was built in its place as part of a reconstruction of the entrance to the mosque.

Directly across the courtyard from the entrance from the Bab al-Muzayinīn is the Gate of Qaytbay. It is a refined example of the late Mamuk architectural and decorative style. Built in 1495, this gate leads to the court of the prayer hall.

The double finial minaret was built in 1509 by Qansuh al-Ghuri. Sitting on a square base, the first shaft is octagonal, and four sides have a decorative keel arch, separated from the adjacent sides with two columns. The second shaft, a 12-sided polygon separated from the first by fretted balconies supported by muqarnas, is decorated with blue faience. A balcony separates the third level from the second shaft. The third level is made up of two rectangular shafts with horseshoe arches on each side of both shafts. Atop each of these two shafts rests a finial atop two identical onion shaped bulbs, with a balcony separating the finials from the shafts.

Several additions and restorations were made during Ottoman reign in Egypt, many of which were completed under the direction of Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda who nearly doubled the size of the mosque. Three gates were added by Katkhuda, the Bab al-Muzayinīn (see below), which became the main entrance to the mosque, the Bab al-Shurba (the Soup Gate), and the Bab al-Sa'ayida (the Gate of the Sa'idis). To each gate he added a pointed Ottoman-style minaret, of which one was later demolished during the creation of al-Azhar Street. For the Bab al-Muzayinīn, which was adjacent to the Madrasa al-Aqbughiyya, he remodelled the top of Aqbugha's minaret to make it resemble the other Ottoman minarets (though the top was later rebuilt again in a Mamluk style during the 20th century). Several riwaqs were added, including one for the blind students of al-Azhar, as well as refurbished during the Ottoman period. Katkhuda also added an additional prayer hall south of the original Fatimid hall, with an additional mihrab, doubling the total prayer area. His overall work reintegrated the mosque's disparate elements in a relatively unified whole.

Bab al-Muzayinīn

The Bab al-Muzayinīn ("Gate of the Barbers", Arabic: باب المزينين) was built in 1753. Credited to Katkhuda the gate has two doors, each surrounded by recessed arches. Two molded semi-circular arches with tympanums decorated with trefoils stand above the doors. Above the arches is a frieze with panels of cypress trees, a common trait of Ottoman work.

A free-standing minaret, built by Katkhuda, originally stood outside the gate. The minaret was demolished prior to the opening of al-Azhar street by Tewfik Pasha during modernization efforts which took place throughout Cairo.

The present main entrance to the mosque is the Bab al-Muzayinīn, which opens into the white marble-paved courtyard at the opposite end of the main prayer hall. To the northeast of the Bab al-Muzayinīn, the courtyard is flanked by the façade of the Madrasa al-Aqbughawiyya; the southwestern end of the courtyard leads to the Madrasa al-Taybarsiyya. Directly across the courtyard from the entrance to the Bab al-Muzayinīn is the Bab al-Gindi (Gate of Qaytbay), built in 1495, above which stands the minaret of Qaytbay. Through this gate lies the courtyard of the prayer hall.

The mihrab has recently been changed to a plain marble facing with gold patterns, replacing some of the Mamluk marble facing, but the stucco carvings in the semi-dome are likely from the Fatimid era.

Abu Zayd, Nasr Hamid; Amirpur, Katajun; Setiawan, Mohamad Nur Kholis (2006), Reformation of Islamic thought: a critical historical analysis, Amsterdam University Press, ISBN 978-90-5356-828-6

Barraclough, Steven (1998), "Al-Azhar: Between the Government and the Islamists", Middle East Journal, 52 (2): 236-249, JSTOR 4329188

Bloom, Jonathan (1988), "The Introduction of the Muqarnas into Egypt", in Grabar, Oleg (ed.), Muqarnas: An Annual on Islamic Art and Architecture, 5, Brill, pp. 21-28, ISBN 978-90-04-08647-0

Brown, Nathan (September 2011), Post-revolutionary al-Azhar (PDF), The Carnegie Papers, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Creswell, K. A. C. (1952), The Muslim Architecture of Egypt I, Ikhshids and Fatimids, A.D. 939-1171, Clarendon Press

Creswell, K. A. C. (1959), The Muslim Architecture of Egypt II, Ayyubids and Early Bahrite Mamluks, A.D. 1171-1326, Clarendon Press

