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The Treasures of the Pyramids
Edited by
Zahi HawassIntroduced byH.E. Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak
Besides being among the most marvelous architectural achievements of ancient history, the pyramids are the most visible aspect of the unique religious and metaphysical beliefs of ancient Egypt. As the point of contact between earth and heaven, the human and the divine, the pyramids were the means by which the soul of the pharaoh ascended to heaven to join his celestial father, Ra.
The pyramids are still shrouded in mystery—despite all the research and studies carried out, for example, we still do not know for certain how they were built—but recent excavations and research have thrown new light on these monuments, on the lives of the workers who built them, and on the court dignitaries who were granted the privilege of a burial place near that of their king. Although the pyramids at Giza are the best known, there are others that are more ancient and less grandiose, and here for the first time, all the most important Old Kingdom pyramids and the great necropolises of Memphis are brought together, examined, and reinterpreted in light of the most recent discoveries. Their descriptions are accompanied by maps, plans, and reconstructions that take the reader on a journey of discovery into the exalted world and unique civilization that developed on the banks of the Nile during the fourth and third millennia BC.
Edited by Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities and the excavator of many recent discoveries, and with texts written by some of the world’s leading Egyptologists, Treasures of the Pyramids reveals the secrets of the pyramids, describes the vicissitudes of the most famous dynasties, and illustrates—with specially commissioned photographs—the most famous tombs in the world and the treasures they contained.
15 September 2003
Hardbound
400 pp.Over 600 color illus.
25.5X35.5cm
The Treasures of the Pyramids
Edited by
Zahi HawassIntroduced byH.E. Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak
Besides being among the most marvelous architectural achievements of ancient history, the pyramids are the most visible aspect of the unique religious and metaphysical beliefs of ancient Egypt. As the point of contact between earth and heaven, the human and the divine, the pyramids were the means by which the soul of the pharaoh ascended to heaven to join his celestial father, Ra.
The pyramids are still shrouded in mystery—despite all the research and studies carried out, for example, we still do not know for certain how they were built—but recent excavations and research have thrown new light on these monuments, on the lives of the workers who built them, and on the court dignitaries who were granted the privilege of a burial place near that of their king. Although the pyramids at Giza are the best known, there are others that are more ancient and less grandiose, and here for the first time, all the most important Old Kingdom pyramids and the great necropolises of Memphis are brought together, examined, and reinterpreted in light of the most recent discoveries. Their descriptions are accompanied by maps, plans, and reconstructions that take the reader on a journey of discovery into the exalted world and unique civilization that developed on the banks of the Nile during the fourth and third millennia BC.
Edited by Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities and the excavator of many recent discoveries, and with texts written by some of the world’s leading Egyptologists, Treasures of the Pyramids reveals the secrets of the pyramids, describes the vicissitudes of the most famous dynasties, and illustrates—with specially commissioned photographs—the most famous tombs in the world and the treasures they contained.
15 September 2003
Hardbound
400 pp.Over 600 color illus.
25.5X35.5cm
The Treasures of the Pyramids
Edited by
Zahi HawassIntroduced byH.E. Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak
Besides being among the most marvelous architectural achievements of ancient history, the pyramids are the most visible aspect of the unique religious and metaphysical beliefs of ancient Egypt. As the point of contact between earth and heaven, the human and the divine, the pyramids were the means by which the soul of the pharaoh ascended to heaven to join his celestial father, Ra.
The pyramids are still shrouded in mystery—despite all the research and studies carried out, for example, we still do not know for certain how they were built—but recent excavations and research have thrown new light on these monuments, on the lives of the workers who built them, and on the court dignitaries who were granted the privilege of a burial place near that of their king. Although the pyramids at Giza are the best known, there are others that are more ancient and less grandiose, and here for the first time, all the most important Old Kingdom pyramids and the great necropolises of Memphis are brought together, examined, and reinterpreted in light of the most recent discoveries. Their descriptions are accompanied by maps, plans, and reconstructions that take the reader on a journey of discovery into the exalted world and unique civilization that developed on the banks of the Nile during the fourth and third millennia BC.
Edited by Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities and the excavator of many recent discoveries, and with texts written by some of the world’s leading Egyptologists, Treasures of the Pyramids reveals the secrets of the pyramids, describes the vicissitudes of the most famous dynasties, and illustrates—with specially commissioned photographs—the most famous tombs in the world and the treasures they contained.
