Archeologists discover 4,500-year-old temple in Egypt
Archeologists discover 4,500-year-old temple in Egypt/node/2133181/art-culture
Archeologists discover 4,500-year-old temple in Egypt
The mud-brick building’s ruins are thought to be one of ancient Egypt's lost “sun temples” from the Fifth Dynasty. (Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities and Tourism)
Archeologists discover 4,500-year-old temple in Egypt
Pots and beer glasses will aid team in their research
Updated 31 July 2022
Arab News
LONDON: Archeologists in Egypt have discovered a 4,500-year-old temple, according to a report in Metro.
The mud-brick building’s ruins are thought to be one of ancient Egypt's lost “sun temples” from the Fifth Dynasty, 2465 to 2323 B.C.
They were discovered during an Italian-Polish archaeological mission in the Abusir region, south of Cairo, beneath King Niuserre's temple.
On Saturday, the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities and Tourism announced the discovery on Instagram.
“The joint Italian-Polish archaeological mission, working at the temple of King Niuserre in Abu Ghorab, north of Abu Sir, discovered the remains of a mud-brick building below the temple. The discovery hints that the remains might belong to one of the lost four solar temples from the Fifth Dynasty, known only in historical sources but yet to have been found thus far,” it said.
According to the ministry, the pharaoh - the sixth ruler of the Fifth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom period - demolished part of the structure to build his temple.
The team discovered several pots and beer glasses that will aid their research.
Muddy stamps bearing the names of Fifth Dynasty kings were also discovered, and photos shared by the ministry showed the site where archeologists were still working.
The first sun temple dedicated to the god Ra was discovered in the 19th century, so the latest find is significant as it could help scientists’ understanding of ancient Egyptian history.
Only two of Egypt's six or seven such temples have been discovered to date.
Cairo’s ‘Summer Portfolio’ photography show examines Egypt’s past and present
From Cairo to Brooklyn, photographic consultancy Tintera aims to bring together global photographers
Updated 22 min 32 sec ago
Rebecca Anne Proctor
CAIRO: In an apartment block in Zamalek — Cairo’s affluent western district where heritage buildings whisk visitors back to the Egyptian capital’s grand past — is a surprising find: A white-walled gallery and consultancy called Tintera, which specializes in photography of Egypt by Egyptians and foreigners. It was established in 2019 by Heba Farid and Zein Khalifa, with the aim of raising the profile of both contemporary and historical photography of Egypt.
“Photography’s power is in documenting our lives, conceptually as well as through documentary approaches,” Farid tells Arab News. “As certain images of Egypt are ever-present in the global collective memory — images of monuments and conflict tend to be what remain — our mission is to be a destination where an alternative image of Egypt emerges.”
Amina Kadous, ‘City Entrapped.’ (Supplied)
When photography first started to become widely popular in the 19th century CE, photographers from around the world travelled to Egypt to capture not just the country’s multitude of ancient monuments, but, as Farid says, “its abundance of light.”
“Tintera is committed to elevating the status and value of fine art photography in Egypt,” Khalifa says. “We are exporting ‘another Egypt’ and, while doing so, building a strong collectors’ base, drawing the attention of curators, and engaging specialized and general audiences alike.”
Tintera’s “Summer Portfolio” show is an example of the founder’s aims, presenting works from their roster of more than 20 artists.
In the main exhibition area, a large collection of portfolio boxes are on display alongside many framed or matted prints. Visitors are invited to handle the prints directly (with the provided gloves, of course) and there is a thin hanging rail installed so that they can curate their own selections. Such an intimate handling of fine-art photography is a rare treat that truly enhances the viewing experience.
Each photographer’s work presents a different view and experience of Egypt and its people. Highlights include works by Amina Kadous, an award-winning Egyptian photographer with a background in visual art. In her ongoing series “City Entrapped” she explores how portraits of iconic Egyptian public figures, such as Presidents Sadat and Nasser, still exist in many public spaces.
For Kadous, Cairo is a city that is always in constant change yet somehow stays the same.
