Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want to. If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can, but does not want to, he is wicked. If, as they say, God can abolish evil, and God really wants to do it, why is there evil in the world?
~ Epicurus

Thursday, November 22, 2007

King Tut's face unveiled to world

The face of Egypt's most famous ancient ruler, King Tutankhamun, has been put on public display for the first time.

Archaeologists took the mummy from its stone sarcophagus and placed


it in a climate-controlled case inside his tomb in Luxor's Valley of
the Kings.

The event comes 85 years to the day after the pharaoh's tomb was discovered by British explorer Howard Carter.

Until now, only about 50 living people have seen the face of the boy king, who died more than 3,000 years ago.

As experts lifted Tutankhamun from his coffin they briefly set

aside the white linen covering his remains, revealing a shrivelled

black face and body.

The move is part of a plan to protect the remains. Archaeologists

say they are under threat from the heat and the humidity brought into
the tomb by the vast numbers of tourists visiting each year.

"The golden boy has magic and mystery and therefore every person all

over the world will see what Egypt is doing to preserve the golden boy,

and all of them I am sure will come to see the golden boy," Egypt's
antiquities chief Zahi Hawass told reporters before the body was moved.

Tutankhamun ruled Egypt from 1333-1324 BC and is believed to have ascended to the throne aged about nine.

Although in life he was of only moderate historical significance,
in death Tutankhamun achieved worldwide fame thanks to the virtually

intact state of his tomb when it was opened by Carter in 1922.

The tomb was packed with a fabulous trove of gold and ebony
treasures of such luxury that when Carter first looked inside the tomb

and was asked if he saw anything, his famous reply was: "Yes, wonderful

things."

Cause of death

The centrepiece of the tomb was the pharaoh's mummified body,
covered in amulets and jewels and wearing a solid gold burial mask.

In an effort to extricate the treasures, Carter and his team cut
the body into pieces, chopping off the limbs and head, and using hot

knives and wires to remove the gold mask which was fused to
Tutankhamun's face by the embalming process.

The body was reconstructed and returned to its original sarcophagus in
1926, only being removed for x-ray testing three times in subsequent
years.

The treasures that were unearthed have captivated the world and drawn millions to the Valley of the Kings.

Questions over why Tutankhamun died at about the age of 19, and
rumours of a curse prematurely killing those involved with the
excavation of his tomb, have only increased the pharaoh's fame.

When the body was x-rayed in 1968, a shard of bone was found in his skull, prompting speculation that he was killed by a blow.

Some historians have argued he was killed for attempting to bring
back polytheism having succeeded Akhenaten, who had abandoned Egypt's
old gods in favour of monotheism.

However a CT scan of his remains in 2005 led researchers to say
that he was not murdered and may have died of complications from a
broken leg.

Egyptian antiquities chief Zahi Hawass said the research suggests
the boy king died after the wound became infected, and though not all

of the team agreed with the diagnosis, all rejected the long-standing

murder charge.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Gamal Mubarak

Anyone who is looking at the political arena in Egypt right now will realize without any great effort that the inheritance of presidency from the incumbent father to the son is going ahead.The last conference of the NDP confirmed that. Despite the fact that Egyptians with all the sectors of society are unable to accept that idea but that wont stop the process in the light of having a weak opposition parties,ghostly civil society and the crippled Islamic brotherhood. The mocking parliament will say as usual with 99.9% yes to the process and in fact the initiative will come from inside the parliament..so this is a fact no one can change and not a single Egyptian can do anything to stop it. Dont forget that the Military had been put away from politics for good and the overwhelming brutality and influence of the police...So thats the Situation now in real and on the land..What should as Egyptians ,we do...?
First lets think rationally and without any emotional or anger what are the alternatives we actually have ? Yes We know Egypt is a great country that has a history and civilization and cant be ruled the same way as the bedouin Gulf countries ruled... yes we had Democracy long time ago and we were pioneers in this field from 1919 till 1952.. but we also had dictatorships from 1952 till now that crippled the means of democracy and the society..so if not Gamal...who else?
In the light of the new regulations made by the NDP the group thats entitled to run for the office the best one of them is in fact whether we like it or not is Gamal Mubarak. the rest like Al Sherif or Kamal Shazly or Sorour are corrupted and it will be a tragedy even if they just think to run..rather than be elected...
We also dont need another miltiary officer no matter what...we have tried them more than half a century and no one crippled the country like they did... Then who else...?The Muslim Brotherhood? Come on we dont need another Wahabiis who will push us backward a century or more and in fact we will lose the whole country if they just once put heir hands on power..We will live again in Dark ages...
In fact I dont see much choice to think of or to consider...the only one who jumps is Gamal whether we like it or not and he will be chosen...
So since this is the real fact we are facing on the land why dont we think about its negativity and its positivity...The man has many positive sides..he is civilian...he is well educated...he already knows the system and has some good ideas and experience...You will say there are many who have the same expeience or civilians...but do they have a chance? on the other negative side he carries the bad history of his father .I think many of the people who oppose him only their refusal comes from the hatred for the father and his regime. We are blaming the guy for the father's mistakes and in some sense it isnt fair and in others he can be blamed...He has been near his father long enough to see the corruption,the Al-Adly brutality and the human rights abuse and he did nothing...
So can we change the situation? Guess not.. so what are we supposed to do? To be realistic we have to make the utmost benefit of the situation...thats in my personal opinion...Since we cant stop the inheritance father-son process and since there is no clear alternative for the guy we as Egyptians should discuss it openly..yes no problem he can be elected but in a process that guarantuees this wont ever happen again..a negotiation situation...Yes we let you become a president but the whole process must be overhauled...no more than two presidency terms in office...No more authoritative and unquestioned power for the president...the guarantuee of civil liberties..the freedom of forming strong political parties with no religious background..The independence of the judicial system..free fair elections that can bring us clean honest parliament members who are not corrupted or just stamp holders...more powers given to the parliament and civil society..if we suceed to get that out of the inheritance process it will be a great progress for Egypt...but if we keep yelling ,arguing and doing nothing..we are losers..we wont achieve anything and he will be elected trust me..

Friday, November 9, 2007

عشان انت مصرى

احمد فؤاد نجم


عشان انت مصرى لازم تعانى

وتفقد كرامتك بكل المعانى

وتحرق فى دمك سنين مش ثوانى

واوعى تصدق كلام الاغانى

بتاع الحضاره وكانى ومانى

ده كله هجايص مايدخل ودانى

عشان انت مصرى العذاب بيناديك

بتبدا فى يومك حاجات بترازيك

فى نومك فى قومك تعكنن عليك

تضايقك ولسه العماص فى عينيك

مافيش ميه تشطف صابونه فى ايديك

وجسمك ملزق وريحتك عاديك

فتلبس وتنزل وفيك اللى فيك






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Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Cleopatra











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Tuesday, October 30, 2007

thanks to Arabist



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Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Abu Simbel3

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