Ahmed Abdel-Gawad
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9789774164873
- eISBN:
- 9781617971099
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774164873.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
In the Nile Valley and desert oases south of Cairo—Upper Egypt—surviving domestic buildings from the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries demonstrate a unique and varied strand of ...
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In the Nile Valley and desert oases south of Cairo—Upper Egypt—surviving domestic buildings from the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries demonstrate a unique and varied strand of traditional decoration. Intricate patterns in wood, iron, or plaster adorn doorways, balconies, windows, and rooflines in towns and villages throughout the region. One of the most distinctive cultural features of these traditional homes is the decorated wooden balcony-screen—with jigsaw-cut patterns often based on creative repetitions, inversions, and mirrorings of the Arabic letter waw—which was designed to veil the residents from public view while allowing them to take the air and watch the outside world go by. Here, Ahmed Abdel-Gawad presents a wide range of these exuberant and largely unknown designs, in both photographs and detailed architectural drawings, for the use and appreciation of designers, decorators, artists, and lovers of vernacular architecture.Less
In the Nile Valley and desert oases south of Cairo—Upper Egypt—surviving domestic buildings from the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries demonstrate a unique and varied strand of traditional decoration. Intricate patterns in wood, iron, or plaster adorn doorways, balconies, windows, and rooflines in towns and villages throughout the region. One of the most distinctive cultural features of these traditional homes is the decorated wooden balcony-screen—with jigsaw-cut patterns often based on creative repetitions, inversions, and mirrorings of the Arabic letter waw—which was designed to veil the residents from public view while allowing them to take the air and watch the outside world go by. Here, Ahmed Abdel-Gawad presents a wide range of these exuberant and largely unknown designs, in both photographs and detailed architectural drawings, for the use and appreciation of designers, decorators, artists, and lovers of vernacular architecture.
Jason Thompson
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789774162879
- eISBN:
- 9781617970214
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774162879.003.0019
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
Under the hands of a skilful player, the kánoon pleased Lane more than any other Egyptian instrument without an accompaniment; and to a band it is an important addition. He also became acquainted ...
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Under the hands of a skilful player, the kánoon pleased Lane more than any other Egyptian instrument without an accompaniment; and to a band it is an important addition. He also became acquainted with and sketched some of the male professional musicians, who were called alatiya. When he examined the professionals who recited these romances, he identified three specialized groups, each the subject of a chapter in Modern Egyptians. By far the most numerous were the approximately fifty shuara (literally “poets”) who recited the Romance of Abu Zeid and nothing else. Lane enjoyed the musicians and reciters immensely, and he still loved to listen to the chaste awalim, singing unseen behind their mashrabiya screens, but the performances he probably enjoyed the most were those of the ghawazi.Less
Under the hands of a skilful player, the kánoon pleased Lane more than any other Egyptian instrument without an accompaniment; and to a band it is an important addition. He also became acquainted with and sketched some of the male professional musicians, who were called alatiya. When he examined the professionals who recited these romances, he identified three specialized groups, each the subject of a chapter in Modern Egyptians. By far the most numerous were the approximately fifty shuara (literally “poets”) who recited the Romance of Abu Zeid and nothing else. Lane enjoyed the musicians and reciters immensely, and he still loved to listen to the chaste awalim, singing unseen behind their mashrabiya screens, but the performances he probably enjoyed the most were those of the ghawazi.
