Egyptian blue, also known as copper silicate, is a pigment that was used in ancient Egypt for thousands of years. Blue was a very important color to the ancients with associations to the sky and the River Nile; it came to represent the universe, creation and fertility.

Adorned by the kings and queens of the world, turquoise is no ordinary gem. Considered holy, sacred, a bringer of abundance and good fortune, turquoise was loved by many ancient civilizations across the globe.

Born as Samuel Henein in Cairo in 1929 to a Coptic family of gold metalworkers from Asyut, he knew from an early age his destiny as a sculptor.

Lying in a depression on the edge of the Western Desert in Egypt near the Libyan border is the Siwa Oasis. When Siwa opened up for tourism in the 1980s, it was primarily famous for its ancient oracle Temple of Amun, a Roman-era necropolis featuring dozens of rock-cut tombs called the Mountain of the Dead (Gebel al Mawta), and a natural spring called Cleopatra’s bath.

Throughout the world for millennia people have been burning all sorts of aromatic biotic material to create pleasant smells. The need for good smells was at first practical more than anything.

The arrival of spring in Egypt certainly does not go unnoticed. For about five thousand years now, we have been celebrating Sham Al-Nassim. Perhaps one of the most important festivals of the year in our history surviving from the Pharaonic era in 2700 BC to the present day.

One of the most iconic sounds of Ramadan is that of the night caller, known in arabic as the Mesaharaty. Traditionally to be a Mesaharaty, you needed to have a pleasant and loud voice with good lungs that could carry your voice long distances and into people’s homes waking them up from the slumbers of their sleep so that they may have one last meal before dawn arrives and the fast of the new day begins.

During Ramadan, food, both the lack of it and the presence of it, becomes a central aspect of our days. From deciding what we’re going to eat to cooking and preparing the food, and finally eating it. It’s a month where everyone comes together around a table. Sometimes these tables are shared with family members. Sometimes they’re shared with friends. And sometimes, we share tables with people we barely know.

With less than a week to go before the Ramadan festivities begin, we thought we’d share with you some of our favorite traditions. For one month, the whole country not only syncs up its eating schedules but brings back a whole array of habits and rituals that create the vibe that makes Ramadan feel like a festival of sorts. Everything from music to food to fashion and of course the infamous Fanous (lantern) hanging everywhere signal to us that Ramadan has arrived, reminding us once again that there is always reason to celebrate and much to be thankful for. So whether you choose to fast or not, here’s a list of Ramadan essentials to get your vibe on.

Have you ever wondered where our modern-day beauty trends come from? Have you ever wondered why we are so concerned with beautifying ourselves? Is it really all about beauty or is there more to it?

One of the most wonderful aspects of looking into the history of languages is realizing how much we are all intertwined and connected to one another through our voices. Every word, even if we don’t know where it comes from, came from somewhere, and has ancestors and relatives too just like we do. Some of them came from faraway lands and found themselves settling on a particular spot amongst a particular group of people birthing a new language into being.

Less than 100 miles south-west of Cairo in the Faiyum Governorate of Egypt lies a paleontological site unlike any other in the whole world. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2005 because of the sheer number and concentration of fossils of one of the earliest forms of whale called the Archaeoceti. This type of whale is now extinct but is crucial for helping answer one of the greatest mysteries of the evolution of whales which is how they became marine mammals when they were initially land-based animals.

Once upon a time there was an Egyptian king who got terribly sick one day. His healers recommended he drink this green soup made from the leaves of a plant we now call here in Egypt — Molokhia. The word Molokhia comes from the word ‘mulukia’ which means ‘of royalty’.

Many of us who were raised by Egyptian parents or grandparents will remember growing up hearing the voices of Abdelhalim Hafez and Shadia as they sang for lovers everywhere. The golden age of Egyptian cinema between the 1940s and 1960s wasn’t just an unforgettable era for the art of film but it was too for the art of the love song.

The beginning of February in much of the northern hemisphere marks the start of the end of winter, the halfway point between the winter solstice and spring equinox. It is when the grounds of the earth begin to heat up again and all the growth that had come to a halt begins again.

Today, more and more women in Egypt are seeking the support of a doula during their birth process. Coming from the greek word doulos meaning to serve, a modern-day doula refers to a female trained professional who provides expert knowledge, emotional support and guidance to parents during the birth process. It is important to note that doulas are not trained medical or healthcare professionals, but instead are trained in guiding and supporting women during this challenging and emotional journey of childbirth.

Massage is one of the oldest body therapies recorded across many ancient civilizations including China, Egypt, Greece, India, Japan and Mesopotamia. Perhaps that’s because it doesn’t require much, only the hands of someone else. Its aim is to relax the body and rebalance the flow of energy.

In Ancient Egypt, honey bees were believed to rise from the Tears of the Egyptian Sun god 'Ra' or 'Re' and that when his tears fell from the sky and touched the earth, they were transformed into bees and blessed the followers of Ra with “liquid gold”. The first actual evidence of beekeeping and of using artificial hives to harvest honey whereby humans captured or lured honey bees to nest inside artificially made cavities comes from Bronze age ancient Egypt during the 1st Dynasty around 3100bc. The bees were often presented with scented offerings which were gently burnt to produce an incense.

For many, some of their most intimate encounters with birds might’ve been over a meal of stuffed pigeon or roast duck. But other than these popular Egyptian delicacies, there seems to be a growing admiration for preserving and observing the birds themselves rather than eating them. Situated at the juncture of three continents — Asia, Africa and Europe — Egypt has a remarkably unique geographical location that makes it an essential layover for many migrating birds on their way south from Europe during the autumn months or on their way back up north during the spring time. For bird lovers and watchers, this is great news. There are almost 500 different species of birds that have been identified in Egypt.

As we wrap up another year, another rotation around the sun, we get to celebrate all that has passed and all that we hope for in the future. For many of us, the New Year is a time of rebirth and regeneration, a sentiment shared by the ancient Egyptians and by cultures around the world until today. Celebration of the New Year was deeply important to our ancient counterparts, closely tied to the annual floods of the Nile and the Egyptians’ agricultural cycle. But how did they actually celebrate?