“A city trapped in its own past and stretching to an unknown future. Cairo, a city of icons that is itself iconic,” Kadous writes on her website. “I see through these breaths and gasps of time, endlessly in flux and endlessly in chaos. A city where the only thing that is constant is change.”
Nermine Hammam — an established visual artist with a background in film — employs her signature technique of digital manipulation, hand coloring and layering of images on a collection of black and white vernacular photographs taken on the beaches of Alexandria in “A’aru,” a series named for the ancient Egyptian concept of the afterlife. But, the Tintera founders explain in an article on Hamman’s website, here the artist “inverts” the concept. “Rather than it being an idyllic world yet to come, Hammam shows us a once-almost-perfect world on the brink of destruction. For Hammam, this … is the Alexandria of her past … a place of perceived innocence.”
Anthony Hamboussi, ‘Sharat il-Nil,’ from 15 Mayo Bridge, Agouza, Giza Governorate, Cairo Ring Road, 2014. (Supplied)
Egyptian Brooklyn-based photographer Anthony Hamboussi is one of the latest additions to the Tintera roster. In his series “Ring Road,” he examines the contemporary urban landscape of Cairo and neighboring areas which have morphed over the past century because of uncontrolled urban growth. His evocative photographs show how poor planning and mismanagement of heritage sites have put the city’s historic significance into a state of crisis.
The emerging Egyptian visual artist Maria Saba strikes a more intimate note in her “Urban Jungle” series, which captures the artist in a variety of poses in public urban spaces in Egypt and France, allowing her to examine issues relating to identity and place in the two countries and cultures in which she lives. The black-and-white photographs are nostalgic, melancholic and haunting; Saba seems to be searching for herself in the midst of these sprawling ever-changing urban landscapes.
Tintera’s “Summer Portfolio” show runs until September 7 at the gallery.
Filmmaker Jordan Peele talks ‘Nope,’ ahead of the sci-fi thriller’s Mideast release
‘Get Out’ director says his toughest project to date
Social commentary expected with horror, comedy elements
Updated 18 August 2022
Raffi Boghosian
DUBAI: Filmmaker Jordan Peele, who broke out with his directorial debut “Get Out,” is pushing his own limits with his latest film, “Nope.”
The director says his goal with the sci-fi thriller was to write a movie that was impossible to make. The stars are calling the result a spectacular, mind-bending production and connecting Peele’s talent for horror with his background in comedy.
“This was one of, if not, the greatest challenge of my life — making this film. I think what started as a movie that was all about a certain dark notion, as I was making it and writing it, I had this feeling that it also had to represent joy and had to represent Black joy,” said Peele to Arab News.
The movie follows a brother and sister (played by Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer) who, after their father’s unexplainable death, try to capture proof that a flying saucer is menacing their town.
The film has been confirmed as Peele’s most expensive production, with Forbes speculating a $40 million cost, nearly 10 times that of his debut, “Get Out.”
Kaluuya, who was the lead star of “Get Out” and plays O.J. Haywood in “Nope,” said: “It’s just bigger and he’s grown as a filmmaker, so it’s just amazing to see that.”
“He can understand what’s happening and make choices and make decisions and troubleshoot. Yeah, but there’s always this part of him that’s wide open to letting the film surprise him,” said actor Steven Yeun, who plays Ricky “Jupe" Park, in the film.
Story details are being kept secret, but audiences can expect layers of social commentary between the thrills and chills, with Peele already hinting that “Nope” explores themes of commercial exploitation and the increased visibility of people of color in Hollywood.
“Putting people of color in the leads and the subject matter not always having to do with black versus oppression. It’s just black leads, black perspective, stories and culture,” said Palmer, who stars as Emerald Haywood in “Nope.”
“I want something that’s going to give you a fun experience and an adventure. And at the end, I want you to have to talk about it,” said Peele.
Inside ‘House of the Dragon,’ this year’s most eagerly anticipated show
Can the ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel emulate its extraordinary success?
