Tag: Egypt

Closing Thought–16Nov21

Remember those plagues of Egypt?

You know the ones….the flies and toads and locusts….etc, etc, etc……

Well there seems to be a real-life plague in the fable land of Egypt….the one for myths and legends to be born of……this time it is scorpions.

Heavy storms in Egypt last week washed scorpions into streets and homes, and the resulting attacks from the dangerous arachnids left three dead and more than 500 others injured, 9 News reports. Egypt’s fat-tailed scorpions are among the world’s deadliest; after a sting from one’s tail, the venom can kill a person in less than an hour. Hospitals have been given extra doses of anti-venom and locals are being advised to avoid areas with lots of trees, the BBC reports.

Per the St. Louis Zoo, this is not the first time human deaths have been attributed to the fat-tailed scorpion, which typically hides during the day and uses its stinger to subdue prey and defend itself. But venom from this and other types of scorpions is also being used to fight an aggressive type of brain cancer. Chlorotoxin, a component of the venom, has been used in something called chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy to kill tumor cells, City of Hope explains. Glioblastoma is among the deadliest cancers and is also the most common type of brain tumor in humans. “Much like a scorpion uses toxin components of its venom to target and kill its prey, we’re using chlorotoxin to direct the T cells to target the tumor cells,” a researcher says.

When this story is told later in history will it be about some pissed off deity raining Hell onto the people…..or will it be written as an freaky situation caused by a weather front?

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“lego ergo scribo”

Egypt–WTF?

As a foreign policy geek I am always looking for situations that are a problem to our policies…..

Using Open Source intel….I have found a problem with our foreign policy and as a geek in international situations this worries me.

The country is a strong ally to the US right? Has been since Saddat was the leader.

As a friend they are entitled to certain perks…..like aid from the US…..in 2020 to the tune of $297.9 in economic aid in 2020 and $1.55 billion in military aid.

That much cash should give the US some pull on the actions of our ‘friends’, right?

To take a different track here…..the US is NO friend of Assad of Syria, right?  As a matter of fact we are trying everything we can short of all out invasion to end Assad’s rule of Syria, right?

Then why is a ‘friend’ sending troops to Syria to help Assad?

Egypt has reportedly sent 150 soldiers to fight alongside Bashar al-Assad‘s regime in a planned operation against against rebel forces in northwestern Syria.

Turkey’s Anadolu news agency on Thursday quoted “reliable military sources” claiming that the soldiers have been sent to Aleppo and Idlib provinces, in coordination with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),

Iran has been a key backer of the Syrian regime since an uprising against Assad’s rule started in March 2011, sending client militias from around the world such as the Afghan Fatemiyoun and the Lebanese Hezbollah.

The Egyptian troops have been deployed to the Khan Al-Asal area of western Aleppo province and around the town of Saraqeb in southern Idlib province, the agency reported.

Saraqeb was captured by the regime in late 2019 and is on the frontline between regime and rebel forces.

The Syrian news agency Shahed also reported a Syrian opposition military source as saying that “Egyptian mercenaries had arrived to fight alongside regime forces and sectarian militias in northern Syria”.

https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2020/7/30/egypt-sends-troops-to-syria-to-fight-for-assad

Basically, our taxpayer money is inadvertently being used to prop up Assad in Syria.

Just another case for a program to upgrade our foreign policy….but sadly that will not happen any time soon…..

Not to worry though……Egypt will spend cash with Russia for fighter planes……

Russia Today quoted military sources July 27 as saying that the Egyptian army will acquire the Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jet, a first for Egypt, after photos emerged of five of them heading to Egypt. Neither the Russian nor the Egyptian side has so far made any official comments on the alleged acquisition, while the United States objects to any such deals.

According to Russia Today, “The sources indicated that these heavy and long-range fighter jets would give the Egyptian army superiority in the regional sky, which is why the US strongly objected.”


