Cities, Antiquities, and Images of Life in the New Memory of Egypt Issue
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The BA issued a new edition of the Memory of Egypt magazine; a quarterly magazine that focuses on documenting Egypt’s modern and contemporary history.
This new edition will include an article titled “Bolaq Abu al-Ela: Inhabited by the Poor and Frequented by the Diplomats and the Wealthy” to shed some light on Bolaq district—one of the oldest and most well-known districts of Cairo which is characterized by its contradictions as shacks and palaces are built adjacently.
The new edition will also include an article titled “Anasna: The City of Martyrs”. The article is about the city that was built by Emperor Hadrian in the Greek style with marble imported from Rome. He had named the city Antinopolis at the time. The northern section of the city was built on the ruins of an ancient Egyptian city named Besa. The city contains the remains of an ancient Egyptian temple dating back to the reign of Ramses II, as well as ancient cemeteries adorned with beautiful engravings. The area used to include eight churches and twelve monasteries. Anasna could have been one of the most important Coptic touristic sites in Egypt had it not been to the ignorance of its value and the indifference toward documenting and preserving what is left of its antiquities.
The reasons behind and the results of the British protectorate over Egypt are also discussed in this new edition. Also included in the edition are photos of the inauguration of the Fouad I Agriculture Museum on 16 January 1938 and documentations of the lives of several public figures, including Zinat Sedki and Togo Mizrahi. Additionally, there will be a section on Egyptian postage stamps since their issuance until the July 1952 Revolution.
The magazine will also include articles on Egypt and Orientalist photography as a bridge between art and history; Cairene photographers toward the end of the 19th century; and Egyptian odalisques in the 19th century.