Martyr was instructed by the Catholic Monarchs to deny reports of forced conversions of their Spanish Muslim subjects. He began his voyage in August 1501, reaching Venice in October. The ambassador later sailed for Alexandria and reached the port city on December 23. He toured Alexandria after being initially denied an audience with the Sultan. When the approval finally came, he traveled to Cairo and met with al-Ghuri on February 6, 1502. The Sultan received Martyr well in his Cairo palace, amid local unrest fueled by envoys from other Muslim states. Another secret meeting was arranged, during which Martyr was inquired about the forced conversions. He told the Sultan that the Granadan Moors had chosen the Catholic faith by their own will and blamed the tension on Jews. Martyr promised Spanish naval assistance to al-Ghuri should war break out with the Ottoman Empire. The ambassador's arguments appeared to have convinced the Sultan, who assured Martyr that Christians would be protected and allowed the renovation of their places of worship in the Holy Land. Martyr visited a number of ancient sites in and around Cairo, including the pyramids of Giza. He was given a farewell ceremony on February 21 and sailed back to Venice on April 22. (Full article...)
Image 33Egyptian tanks advancing in the Sinai desert during the Yom Kippur War, 1973 (from Egypt)
Image 34A tomb relief depicts workers plowing the fields, harvesting the crops, and threshing the grain under the direction of an overseer, painting in the tomb of Nakht. (from Ancient Egypt)
Image 37The halls of Karnak Temple are built with rows of large columns. (from Ancient Egypt)
Image 38Anubis, the god associated with mummification and burial rituals, attending to a mummy (from Ancient Egypt)
Image 39A figure wearing the red crown of Lower Egypt, most probably Amenemhat II or Senwosret II. It functioned as a divine guardian for the imiut; the divine kilt, suggests that the statuette was not merely a representation of the living ruler. (from Ancient Egypt)
Image 83Rectangular fishpond with ducks and lotus planted round with date palms and fruit trees, Tomb of Nebamun, Thebes, 18th Dynasty (from Ancient Egypt)
Al-Nasir Shihab ad-Din Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Qalawun (1316 – 16July 1344), better known as al-Nasir Ahmad, was the BahriMamluk sultan of Egypt, ruling from January to June 1342. A son of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad, he became embroiled in the volatile succession process following his father's death in 1341. Al-Nasir Ahmad lived much of his life in the desert fortress of al-Karak in Transjordan and was reluctant to assume the sultanate in Cairo, preferring al-Karak, where he was closely allied with the inhabitants of the city and the Bedouin tribes in its vicinity. His Syrian partisans, emirs Tashtamur and Qutlubugha al-Fakhri, successfully maneuvered to bring Syria under al-Nasir Ahmad's official control, while sympathetic emirs in Egypt were able to oust the Mamluk strongman Emir Qawsun and his puppet sultan, the five-year-old half-brother of al-Nasir Ahmad, al-Ashraf Kujuk. Al-Nasir Ahmad eventually assumed the sultanate after frequently delaying his departure to Egypt.
Al-Nasir Ahmad was known to be a seclusive sultan, surrounding himself with his coterie of supporters from al-Karak, rarely making direct contact with the Mamluk emirs of Egypt and avoiding the public view. Two months into his reign, he relocated to al-Karak with substantial sums from the treasury and several horses and senior administrative officials. He ruled from the desert fortress, leaving a deputy, Emir Aqsunqur al-Salari, to oversee affairs in Egypt on his behalf. His unorthodox rule, alleged frivolity, and his execution of loyal partisans, namely Tashtamur and Qutlubugha, led to al-Nasir Ahmad being deposed from the sultanate by his half-brother, al-Salih Isma'il. He remained in the fortress of al-Karak, which the Mamluks besieged at least seven times, until being captured in July 1344. He was killed later that month on the orders of al-Salih Isma'il. (Full article...)
Selected cuisines, dishes and foods - show another
Rumi cheese (Egyptian Arabic: جبنه رومىgebna Rumi[ɡebnarumi], also spelled roumi/roomi is one of the main types of cheese in Egypt. Despite its name (Rūmī, literally, Roman), the cheese is Egyptian. Traces of it go back to the ancient Egyptians. It has a pungent smell, and different degrees of saltiness depending on the age. (Full article...)
... that the Magyarabs are a community in Egypt and Sudan that claims descent from Hungarian soldiers of the Ottoman army?
... that in 215 AD, Roman emperor Caracalla ordered all of Alexandria’s population to be massacred because they produced a satire mocking him?
... that the entrance of Djoser’s pyramid complex features columns fashioned to resemble bundled reeds and ceiling blocks carved into the shape of tree trunks?
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