Amina Hanim
Amina Hanim’s story of love, political intrigue, and ambition in the Ottoman Empire from the town of Kavala to the palace within the Citadel at Cairo
Egypt’s history is not a timeline of dead monuments – it is a living cultural memory shaped by belief, ritual, power, resistance, and rediscovery. This section brings together Egypt’s foundational stories – from creation myths and sacred landscapes to the caliphs, sultans, and dynasties who followed.
You’ll find mythological narratives, dynastic histories, and cultural context spanning sites and eras from Karnak, Abydos, and Giza to medieval Cairo and the Muhammad Ali dynasty – not as isolated facts, but as parts of one continuous human story.
Amina Hanim’s story of love, political intrigue, and ambition in the Ottoman Empire from the town of Kavala to the palace within the Citadel at Cairo
The story of Shajar al-Durr begins with her capture and entry into the royal harem. This article explores her early life, her deepening bond with Sultan As-Salih Ayyub, and the foundation of a partnership that would change Egypt’s history.
Above is the roadside monument near Scota’s grave – Tralee, Co. Kerry, Ireland “There are variations of this story—Irish and Scottish alike—and I encourage you to explore further if it intrigues you. This is the Irish version, and for context, you may wish to read my article on Akhenaten to understand why Egypt’s royal family…
We are born, we live, and we die. So what? The first we have little control over. The second is something we are supposed to have some control over, to varying degrees. The last one, we once again have little or no control over. My question today has to do with what comes after all…
According to legend, Beit al-Kreitlia is home to Sultan al-Watawit (Watawit means bat) – King of the Djins and his seven daughters who sleep peacefully in golden beds at the bottom of a magic well in the corner of the courtyard of Beit Al-Kreitlia. The well also contains the Sultan’s treasure which he closely guards….
Agha Saleem’s Secret Treasure Trove Beit Al-Kreitlia, as with all houses of the wealthy and governing families had quarters known as the Harem where the ladies of the house could relax safely from strangers’ eyes. The ‘harem’ at Beit Al-Kreitlia is situated on the first floor directly above the magic well – where lives the…
Before the Kretlis family owned the house it was owned by a man named Hagg Mohammed. In those days there lived in the house a benevolent serpent by the name of Anon – she protected the house by preventing other reptiles from entering and keeping evil outside the walls. Hagg Mohammed had two little boys…
Many countries around the world have stories of water wells in which believers can see the face of their true love. Cairo also has such a well and it is at Beit Al-Kreitlia – the Gayer Anderson House. This famous well is also home to the Sultan Al-Watawit, the immortal King of the Djinns. In…
Why do so many people dream of going to Egypt? Why do we feel the ‘pull’? You know, when you think about it -the answer is rather obvious. We all came ‘Out of Africa’. Not so long ago, a friend told me about a company in the US called 23andme.com . This company provides a…
Why did Akhenaten risk everything, fly in the face of the entire Egyptian priesthood, close the temples, and move everyone hundreds of miles into the desert to worship “the One God”? According to the Christian Bible, Joseph, the Hebrew Patriarch, was betrayed by his envious brothers at the age of 17 and sold into Egyptian…
ancient Egyptian myth of Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys — gods of love, chaos, death, and rebirth
Once upon a time – a long, long time ago, in the time when nothing existed (God) the All That Is (RE, the Creator or Creative Impulse) self-created himself in the form of the God Atum. He then spat out of his mouth a male named Shu and a female named Tefnut – and so…