Although the Saladin Citadel in Cairo was built in the 12th century to help protect the city from the Crusaders, the Muhammad Ali Mosque came much later, in the 19th century. Built in the architectural style of the Ottomans, the mosque has a feeling of wide open grandeur punctuated by chandeliers and cupolas. Sit on the carpet in middle for as long as you need. Look up, look around and enjoy the peacefulness of the place. Panorama: Muhammad Ali M .. more ..

Ancient Egypt one god was acknowledged as the oldest of the primeval deities, this was Nu,the waters of the Abyss, also known as Nun, the inert one.

I am going to Egypt alone in January for six weeks in the midst of its electoral craziness, largely because you helped convince me I could. Are you interested

I think its fair to say that scuba diving really has taken over this year. Every holiday I’ve been on has been focussed on diving and almost every weekend during the summer was spent diving somewhere on the South coast of England. Its been a very varied year. From the first dive of the year in January whilst on a liveaboard in Egypt to the last – a cold December day diving in Plymouth.

American relations with the Arab world have been strained for decades; Israel’s relations with the Arab world barely exist. But the Arab world itself is not all of a piece. The outright enemies of Israel and the West–preeminently, Syria and Iran–are political totalitarians, using the terrorist proxies of Hamas and Hizballah to engage in or threaten open war against not only their publicly defined adversaries but everybody around them. Most of their victims, indeed .. more ..

The first time I traveled to Egypt I was shocked at how Islamicized the place is compared with other Arab countries I’ve visited. It’s liberal compared with Saudi Arabia, but that’s not saying much and, besides, I’ve never been to Saudi Arabia. Egypt is still the most conservative Muslim country I’ve ever seen. It’s hardly less Islamicized now than it was in the middle of the last decade, but modern liberal “Western” culture is nevertheless a little more visib .. more ..

Day 10We awoke early again this morning to head straight to Queen Hatshepsut's Temple before it got too hot. The multi-tiered temple is absolutely imposing set up against the rock. The building itself is on a grand scale, but most of the carvings were destroyed by Ramses II – a pity. But the carvings that remain retain much of the color – in fact this site has some of the best color of all the sites we got to experience in Egypt.