Russia’s Top War website, which focuses on defense affairs, reported July 23 that the first batch of Su-35 fighters took off from the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Plant and headed to the European side of Russia, from where they will be delivered to Egypt.

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Death Comes To Sinai

By now I am sure that most everyone has heard about the barbarous attack on religious practitioners at prayer….but in case you have not….

Friday the news came about the horrific attack on a mosque in Sinai…..killing people in prayer to include children……

Egypt on Saturday said an attack on a mosque by militants in the country’s troubled region of northern Sinai has killed 305 worshipers, including 27 children, a dramatic increase in the death toll previously announced, which was 235. A statement by the country’s chief prosecutor, Nabil Sadeq, said the attack Friday left another 128 people wounded, per the AP. It said the attackers, estimated at between 25 and 30, arrived at the mosque close to the small town of Bir al-Abd in five all-terrain vehicles and positioned themselves at the main door and the facility’s 12 windows before opening fire. They also torched seven cars parked outside the mosque, which belonged to worshipers inside. Witnesses said some of the attackers were masked. Those who were not sported heavy beards and long hair. The militants wore camouflaged pants and black T-shirts.

The chief prosecutor’s statement was the most detailed by authorities on the attack, the deadliest by Islamic extremists in Egypt’s modern history. The account it gave generally agreed with what witnesses told the AP on Saturday in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, where some of the wounded are hospitalized. They spoke of horrific scenes during the approximately 20 minutes it took the militants to kill and maim worshipers, recalling how some jumped out of windows and children screamed in horror. “Everyone lay down on the floor and kept their heads down,” said one witness. “If you raised your head you get shot.” Friday’s attack targeted a mosque frequented by Sufis, members of a mystic movement within Islam. Islamic militants, including the local affiliate of the Islamic State group, consider Sufis heretics because of their less literal interpretations of the faith.

I heard a couple journalist (Western) that called these victims as sufis, a sect of Islam….well it is NOT a sect it is traditional sunni beliefs only more introspective…..

Sufism is a mystical form of Islam, a school of practice that emphasizes the inward search for God and shuns materialism. It has produced some of the world’s most beloved literature, like the love poems of the 13th century Iranian jurist Rumi. Its modern-day adherents cherish tolerance and pluralism, qualities that in many religions unsettle extremists.

But Sufism, often known as Islamic mysticism, has come under violent attack in recent years. On Friday, militants stormed a Sufi mosque on the Sinai Peninsula, killing at least 305 people in what officials are calling the worst terrorist attack in Egypt’s modern history. The attack followed several assaults on Sufi shrines in Pakistan over the past year carried out by Sunni extremists. (The vast majority of Sufis are Sunni, though some are Shiite.)

We all here at IST send our condolences to the families of the victims…may God open his arms and embrace them….

American Civil War And Egypt

Have you ever experienced those Egyptian cotton sheets?

If not then you have missed an amazing experience.

Why I bring up this subject will be apparent very shortly.

The weekend begins and I will step away from the news and the insanity these and enjoy some time with family……as most of my readers know I am a geek when it comes to history…..for if you ignore history then you are dooming yourself to mediocrity….

Over the next four years, roughly 700,000 Americans were killed, and millions of others were injured or made destitute. The south was reduced to a weakened state ravaged by war and no longer able to thrive on the free labor provided by the pernicious institution of slavery.

But for a number of fledgling countries and colonies across the world, America’s loss was their great gain. As northern warships blockaded southern ports, closing them off to commercial shipping, the cotton plantations of the Confederacy struggled to export their ‘white gold.’ With the great textile mills of England now deprived of the lifeblood of their industry, 80 percent of which had previously come from the U.S, the price of cotton very soon went through the roof. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, birthed in Britain, the United States and its former antagonist and overlord  had symbiotically thrived on the massive revenues from the cotton trade, a titan of commerce reliant on the lives of the American South’s enslaved population. Now, the Civil War imperilled everything for the moneymakers on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

Source: How the American Civil War Built Egypt’s Vaunted Cotton Industry and Changed the Country Forever | History | Smithsonian

Now with your history lesson in tact please spend some time enjoy yourself and get some rest…..