Updated 18 August 2022
William Mullally
DUBAI: Few television shows (or films, or any other kind of media) have had as great a cultural impact as “Game of Thrones.” Throughout its eight-year run, which began in 2011, the sprawling fantasy series based on George R.R. Martin’s books gripped audiences across the globe (for reasons both positive and negative) and its influence is still felt across television and film. Now, just over three years after its last episode aired, HBO has finally readied a follow up its most-popular series: “House of the Dragon” — a prequel set hundreds of years earlier, which premieres on OSN in the Middle East on August 22.
The world has changed, however. When “Game of Thrones” debuted, there was nothing like it. For many, the series was the first piece of fantasy that enraptured them — propulsive, riveting and uncompromising storytelling that eased viewers into the existence of ice monsters and dragons. A decade on, there has been a litany of direct imitators, none of which has come close to emulating its success. So why should this one?
Emma D'Arcy and Matt Smith in 'House of the Dragon.' (HBO)
“There have been many attempts to capture the ‘Game of Thrones’ magic,” says “House of the Dragon” co-creator and co-showrunner Ryan J Condal. “And many shows that have done only one or two seasons, and that’s it. There’s clearly a pattern of people wanting something like ‘Game of Thrones,’ but [the imitators] had to make it different. We’re lucky in the respect that we don’t have that problem. The more ‘Game of Thrones’ we are, the better.”
“House of the Dragon” should not be seen simply as a carbon copy of its predecessor, though. “Game of Thrones” had dozens of major characters, with the two major ones — Daenerys Targaryen and Aegon Targaryen (who believed himself to be Jon Snow for most of it) — not even meeting until near the end. “House of the Dragon” is far more zoomed in, centering on four characters from that same Targaryen family — a mercurial bunch with pale white hair and dragon’s blood in their veins — 200 years prior to the birth of Daenerys.
The central conceit is, however, pure “GoT.” A peacetime king — Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine) — is unable to produce a male heir, leaving his hot-headed and unpredictable brother Prince Daemon as his most likely successor. Viserys, however, has other plans, thinking that perhaps his daughter, Princess Rhaenyra (played by Emma D’Arcy as an adult, Milly Alcock as a teen) could become the kingdom’s first queen. Her best friend, Lady Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke as an adult, Emily Carey as a teen), however, seems to have her eyes on the king herself.
Olivia Cooke as Lady Alicent. (HBO)
“I think the thing that made it so interesting to us is the idea that you get to explore the Targaryens as a dynasty and as a family instead of basically just one person. (We) get to show you what Westeros was like when the Targaryens were at height of their power and influence, when they had 17 dragons to discourage other houses from raising a challenge to the throne. And we see a broad spectrum of different Targaryen people — princes and princesses, firstborns and second-borns — who all have their own internal life and wants and needs and identity,” says co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik.
“What you realize is: This is just like any other family,” he continues. “It’s made up of a complex range of people who will all react to things in a different way. There isn’t a Targaryen archetype. There’s nature and nurture involved — how they develop as people and how they react to different things. They’re all real, complex people with gray in their souls, and that’s why people tune in from week to week, to follow these, hopefully, deeply interesting and compelling characters.”
Leading the pack is Paddy Considine, an actor who has put in some of the finest, if under-heralded, performances in recent history, including 2003’s “In America,” 2004’s “Dead Man’s Shoes” and 2010’s “Submarine,” and is finally given the major role he’s always deserved — something that the creators of the show saw before he did.
Paddy Considine as King Viserys. (HBO)
“I was the first actor cast in it, which was a massive leap of faith on the part of Miguel and Ryan and HBO. The fact that I didn’t even have to audition was a big gamble, really. Because I’ve a cynical side, my first question was, ‘Well, who’s turned it down? Who doesn’t want to do it?’ And they said, ‘Nobody. It’s yours. We’re coming straight to you.’ And that’s a good way to get me in, because I was very flattered by that, I was really honored. Truthfully, I was,” says Considine.
Matt Smith, who has already found huge success for his runs as both the lead in BBC stalwart “Doctor Who” and Prince Philip in the first two seasons of Netflix smash “The Crown,” comes in as the show’s most recognizable star, with his trademark charisma on full display as the brash and brilliant Daemon.
