Sitting early in the morning in the living room of my grandmother’s house, we can both hear the birds chirping amid a bustling and noisy main street in Cairo. She gets up to prepare tea for us, my favorite shay be laban (tea with milk) — the one ...

If you’re a trop de choix tue le choix (too much choice kills the choice) kind of person, then the newly opened French bistro, Le Relais de l’Entrecôte, is just what you need. The French bistro is famous for being a single dish restaurant that w...

Si El-Sayed throws open the doors to his home. Amina welcomes him with unconditional servitude; she is the picture of a diligent wife—and he, the tyrannical, seldom-smiling despot. The streetlight creates a cast between them, a power imbalance that...

Egyptian pilot Nevin Darwish and her daughter Perihan El-Badrawy make airline history by becoming the first non-American mother-daughter duo to operate on the same fleet. The two pilots are to become the third mother and daughter in the world to work...

Woven intricacies of oriental arabesque awaken the memory of a bygone area, where decorative ornaments needled mosques, palaces, and domes with unique wooden motifs. Arabesque, as dubbed by scholars of geometric art and traditional craftsmen, is a �...

Few movies have gripped the Egyptian consciousness like Al-Karnak (1975) had done upon its release. Based on Naguib Mahfouz’s titular novel (1974), the cinematic classic depicts candid political oppression, torture, rape, and paranoia unlike any fi...

A creative beacon whose light radiated in every corner in Egypt – an artist, a heart-wringer, and joy-bringer – Abbas Mahmoud El-Akkad’s art left glints in the eyes and beats in the hearts of many. Abbas El-Akkad was born June 1889 in Aswan int...

Egyptians have always been fond of expression; a gracious act, a warm smile, or an affectionate and lighthearted conversation are more than just simple acts, but are an entire language. A light heart, or “dam khafeef”, is often used to describe t...

A drive through Cairo’s urban landscape rarely sees any disruption of the sandy yellow and concrete grey. But throughout the months of May and June, a flaming red adorns the crowns of the city’s trees. This bright and audacious colour belongs to ...

Fifty-five years ago today, Egypt’s popular Sawt Al-Arab (Voice of Arabs) radio station announced the country’s defeat to Israel – only days after falsely informing citizens that Israel had lost. The Six-Day War, a surprise attack on Egypt, Syr...