15 September 2003
Hardbound
400 pp.Over 600 color illus.
25.5X35.5cm
Lughatuna al-Fusha
A New Course in Modern Standard Arabic: Book One
Samia LouisAn innovative and highly structured course for teaching Arabic to beginners
Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the literary language of today’s books, media, and formal communication throughout the Arab world, the region’s principal shared language of written and official discourse. The first book in this new series for the classroom is designed for adult learners of the language at the beginner stage.
Drawing on her years of experience as an Arabic instructor, author Samia Louis has developed a course rich in everyday contexts and real-life, practical language, along with a wide range of grammar-learning strategies to allow students to deploy the language with confidence. Written in accordance with the ACTFL guidelines for teaching Arabic as a foreign language, the course is conceived in such a way to make the study of Arabic language and grammar easier for the student.
Book 1 is divided into ten chapters, focusing on specific everyday situations, including greetings and introductions; people and names; numbers, dates, and telephone numbers; and directions and addresses. The chapters allow for the gradual acquisition of vocabulary and grammar, the exercises at the end of each chapter covering all the crucial skills of listening, reading, writing, and pronunciation, with emphasis on reading and writing. For the accompanying video films of real-life situations covered in the chapters click here. The book is further supported by interactive reading, writing, and grammar drills accessible through the Internet. Click here to listen to the tracks on Soundcloud.
Paperback
356 pp.Illustrated
17X24cm
27.50
In the Spider’s Room
A Novel
Muhammad AbdelnabiTranslated by Jonathan Wright
Hani was out for an evening stroll near Cairo’s Tahrir Square when a heavy hand landed on his shoulder. An informant had identified him, and he was thrown into the back of a police truck. There began a seven-month nightmare as he was swept up, along with fifty other men, in the infamous Queen Boat affair that targeted Egypt’s gay community.
Finally free, but traumatized into speechlessness, Hani writes down the events of his life—his first sexual desires, his relationship with his mother, his marriage of convenience, and his passion for Abdel Aziz, the only man he ever truly loved.
In the Spider’s Room is a sensitive and courageous account of life as a gay man in Egypt.
15 September 2018
Paperback
264 pp.13.5X20cm
9.99
Diary of a Jewish Muslim
A Novel
Kamal RuhayyimTranslated by Sarah Enany
Egyptian Muslims and Jews were not always at odds. Before the Arab–Israeli wars, before the mass exodus of Jews from Egypt, there was harmony.
Spanning the 1930s to the 1960s, this sweeping novel accompanies Galal, a young boy with a Jewish mother and a Muslim father, through his childhood and boyhood in a vibrant popular quarter of Cairo. With his schoolboy crushes and teen rebellions, Galal is deeply Egyptian, knit tightly into the middle-class fabric of manners, morals, and traditions that cheerfully incorporates and transcends religion—a fabric about to be torn apart by a bigger world of politics that will put Galal’s very identity to the test.
Paperback
296 pp.13.5X20cm
9.99
Of Sea and Sand
A Novel
Denyse WoodsGabriel Sherlock arrives in Oman in 1982, fleeing shame and disaster back home in Ireland, and begins an intense affair with a woman whom no one else has seen. Locals insist she must be one of the jinn—a supernatural being—but Gabriel refuses to buy into the folklore, despite her sudden, unexplained disappearance.
Twenty-six years later, Irishwoman Thea Kerrigan lands in Muscat, chasing her own ghosts from the past, and is approached by Gabriel, who believes she is his lost lover. Certain that they have never met before, Thea is nonetheless drawn to this deluded, and perhaps dangerous, stranger and the rumors that surround him.
8 October 2018
Paperback
316 pp.13.5X20cm
9.99
Akhenaten
Egypt's False Prophet
Nicholas ReevesOne of the most compelling and controversial figures in history, Akhenaten has captured the imagination like no other Egyptian pharaoh besides Tutankhamun. Known today as a heretic, Akhenaten sought to impose upon Egypt and its people the worship of a single god—the sun—and in so doing radically transformed the country. In this immensely readable reevaluation, Nicholas Reeves offers an entirely new perspective on the turbulent events of Akhenaten’s reign. His narrative provides fresh insight into questions that have baffled scholars for generations—the puzzle of the body in Tomb 55 in the Valley of the Kings; the fate of Nefertiti, Akhenaten’s beautiful wife; the identity of their mysterious successor, Smenkhkare; and the theory that Tutankhamun, Akhenaten’s son and true heir, was murdered. Reeves gives us a revolutionary interpretation of a revolutionary king, and an apocalyptic vision of a time through which few would have wished to live.