“I loved his unpredictability,” Smith says. “That was one of the things that really drew me to Daemon in the first place. You never quite know where he’s going to go, even as an actor. That affords you a great deal of invention and allows you to play. It’s nice when you’re an actor and you don’t quite know where the scene’s going to take you. I really loved it. I had such a good time.”
Ryan J Condal is the co-creator and co-showrunner of “House of the Dragon.” (HBO)
Smith may have been having fun, but the shoot was grueling. It began in April 2021 and didn’t wrap until February 2022, filming across the UK, Spain and California.
“Nothing prepares you for the shooting. I walked in with my shoulders back and head high. A year later, I crawled out on my belly,” says Considine.
“Game of Thrones,” of course, was a show with massively popular female characters, an aspect that kept it relevant as the cultural paradigm shifted, with Danaerys Targaryen becoming a symbol of empowered women the world over. “House of the Dragon” takes that baton and runs with it, focusing first and foremost on its lead women characters, Princess Rhaenyra and Lady Alicent.
For the show’s female stars, getting on the same page with the showrunners over how women would be portrayed in the violent and sexist world in which it’s set was of paramount importance from day one.
Milly Alcock (left) and Emily Carey. (HBO)
“Both Olivia and I started speaking with Miguel Sapochnik really early,” says D’Arcy. “One of the questions that I came into the show with was: ‘How do you make sure you are telling a story from their point of view, when we are in a world that doesn’t afford them space?’”
The conversations went better than they expected, the two stars reveal.
“Miguel was incredibly receptive and really generous on all of that. He gave us the space to explore these characters,” Cooke says.
“Fundamentally, Miguel is really aware that he’s not a woman,” D’Arcy adds. “He was very willing to defer to us, if something came up in the text. If you have a question, you have every right to interrogate that. It’s been a collaborative process.”
DUBAI: From resin earrings and a vibrant Moroccan wedding celebration to a Lebanese pop anthem and a stripped-back jazz-infused improvisation, here are six pop-culture highlights from around the region.
Manal
‘Makhelaw Magalou’
The Moroccan singer-songwriter’s latest single and its accompanying video (which has racked up over 19 million views on YouTube) are a tribute to the culture of her homeland, with the clip — directed by Farid Malki — covering several rituals of a traditional wedding, including the aamaria (a decorated chair on which the bride is carried), henna application, the bride’s Berber jewelry, the sharing of a meal, and a joyful, incense-drenched lila dance ceremony. Sonically, the track shows influences of the deeply spiritual gnawa music beloved in Morocco, with modern, electronic flourishes and a pop vibe.
Amir Fallah
‘An Anthem for Uncertain Times’
The acclaimed artist brings his enigmatic portraits and installations to Vancouver, Canada, in his new show. “(Fallah’s) subjects are most often veiled, masked or absent, represented by specific objects, cultural motifs and artifacts which point to who they are rather than their visual identity,” a press release for the show explains. Fallah’s family left Iran after the 1979 revolution, moving to Turkey and Italy before settling in America. “His work embraces how his journey has shaped his variety of identities,” the release states. “Each work encapsulates the perceived randomness of how our life experiences all fit together.” Artist and curator Sanaz Mazinani says of Fallah’s work: “For many of us living far from our ancestral lands, Fallah’s paintings model the ideas, beliefs, and fears that many immigrant bodies face daily. But through the work’s relentless beauty and tenacity … the offering of possibility comes in the joy of evolving difference.”
Adib Yassine El Khazen
‘Heliopolis’
The first release from a new trio — Syrian singer-songwriter Lynn Adib, Lebanese drummer Khaled Yassine, and Lebanese guitarist Raed El-Khazen — is an ambitious six-and-a-half-minute improvisation on Adib’s “Heliopolis,” built around a jazz-y drum line and sparse guitar (save for a solo midway through) that create a space for Adib’s stunning vocal trickery. According to El-Khazen, Adib wrote the track “following a heartbreak in Cairo” and the title refers to the ancient Egyptian city “where the sun god Ra was once worshipped as the ultimate source of light and justice in the cosmos.”