Dodge, Bayard (1961), Al-Azhar: A Millennium of Muslim learning, Middle East Institute

Ghazzal, Zuhair (2005), "The 'Ulema': Status and Function", in Choueiri, Youssef (ed.), A companion to the history of the Middle East, Wiley-Blackwell, ISBN 978-1-4051-0681-8

Gottheil, Richard (1907), "Al-Azhar The Brilliant: The Spiritual Home of Islam", The Bookman, Dodd, Mead and Company

Heyworth-Dunne, James (1938), "Arabic Literature in Egypt in the Eighteenth Century with Some Reference to the Poetry and Poets", Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London, 9 (3): 675-689, doi:10.1017/s0041977x00078447, JSTOR 608229

Holt, Peter Malcolm; Lambton, Ann; Lewis, Bernard, eds. (1977), The Cambridge History of Islam, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-29138-5

Petry, Carl F.; Daly, M. W., eds. (1998), The Cambridge history of Egypt, 1, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-47137-4

Rabbat, Nasser (1996), "Al-Azhar Mosque: An Architectural Chronicle of Cairo's History", in Necipogulu, Gulru (ed.), Muqarnas- An Annual on the Visual Culture of the Islamic World, 13, Brill, pp. 45-67, ISBN 978-90-04-10633-8

Richmond, John C. B. (1977), Egypt, 1798-1952: her advance towards a modern identity, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 978-0-416-85660-6

Russell, Dorothea (1962), Medieval Cairo and the Monasteries of the Wādi Natrūn, Weidenfeld & Nicolson

Tibi, Bassam (2006), "Egypt as a Model of Development for the World of Islam", in Harrison, Lawrence E.; Berger, Peter (eds.), Developing cultures: case studies, CRC Press, ISBN 978-0-415-95280-4

Williams, Caroline (2018), Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide (7th ed.), American University in Cairo Press, ISBN 978-977-416-855-0

Zeghal, Malika (1999), "Religion and Politics in Egypt; The Ulema of al-Azhar, Radical Islam, and the State (1952-94)", International Journal of Middle East Studies, 31 (3): 371-399, doi:10.1017/s0020743800055483, JSTOR 176217

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Al-Azhar Mosque ( Arabic: الجامع الأزهر, al-Jāmiʿ al-ʾAzhar, 'The Resplendent Congregational Mosque'), known simply in Egypt as al-Azhar, is an Egyptian mosque in Islamic Cairo. Jawhar al-Siqilli commissioned its construction for the newly established capital city in 970. Its name is usually thought to derive from az-Zahrāʾ (meaning "the shining one"), a title given to Fatimah bent Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam.

# data[].attributes.body
This is a traditional sport that is unique to the Middle East. Lots of tourists will attend this traditional sport. Because of COVID the races have been canceled, and the camel owners have suffered severe financial loss (losing money).

# data[].attributes.body
Traditional musical instrument, the Oud, usually has 11 strings. This musical instrument is disappearing because this instrument is made by special materials, and by hand. This kind of musical instrument does not attract people for making money. People want to be famous and wealthy, so not a lot of people would like to study it.

# data[].attributes.body
This kind transit was banned in 2014, but only for less than one year. The government is trying to regulate the Tuk-Tuks with required licenses. So far, only 10% of the Tuk-Tuks are legal.

# data[].attributes.body
Very old fashioned social transportation, however, nowadays we have better transportation. These kinds of traditional methods are now specializing for tourism. Moreover, the reason why the amount of camel rides are decreasing is because modern transportation methods are more economical.

# data[].attributes.body
Very similar to the ancient tambourine, this instrument has been found around the world in culture. This kind of instrument is a cultural instrument, usually played at weddings and other cultural events, so playing the instrument is just for a hobby and not a major income source. This is why this instrument is disappearing.

# data[].attributes.body
Rationale
For this project, I am going to explain Egypt’s culture in different aspects by creating a virtual cultural museum with Padlet teaching in an online community about Egypt, formally known as the Arab Republic of Egypt. The topics that I am going to analyze in this article are festivals, architecture, language, sports, religion, art, transportation, music, food, and handicrafts in Egypt. Many minority cultures and smaller cultures in developing countries have been superseded by globalization. Because of globalization, the world has become mono-culture and lacks diversity.