Monday, December 22, 2014

Who likes the Egyptian Bread ?





Bread made from a simple recipe forms the backbone of Egyptian cuisine. It is consumed at almost all Egyptian meals; a working-class or rural Egyptian meal might consist of little more than bread and beans.
The local bread is a form of hearty, thick, glutenous pita bread called Eish Masri
In modern Egypt, the government subsidizes bread, dating back to a Nasser-era policy. In 2008, a major food crisis caused ever-longer bread lines at government-subsidized bakeries where there would normally be none; occasional fights broke out over bread, leading to fear of rioting.
Egyptian dissidents and outside observers of the former National Democratic Party regime frequently criticized the bread subsidy as an attempt to buy off the Egyptian urban working classes in order to encourage acceptance of the authoritarian system; nevertheless, the subsidy continued after the 2011 revolution.
A street breakfast in Egypt
On a culinary level, bread is commonly used as Gamosa, a utensil, at the same time providing carbohydrates and protein to the Egyptian diet. Egyptians use bread to scoop up food, sauces, and dips and to wrap kebabs, falafel, and the like in the manner of sandwiches. Most pita breads are baked at high temperatures (450 °F or 232 °C), causing the flattened rounds of dough to puff up dramatically. When removed from the oven, the layers of baked dough remain separated inside the deflated pita, which allows the bread to be opened into pockets, creating a space for use in various dishes.
Aish Merahrah is an Egyptian flat bread made with 5-10% ground fenugreek seeds added to maize flour. It is part of the traditional diet of the Egyptian countryside, prepared locally in village homes. The loaves are flat and wide, and usually about 50 cm in diameter. The maize flour is made into a soft dough that is fermented overnight with the help of a sourdough starter, then shaped into round loaves and allowed to rise or "proof" for 30 minutes before being flattened into round disks, which are then baked. This bread can be kept for days in an airtight container. The addition of fenugreek seeds increases the protein content, storage length and digestibility of the bread; on the other hand, it causes the eater to exude a distinctive odor in his or her sweat, which is occasionally mocked by more urban Egyptians.


Sunday, December 14, 2014

Dendera A woman giving birth

A woman giving birth and being helped by Hathor and Taweret (Temple of Hathor, Dendera)
A typical birthing scene would have women reciting incantations to the Seven Hathors who presided over the birth, and who would predict the nature of the child´s death. A child born on the twenty-third of the month would be killed by a crocodile; on the fourth by fever; on the fifth by love. Lucky children were born on the ninth day of the second month of Akhet - they would die of old age. Even luckier were those born on the twenty-ninth day of the same month: they would die ´well-respected´. 
But if the baby were to live at all, and most didn´t survive infancy, it would need to be protected from want and disease; a protection which only material well-being, however modest, could supply

Nefertari The Seven Hathors



The Seven Hathors
In the tomb of Nefertari (Dynasty XIX) and in the Book of the Dead, the Goddess Hathor is depicted as seven cows whose role is to determine the destiny of a child at birth. Each of these different aspects of the Goddess as her own name:
i/   Lady of the universe.
ii/   Sky-storm.
iii/   You from the land of silence.
iv/   You from Khemmis.
v/    Red-hair.
vi/   Bright red.
vii/   Your name flourishes through skill.
Several alternative names for the seven Hathors has been found in papyri concerning Mythology, these are:
i   Lady of the House of Jubliation.
ii + iii   Mistress of the West.
iv + v   Mistress of the East.
vi + vii   Ladies of the sacred land.

Dendera The Eye Of Re

The Eye Of Re
"There came a time when the people began to drift away from the worship of the God. Re, in vengeance, sent his daughter, Hathor, in the form of a lion, to punish mankind. Sent out by Re, in the form of a large all seeing eye, to watch over mankind,
After a time, Re decided that mankind had suffered enough and ordered Hathor to return, she, being sated with blood lust refused. The Sun God ordered a vast quantity of beer to be made, coloured with red ochre, which was then poured into the field where Hathor-Sakhmet lay sleeping. On waking, Hathor seeing the fields reddened with what she thought was blood, began to gorge herself, falling into an intoxicated stupor, Re was able to return her.
To mark the occasion, so that mankind would not forget their narrow escape from annihilation, Re ordered a festival to be held each year in Hathor's honour."
Hathor, was probably the origin of the concept of the 'evil eye'. The Ankh, is thought to have been derived from Hathor's Eye and is a symbol of good luck, keeping fortune dwelling on the inside.
 Hathor was a cow-goddess of ancient origin, as "Mistress of Heaven", she was seen as the celestial cow, whose four legs supported the vault of heaven and her star spangled belly was the sky itself.

Dendera The birth of Osiris

The birth of Osiris
Osiris was born in Thebes in human form and came out of his mother's womb {Nut) goddess of sky on the first day of the epagonamal days 

Osiris was the  Master of everything that came to light
The birth of
Osiris was  in Thebes and was in the temples of Karnak  .his birthday was celebrated every year in the temple of his Mother during the Opt festival
According to the myth Osiris was born in Thebes in the first day of the epagonmal days ,hr wr in the second day in Qus  ,Seth in the third day in ombos ,Isis in Dendera and finally Nephtis in in Dios polis
The Birth of  Osiris has been represented in the scenes and inscriptions of one of the rooms of the roof   of the famous Temple of Dandara Osiris was represented in  the fetal position inside his mother's womb like an embryo in the womb of his mother as he prepared to go out into the world ,,,
it is one of the most famous scenes that had to be represented in the festivals celebrating the reincarnation of god Osiris  and everlasting eternity


the inscriptions in Dendera temple says 
says the sacred texts in Dandara,,,,
((oh god Osiris .your mother goddess nut is pregnant
she  takes care of the embryo in her womb
she creates your bones and gives you heath and youth
And gives   life to your skin and your members
The gives you the blood to live

It Thbk young people in your own time))
Hence we understand that Osiris renewes his youth and life in such festivals as the first time  he was born from his mother's womb .the sky goddess Nut

The Mastaba of Ti at Saqqara

  The wall measures 1.55m wide by 4.50m in height, of which the upper 2.75m is decorated. It contains scenes with seventy-four characters di...