Son Savage
‘Just Keep Dancing’
Having topped Anghami’s charts with “The River” last year, the Dubai-based Lebanese producer (real name Charbel Ghanime) is enjoying similar success with his latest release — a funky, radio-friendly pop track called “Just Keep Dancing,” which, Ghanime says, “serves as an anthem that celebrates people in all their differences and quirks.” Added polish comes from producer Sleiman Damien, whose previous collaborators include Carole Samaha and Haifa Wehbe. “I’ve been a big fan of Sleiman since I met him around six years ago. We’ve always admired each other’s work and have always listened to and learned from each other,” Ghanime says in a press release. “In a recent trip I made to Dubai, I was showing Sleiman some projects I was working on and ‘Just Keep Dancing’ struck a chord with him. The rest is history.” The video meanwhile, “shows that — just like hate — love and dance can also be infectious,” he says.
Jude Benhalim
‘Electric Harmony’
The Egyptian jewelry brand’s annual summer capsule collection this year is made entirely from resin (actually, resin and translucent pearl that have been melted together) and “celebrates the harmony of marrying opposites,” according to a press release. “Electric Harmony” consists of three styles of earrings. “With dreamy spirals seamlessly merging with edgy studs, the motifs of the Greek-inspired pieces strive for a delicate balance of youth and sophistication,” the release states.
Ahmed Santa
‘Santa El Gded’
The Egyptian MC’s latest album pairs his trademark wit and lyricism with trap and drill sounds — a departure from his previous styles. “I’ve been authentic in my process of creating each song,” he says in a press release. “All of the emotions are true to that moment in the process.” The 10-track record feature collaborations with some of Egyptian hip-hop’s biggest names, including Desso and Abo El-Anwar, and could well be the release that makes Santa a star outside of his homeland.
REVIEW: ‘Fall’ gets the adrenaline pumping, but fails to reach the heights
Survival thriller’s set pieces enthral, but weak script lets actors down
Updated 18 August 2022
Adam Grundey
DUBAI: Scott Mann’s survival film ‘Fall,’ currently in theaters in the Middle East, is undeniably thrilling. It would be almost impossible for any competent filmmaker not to make it so because of its premise: Two young female climbers stuck 2,000 feet above the ground on a small platform at the top of a rickety, remote TV tower in the middle of the desert, allowing for genuinely stomach-churning, vertigo-inducing aerial shots.
The two women, Hunter (Virginia Gardner) and Becky (Grace Caroline Curry), are there to scatter the ashes of Becky’s late husband Dan, who died one year previously — a year that Becky has mostly spent drowning her sorrows in a bottle and ruining her relationship with her father James (Jeffrey Dean Morgan in a cameo that must have him questioning his agent’s competence) — when the three of them were climbing a mountain. That’s the scene that opens the movie, giving Mann another location for majestic, sweeping shots that maybe this overlong movie could have done without. Most of the flimsy backstory could have been covered as the two best friends walk through the desert to, and climb, the tower and little would have been lost.
They’re also at the tower to drum up further content for Hunter’s social-media fans — she’s made a name for herself online as a danger junkie with a devil-may-care attitude that Becky’s lines in the clunky script make clear isn’t the ‘real’ Hunter.
Once they’re up on the platform after a disastrous ladder collapse, we learn that maybe the ‘real’ Hunter wasn’t such a good friend to Becky after all, as Mann and co-writer Jonathan Frank introduce the first of their not-that-clever twists. There are a couple more of these and all of them are unoriginal.
As the lack of cell-phone coverage, food, and foresight takes its toll (not to mention hungry buzzards attracted by the gash in Becky’s leg), the climbers’ situation becomes increasingly dire. As does the script. No one can question Gardner and Curry’s physical commitment to the shoot, but, in acting terms, there just isn’t enough for them to work with. The lack of drama in their reactions just doesn’t ring true.
There’s another gripping set-piece when Hunter attempts to retrieve their water from a satellite dish just over 50 feet below their platform and it’s these scenes that — maybe — make “Fall” worth seeing on the big screen. You’ll definitely be entertained, or at least panicked. But whether the other 80 minutes or so are worth the payoff is up for debate.