Through The Sands Of Time

I begin my weekend with good coffee, time with my lady and a good breakfast and look forward to a couple of days without the total BS of an election……

My regulars will know that I do enjoy history and international stuff and today’s post fills both of those desires.

Since I was very young and saw the original Mummy I have been interested in Egyptian history….and it became more pronounce when working in the Middle East and North Africa I got to visit historical sites in Egypt….Giza, Luxor, Karnak among others……you cannot imagine the awe one feels standing at the base of the Great Pyramid or at the Step Pyramid…….the national museum in Cairo is a place of wonder and awe also…..and there is where I am going with this post…..

There is a new museum slated to open soon on the Plain of Giza…….

When visitors arrive at the Grand Egyptian Museum—to open near the Giza pyramids in 2018—they’ll be greeted by a 4-ton statue of King Amenhotep seated beside the Egyptian god Ra. But first, the 3,500-year-old pink granite statue will be restored, having just traveled 400 miles from Luxor, reports NBC News. Carefully secured by the Tourism and Antiquities Police, the statue rediscovered in southern Egypt in 2009 was one of 780 Egyptian artifacts to arrive at the museum recently in special humidity-controlled trucks, per Ahram Online. They’ll become part of a collection that will number 50,000 pieces, more than half of which have never been seen by the public before.

Clay pots, painted sarcophagi, and limestone blocks inscribed with hierogylphics are just some of the items hand-picked by General Director Tarek Tawfiq, per Ahram Online. Every piece will be arranged in its original context. “You will be transferred to ancient Egypt and you will have an enjoyable experience through real authentic pieces,” Tawfiq says. The Grand Staircase alone will be a spectacle. It will showcase 100 artifacts representing kingship, including the statue of King Amenhotep, a granite column from the temple of King Sahure in Saqqara, and two black granite statues of the lioness war deity Sekhmet from Luxor, reports Ahram Online. (Egypt is now celebrating this incredible discovery.)

I am old and will not get to see this amazing site but maybe my granddaughter will get the chance.

As long as we are talking about history there has been a development in Syria…….

Syrian government forces backed by Russian airstrikes pushed Thursday into the ancient town of Palmyra, which has been held by the Islamic State group since May, state TV reported. The advance came after the troops managed this week to capture several hills and high ground around the town, famed for its priceless archaeological site and Roman ruins, reports the AP. The state TV broadcast footage of its reporter, embedded with the Syrian military, speaking live from the entrance of Palmyra and saying that as of midday Thursday, the fighting was concentrated near the archaeological site on the southwestern edge of the town.

Recapturing the town, a UNESCO World Heritage site, would be a significant victory for Syria’s army and its Russian allies. Russia withdrew most of its forces and aircraft from Syria last week after a monthslong bombing campaign that succeeded in turning the tide of the war again in President Bashar Assad’s favor. Earlier in the day, Gov. Talal Barazi said from the nearby city of Homs that the Syrian army has determined three directions to storm Palmyra and was clearing all roads leading into the town of mines and explosives. “We might witness in the next 48 hours an overwhelming victory in Palmyra,” he said. (ISIS already has destroyed archaeological treasures in Palmyra.)

Sadly we will never be able to repair the damage the pigs in ISIS has done to this historical site….but at least we can punish the bastards for what they have done.

The Mummy’s Return

My weekend and more with the granddaughter.

I have always been a fan of Egypt since when I saw the Mummy when I was a child…..that would be the original mummy with Boris and not the modern day one with Brendan….although I will admit that I liked the special effects in the later day movie more so than the older one….

I bring all this up because of King Tut…….when he toured the US I saw the exhibit in New Orleans….amazing stuff truly mesmerizing….