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Paperback
256 pp.80 illus.
20x13cm
Alif 39
Transnational Drama: Theater and Performance
Edited by Ferial GhazoulThis issue of Alif explores drama in its many manifestations-—textual plays, performances, folk drama, choreographed story-telling, staged poetry recitals, and protest songs—as well as presenting modes of directing and production, comparative dramaturgy, specialized theater journals, experimental and independent troupes, testimonies and interviews. The issue covers dramatic works from eighteenth-century France to twenty-first century Britain and covers geographically Senegal to Lebanon, the US to China, while highlighting major dramatists from Egypt, Syria, and Morocco. The translations in this issue cover manifestos towards a new Arab Theater and an introduction to the recently published plays of Frantz Fanon.
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15 October 2019
Paperback
464 pp.16.5X24cm
75
The Woman from Tantoura
A Novel of Palestine
Radwa AshourTranslated by Kay Heikkinen
Palestine. For most of us, the word brings to mind a series of confused images and disjointed associations—massacres, refugee camps, UN resolutions, settlements, terrorist attacks, war, occupation, checkered kuffiyehs and suicide bombers, a seemingly endless cycle of death and destruction. This novel does not shy away from such painful images, but it is first and foremost a powerful human story, following the life of a young girl from her days in the village of al-Tantoura in Palestine up to the dawn of the new century. We participate in events as they unfold, seeing them through the uneducated but sharply intelligent mind of Ruqayya, as she tries to make sense of all that has happened to her and her family. With her, we live her love of her land and of her people; we feel the repeated pain of loss, of diaspora, and of cross-generational misunderstanding; and above all, we come to know her indomitable human spirit. As we read we discover that we have become part of Ruqayya’s family, and her voice will remain with us long after we have closed the book.
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Paperback
414 pp.13X20.5cm
11.99
Manhood Is Not Easy
Egyptian Masculinities through the Life of Musician Sayyid Henkish
Karin van NieuwkerkIn this in-depth ethnography, Karin van Nieuwkerk takes the autobiographical narrative of Sayyid Henkish, a musician from a long family tradition of wedding performers in Cairo, as a lens through which to explore changing notions of masculinity in an Egyptian community over the course of a single lifetime.
Central to Henkish’s story is his own conception of manhood, which is closely tied to the notion of ibn al-balad, the ‘authentically Egyptian’ lower-middle class male, with all its associated values of nobility, integrity, and toughness. How to embody these communal ideals while providing for his family in the face of economic hardship and the perceived moral ambiguities associated with his work in the entertainment trade are key themes in his narrative.
Van Nieuwkerk situates his account within a growing body of literature on gender that sees masculinity as a lived experience that is constructed and embodied in specific social and historical contexts. In doing so, she shows that the challenges faced by Henkish are not limited to the world of entertainment and that his story offers profound insights into socioeconomic and political changes taking place in Egypt at large and the ways in which these transformations impact and unsettle received notions of masculinity.
“An extraordinary work of meticulous scholarship.”―Midwest Book Review
To read an excerpt, click here.
For the Table of Contents, click here.
...read more
Hardbound
224 pp.18 b/w in photo section
15x23cm
Abdelhalim Ibrahim Abdelhalim
An Architecture of Collective Memory
James SteeleSince 1945, the globalization of education and the professionalization of architects and engineers, as well as the conceptualization and production of space, can be seen as a product of battles of legitimacy that were played out in the context of the Cold War and what came after. In this book James Steele provides an informative and compelling analysis of one of Egypt’s foremost contemporary architects, Abdelhalim Ibrahim Abdelhalim, and his work during a period of Egypt’s attempts at constructing an identity and cultural legitimacy within the post–Second World War world order.
