Author: Abo Elhasan Abd Elsattar
After 50 years of practice, Amer Mohamed Tawfiq now leads Luxor’s National Tahtib Festival, preserving a martial art with Pharaonic roots
In a triumph of modern archaeology over the ravages of time, the colossal statues of a pharaoh have risen again. After nearly 27 years of painstaking restoration, the twin alabaster figures of King Amenhotep III have been returned to their rightful place in his Luxor temple.
In the dry, sun-baked fields of Upper Egypt, the hibiscus harvest represents a powerful convergence of heritage and economic resilience. It’s a story of a community preserving its Nubian roots while cultivating a future where tradition fuels opportunity, empowering the hands that harvest and peel this ruby red treasure. Bab Masr reports.
In the heart of the village of Karnak, north of Luxor, stands a dilapidated old building, with only the ground floor remaining, which is on the verge of collapse. To the observer, it may appear to be just an abandoned house, but in fact, it is a historical witness to the first elementary school established in Karnak in 1930 by Sheikh Al-Taher Abdullah, father of the late great writer Yahya Al-Taher Abdullah, one of the most prominent writers of the 1960s and author of the novel “The Necklace and the Bracelet,” which was later turned into a famous film.
The city of Luxor is accustomed to welcoming visitors from around the world to enjoy its ancient monuments. In this city, which has almost no libraries, a young woman decided to offer her city another cultural dimension. Samar Mohamed, a graduate of the Faculty of Arts, Department of English, turned her passion for reading into a cultural project that serves the people of Luxor. Bayan was a library selling cultural books, struggling to survive amid low demand for books and low financial returns.
For more than a hundred years, the rituals of the people of Al-Awamiya village in the governorate of Luxor have remained unchanged in their celebration of the Prophet’s birthday. The scene remains the same, preserving the fragrance of history and the spirituality of the religious occasion, in an annual tradition that remains alive despite the waves of modernity.
There, in southern Luxor, specifically in Naga al-Aqarba, the scene is renewed every year on the night of the Prophet’s birthday, where the locals gather in a unique celebration that differs from any other celebrations in Upper Egypt. Men, women, and children gather on both sides of the roads and in front of houses to eat a meal of “dry molokhia,” which has transformed from a simple food into an annual ritual with special symbolism. This simple, popular meal has become a symbol of joy, togetherness, and blessing, a tradition that has been passed down for more than a hundred…
The city of Esna, located south of Luxor, has brought Egypt back into the global architectural spotlight after the Agha Khan Architecture Award’s jury announced that the “Revival of Historic Esna” project had won the 2025 award. The award is one of the most prestigious international awards in the field of architecture and urban conservation, bringing Egypt back to the podium after an absence of more than twenty years since its last similar achievement, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in 2004. A comprehensive vision for development The winning project is not limited to the traditional restoration of monuments. It adopts an integrated…
The “Marmah” events continue during the celebrations of the Prophet’s Birthday in the village of Manshaat Al-Amari, affiliated with the Luxor Center, where the celebrations begin with the first day of Rabi’ Al-Awwal and continue for 12 consecutive Leda days,
At 7:30 p.m., Luxor International Airport was unusually crowded. There were many faces, features worn out from waiting, and eyes shining with tears of longing. Some were reading the Quran in low voices, while others were busy checking their travel documents. Hundreds of travelers were preparing to depart for one destination: Mecca. What is striking about such journeys is that titles, positions, and jobs suddenly fade away in front of a piece of white cloth. The uniform eliminates barriers and makes everyone equal, as if in this crossing, class and social differences disappear, and everyone becomes part of a single…