It appears that Tut is making news yet again (he never stops impressing people)……

King Tutankhamun’s tomb was discovered in 1922, and nearly 100 years later, it my be giving up a millennia-old secret: Analysis of radar scans of his burial chamber carried out in November have revealed two hidden rooms, Egypt’s antiquities minister Mamdouh El-Damaty announced in a Thursday news conference. Further, the scans indicate the presence of metal and organic materials. A new scan will take place on March 31, NBC News reports, with CNN explaining that the subsequent test will reveal the dimensions of the rooms and the thickness of the walls, which will allow Egypt to plan a way forward. British archaeologist Nicolas Reeves in August theorized that the remains of Queen Nefertiti might be inside, and National Geographic fills in the timeline:

Egypt allowed Reeves and radar expert Hirokatsu Watanabe to scan Tut’s tomb over two nights in November; the scans did suggest the presence of a chamber on the north side, with El-Damaty saying at the time he was 90% certain of the existence of one room. But Watanabe had not completed a full analysis of the scans then. Now he has, hence El-Damaty’s Thursday announcement and the revelation of a chamber on the west wall as well. CNN explains that the size of Tut’s tomb seems inappropriately small considering his importance, with Reeves suggesting the king was placed in a hastily constructed extension of a tomb intended for a queen upon his death at 17. The AP reports El-Damaty thinks the new chambers could contain a royal tomb, but he wouldn’t speculate on Nefertiti—who was one of the wives of Tut’s father but is not believed to be Tut’s mother. Read more on Reeves’ theory here.

There is more if one cares to check out the rest of the story……

Source: Scans show ‘90% chance’ of hidden chambers in King Tut’s tomb | The National

For those that may not know the story of Tut……..

Source: Flash – Facts on Tutankhamun’s tomb – France 24

This whole thing is just incredible and really cool…….

Bombs Away!

Last week, if you can remember back that far, all the rage on news sites was the plane crash in Egypt……that Russian plane that fell from the sky killing everyone on-board….there had been a massive amount of news that talked about this speculation or that and the one that everyone seems to be fixating on is that it was a bomb and that bomb was set by no other than our nemesis…..ISIS.

Good news reports….that is if they are accurate.

Now why would I say such a thing?

In case you are not aware I spend a lot of time reading Middle East and North African news sources and I get stories that most Americans will probably never be exposed to at any time…..

There seems to be a bit of confusion about this tragedy……

Egypt’s military junta so stubbornly denied that the recent bombing of a Russian Metrojet plane over the Sinai Peninsula was an act of terrorism that they didn’t even initiate their own investigation into the attack until a week after the plane went down, and then only after several nations banned flights to the region. Publicly, much of the leadership still doesn’t acknowledge even the possibility of an ISIS attack.

This narrative appears to be getting broadly embraced by the Egyptian media, as several are now claiming that not only was there no bomb on the plane, but that Western nations invented the idea of a bombing as a plot to undermine the junta and “scare off tourists.”

Various outlets, both state-run and the private media that the junta hasn’t shut down yet, are advancing this as a broad Western “conspiracy” against Egypt, and are labeling Western reports of the plane being bombed as “terrorism” against Egypt.

Interesting turn of events…..I can see where they are coming from…..but are they just denying the facts or is there something to their accusations?

The Vanishing Army

It is Sunday my last day of mental clarity…..my regular readers know that I am a history buff…..especially when it is history on or about the Middle East…..I have always been interested in the army sent into the desert by a persian king to put down a revolt and the army was lost…..some say a massive sandstorm swallowed them….but people have looked for remains of this army since around 600BCE…..and some say they found the object of their search…..

An expert on Egyptian history thinks he’s figured out what happened to an army of 50,000 men that seemingly vanished in the Egyptian desert around 524 BC, reports Nature World News. Legend has it that the “lost army of Cambyses” got swallowed up in a sandstorm, an account passed on by none other than Greek historian Herodotus. But if so, then why hasn’t any trace of the men turned up despite scores of archaeological expeditions? Because there was no sandstorm, says professor Olaf Kaper at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Instead, he argues via a university news release, the soldiers suffered a far more conventional fate: They got whupped by a rebel army.