Born in 1941 in the small town of Sornaga just south of Cairo, Abdelhalim received his architectural training in Egypt and the United States, and is the designer of over one hundred cultural, institutional, and rehabilitation projects, including the Cultural Park for Children in Cairo, the American University in Cairo campus in New Cairo, the Egyptian Embassy in Amman, and the Uthman Ibn Affan Mosque in Qatar. The first comprehensive study of the work and career of Abdelhalim and his office, the Community Design Collaborative (CDC), which he established in Cairo in 1978, Abdelhalim Ibrahim Abdelhalim: An Architecture of Collective Memory is inspired by Abdelhalim’s deep belief in the power of rituals as a guiding force behind various human behaviors and the spaces in which they are enacted and designed to play out. Each chapter is consequently dedicated to one of these rituals and the ways in which some of Abdelhalim’s primary commissions have, at all levels of scale, revealed and expressed that ritual. In the sequence presented these are: the rituals of possession, reverence, order, the transmission of knowledge, procession, human institutions, geometry, light, the sense of place, materiality, and finally, the ritual of color.
To read an excerpt, click here.
For the Table of Contents, click here.
Abdelhalim Ibrahim Abdelhalim is the 2020 laureate of Tamayouz Excellence Award’s highest accolade, the Tamayouz Lifetime Achievement Award. Click here to read more.
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15 January 2019
Hardbound
216 pp.207 color and b/w
21x28cm
45.00
Clouds over Alexandria
Ibrahim Abdel MeguidTranslated by Kay Heikkinen
In the 1970s, once-cosmopolitan Alexandria was at the forefront of the clash between Nasser’s socialist-era principles and the burgeoning fundamentalist movement. Five idealistic students find themselves caught up in this tangled web, as their leftist activism makes them a target both from government surveillance and the Islamist groups seeking to curtail the city’s social life. The group of friends’ participation in the explosive ‘bread riots’ is swiftly followed by the crushing experience of prison, and the course of their young lives changes irrevocably.
The final part in Ibrahim Abdel Meguid’s Alexandria trilogy conjures up this turbulent era in rich detail. This story of young love, aspiration for social change, disillusionment and frustration will resonate with readers today.
15 May 2019
Paperback
320 pp.13X20.5cm
11.99
Guard of the Dead
A Novel
George YarakTranslated by Raphael Cohen
Shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction
Abir scrapes a living in a Beirut hospital morgue, stealing from both the bodies he tends and his bosses. But he has a dark history that continues to haunt him. Earlier in the civil war, he fled his village for Beirut and, lost in the big city, joined a political party to survive. When he is kidnapped from the hospital, he knows he has not escaped his past and the many crimes he witnessed. But what or who is still chasing him?
George Yarak’s gripping mystery novel captures the tragi-comic disorder of war with a dark sense of irony.
15 May 2019
Paperback
244 pp.13X20.5cm
10.99
All That I Want to Forget
A Novel
Bothayna Al-EssaTranslated byMichele Henjum
Fatima loves poetry and wants to study French literature—both of which are anathema to her strict and conservative much older brother, Saqr. While living under his roof, Fatima’s hopes and dreams are scrutinized, mocked, and slowly crushed as she is forced into his narrow vision of the right path.
Then Fatima meets Isam, a poet like her; they email love letters to each other and meet in secret. Saqr, however, has other ideas: she is married off to Faris, a complete stranger. He is not the cruel tyrant her brother was, but still she did not choose him.
Will she escape her past to live the life of love and poetry she craves?
15 February 2019
Paperback
270 pp.13X20.5cm
10.99
Bilhana
Wholefood Recipes from Egypt, Lebanon and Morocco
Yasmine ElgharablyShewekar Elgharably
Photographs by Yehia El-Alaily
Middle Eastern cuisine is renowned the world over for its sophistication, variety, and flavor. Bilhana (Egyptian for ‘bon appétit’) brings a contemporary twist to traditional Middle Eastern dishes with the use of healthy cooking methods and the freshest ingredients the region has to offer. Spanning the vast area south of the Mediterranean from the East (Lebanon and Egypt) to the West (Morocco), from simple mezze or breakfast dishes to elaborate stews and roasts, the recipes in this book showcase the vibrant colors and immense variety of Middle Eastern cooking as well as being easy to follow. Included are recipes for Roasted Eggplant with Tahini, Alexandrian Grilled Shrimp, Shakshuka, Moroccan Lamb Stew, Vegan Moussaka, Green Beans in Garlic and Caramelized Onions, Pomegranate and Guava Salad, and much more. Exquisitely illustrated with more than 130 full-color photographs.
To read an excerpt, click here.
For the Table of Contents, click here.
...read more
25 May 2021
Hardbound
224 pp.130 illus.
21x24cm
29.95
A History of Arab Graphic Design
Bahia ShehabHaytham Nawar
Arab graphic design emerged in the early twentieth century out of a need to influence, and give expression to, the far-reaching economic, social, and political changes that were taking place in the Arab world at the time. But graphic design as a formally recognized genre of visual art only came into its own in the region in the twenty-first century and, to date, there has been no published study on the subject to speak of. A History of Arab Graphic Design traces the people and events that were integral to the shaping of a field of graphic design in the Arab world. Examining the work of over eighty key designers from Morocco to Iraq, and covering the period from pre-1900 to the end of the twentieth century, Bahia Shehab and Haytham Nawar chart the development of design in the region, beginning with Islamic art and Arabic calligraphy, and their impact on Arab visual culture, through to the digital revolution and the arrival of the Internet. They look at how cinema, economic prosperity, and political and cultural events gave birth to and shaped the founders of Arab graphic design. Highlighting the work of key designers and stunningly illustrated with over 600 color images, A History of Arab Graphic Design is an invaluable resource tool for graphic designers, one which, it is hoped, will place Arab visual culture and design on the map of a thriving international design discourse.
To read an excerpt, click here.
For the Table of Contents, click here.
15 December 2020
Paperback
360 pp.659 color illustrations
24x20cm
39.95
A History of Egypt
From Earliest Times to the Present Third Edition
Jason ThompsonThis cohesive account of Egypt’s millennia-long past offers readers a sure guide through the corridors of Egypt’s past, from the mysterious predynastic kingdoms to the nation-state of the twenty-first century. The author addresses central issues such as how Egyptian history can be treated as a whole and how the west has shaped prevailing images of it, both through direct contact and through the lens of western scholarship. Drawing on current historical scholarship and his own research, Jason Thompson has written a remarkable work of synthesis and concision, offering students, travelers, and general readers alike an engaging one-volume narrative of the extraordinarily long course of human history by the Nile.
This updated paperback edition contains new material on the 25 January Revolution, the rise and fall of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the new era of President Sisi.
20 January 2019
Paperback
494 pp.80 b/w illus.
14x21cm
16.95
Securing Eternity
Ancient Egyptian Tomb Protection from Prehistory to the Pyramids
Reg ClarkThe ancient Egyptian tomb evolved rapidly over a period of about 2,500 years, from a simple backfilled pit to an enormous stone pyramid with complex security arrangements. Much of this development was arguably driven by the ever-present threat of tomb robbery, which compelled tomb builders to introduce special architectural measures to prevent it. However, until now most scholarly Egyptological discussions of tomb security have tended to be brief and usually included only as part of a larger work, the topic instead being the subject of lurid speculation and fantasy in novels, the popular press, and cinema.
In Securing Eternity, Reg Clark traces in detail the development of the Egyptian royal and private tombs from the Predynastic Period to the early Fourth Dynasty. In doing so, he demonstrates that many of the familiar architectural elements of the Egyptian tomb that we take for granted today in fact originated from security features to protect the tomb, rather than from monumental or religious considerations. Richly illustrated with more than 150 photographs and tomb plans, this unique study will be of interest to students, specialists, and general readers alike.
20 December 2018
Hardbound
376 pp.158
15X23cm
39.95
Yalla!
Let's Learn Egyptian Colloquial Arabic Verbs
Dina El DikEmad Iskander
Mastering the conjugation of Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA) verbs is an essential part of the student’s learning process, and it is equally challenging for instructors to ensure that the student has internalized them correctly. Yalla! Let’s Learn Egyptian Colloquial Arabic Verbs is a practical tool to help both students and teachers of Arabic in the classroom. The book presents the three hundred most frequently used verbs in ECA, each one categorized according to ECA verb patterns, which are based on those used in Modern Standard Arabic.
The verbs are fully conjugated in the present/imperfect and past/perfect tenses in the affirmative and the negative, each entry also listing imperatives and active participles. This resource focuses on pronunciation, rather than reading or writing, in order to help students gain fluency in spoken Egyptian Arabic. To this end, each verb in the book is spelled phonetically.
To read an excerpt, click here.
For the Table of Contents, click here.
...read more
29 October 2021
Paperback
352 pp.17X24cm
25