“Since the 19th century, people have been looking for this army: amateurs, as well as professional archaeologists,” says Kaper. “Some expect to find somewhere under the ground an entire army, fully equipped.” By his account, Persian King Cambyses sent the troops into the desert toward a place called the Dachla Oasis to put down a revolt, but a rebel leader named Petubastis III ambushed and defeated them, then named himself pharaoh. Two years later, Persian King Darius I put an end to the revolt and, according to Kaper’s theory, practiced some spin control. He made up the story about the sandstorm because he figured it would be better for people to think that natural elements, not a military foes, were responsible. Kaper says he pieced all this together based on inscriptions of ancient temple blocks unearthed in the Dachla Oasis, reports Sci-News. He was to present his theory at an international conference, and there’s no word yet whether other Egyptologists are on board

If  true then a mystery of the ages has been solved…….any thoughts from the peanut gallery?

BBC News – Newport man’s theory turns pyramid building on its head

It is Sunday and I usually post only one article per day on the weekends……that is to give me meager mind a much deserved break from the chaos of politics…..but today I offer a little lagniappe (something extra)……

There is always some archeologist that has a theory on how the pyramids were constructed….and as usual there is always some disagreement….some believe slaves did it or workmen or even aliens…………but I read this piece awhile back and thought I would pass it along to see how everyone reacted to the news….

I thought that since today’s post was on a newly discovered pharaoh…this would be a good time to post this story….

BBC News – Newport man’s theory turns pyramid building on its head.

Finding The Secrets Of Egypt

I try to watch the history channel whenever they actually have something of historic value, which these days are far between, I mean about the only historical any more is Ax Men, these twats are cutting down old growth forest, pretty much destroying a bit of history…..but I digress……

You would think with all the trouble going on in Egypt that the archeological digs would be on hold for safety reasons if nothing else…..but two reports I have read about news on the pharaohs is coming out….little by little……

Amid fresh upheaval in Egypt, archaeologists are still making finds that shed light on the country’s past. In the latest discovery, an American and Egyptian team has unearthed the tomb of a previously unknown pharaoh who ruled during troubled times 3,600 years ago, reports the AP. King Seneb Kay—whose name was determined from hieroglyphics on the tomb wall—ruled when the country was divided among several rulers, and Egypt’s head of antiquities says the find will provide new insight into a complex and little-known era. But while the find will provide knowledge, grave robbers appear to have made off with everything else of value thousands of years ago, the International Business Times reports. No funerary furniture was found in the badly damaged tomb, and even the body of the king, who had been mummified and laid to rest in a wooden sarcophagus, had been pulled apart. An archaeologist involved with the dig says the terrible state of the tomb reflects the state of Egypt at the time, when central authority had collapsed.

There is a bit more…….

Scholars of ancient Egypt have a new pharaoh to study, thanks to archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Museum. Meet Woseribre Senebkay, who ruled from about 1650BC to 1600BC, reports LiveScience. The Penn researchers had to piece together his skeleton after eons of tomb robbers had their way with the site, but they think Senebkay lived into his mid- to late-40s and stood about 5-foot-10. With the discovery of a new pharaoh comes an official new dynasty, dubbed the Abydos Dynasty after the archeological site where the tomb was found. Researchers stumbled upon it while investigating a nearby tomb of an earlier pharaoh named Sobekhotep. In fact, it seems that Senebkay did some tomb-raiding of his own—he reused Sobekhotep’s cedar chest. “It suggests that the king had economic challenges, which has to do with the period of struggle and fragmentation of kingdom,” Penn’s Josef Wegner tells NBC News. Researchers suspect they’ll find tombs of other pharaohs nearby.

(Photos released through the Supreme Council of Antiquities)

Amazing news….it shows that even in the midst of chaos…..discoveries can still be made…..way cool!