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Researchers at Washington State University have revived Egyptian blue—the world’s first synthetic pigment.
A team of researchers from Washington State University, in collaboration with the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute, has successfully recreated Egyptian blue, the oldest known synthetic pigment in the world. Originally developed over 5,000 years ago, the pigment was commonly used in ancient Egyptian art, tombs, and architecture.
The scientists tested 12 different methods to reproduce the pigment, adjusting materials and heating times to mirror ancient techniques. They discovered that a rich, vivid blue could be achieved even when only half of the mixture’s colour-bearing component was used—challenging previous assumptions about how the pigment was made. Small variations in temperature and ingredients also caused the colour to shift, from pale greens to intense blues and even greys.
Beyond its historic value, Egyptian blue has properties that make it relevant for modern technology. It absorbs visible light and emits infrared radiation, which can be applied in biomedical imaging, telecommunications, and anti-counterfeiting technologies.
The recreated pigment is now on display at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh.
Model & Lifestyle Influencer Nour Arida Joins Serena Williams in Audemars Piguet Campaign.
When Audemars Piguet picked the faces for its 150th anniversary campaign, it chose icons. Nour Arida was the only Arab woman among them.
In the world of luxury watchmaking, Arab women aren’t often on the moodboard. But this year, that changed.
For its 150th anniversary, Audemars Piguet didn’t just call in the usual faces – it summoned a lineup of global icons. Serena Williams. Winnie Harlow. Tamara Kalinic. And, for the first time ever, an Arab woman: Nour Arida.
Draped in AP’s legacy, the Lebanese model-slash-creative-slash-cultural force owned the frame.
“I always try to push boundaries,” Arida says, in what might be the understatement of the year. “It’s like being part of a real family, being part of the AP family.”
Mrini was widely respected for his deep knowledge and commitment to cultural preservation.
Morocco is mourning the death of Abdelhak El Mrini, the country’s official royal historian and former spokesperson for the Royal Palace. He passed away on Monday evening at the age of 91, after a long career serving Moroccan history and culture.
El Mrini was born in Rabat in 1934. He memorized the entire Quran at a young age and even copied 60 parts of it by hand. Over the years, he became one of Morocco’s most respected literary and cultural figures.
He held several important roles during his life, including Director of Royal Protocol and Decorations. But he was best known for his role as the kingdom’s official historian, as well as his work in preserving Moroccan heritage.
El Mrini had an impressive academic journey. He received a diploma from the Institute of Higher Moroccan Studies in 1960, followed by a degree in literature from the Faculty of Arts in Rabat in 1962.
He later studied in France, where he earned an advanced diploma and a PhD from the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Strasbourg in 1973. He also obtained a State Doctorate in Literature from Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University in Fez in 1989.
El Mrini was also a prolific author who left behind an important literary and historical legacy. Among his most well-known works is “The Moroccan Army Throughout History”, first published in 1968. The book went through several revised editions, with the sixth edition released in 2011 and translated into French in 2000.
He also wrote “Guide for Moroccan Women” in two parts (1993 and 2000), and “An Introduction to Modern Moroccan History” (1996), which covers the period from Sultan Hassan I to King Hassan II.
Other notable titles include “Tea in Moroccan Literature” (1999), “Mohammed V: Studies and Testimonies” (1988), and “The Hassaniyats” (three volumes published between 1975 and 1983), a collection of poems in praise of the late King Hassan II.
Throughout his life, El Mrini made significant contributions to the study and promotion of Moroccan history, and he was widely respected for his deep knowledge and commitment to cultural preservation.
‘From Ocean to Gulf: Heritage Music of the Arab World’ is a series by Ahram Online, in partnership with the AMAR Foundation (Foundation for Arab Music Archiving and Research). In this article, we explore the rich music legacy of Yemen.
‘From Ocean to Gulf: Heritage Music of the Arab World’ is a series by Ahram Online, in partnership with the AMAR Foundation (Foundation for Arab Music Archiving and Research).
In this article, we explore Yemen’s rich music legacy.
Music is a powerful force for healing and reconnecting us with our roots and shared humanity in a world of numerous challenges.
‘From Ocean to Gulf: Heritage Music of the Arab World’ is a new series by Ahram Online, in partnership with the AMAR Foundation (Foundation for Arab Music Archiving and Research). Focusing on the early years of recording in our region, which reflected a modern cosmopolitan repertoire and coincided with the Renaissance era that flourished in Egypt between the mid-19th Century and the 30s of the twentieth Century, this initiative aims to introduce our audience to the iconic figures of Arab music whose contributions have enriched our intangible cultural heritage and inspired generations worldwide.
Yemen, a country on the Arabian Peninsula, is one of the world’s most beautiful and historically rich nations.
Often referred to as Al-Yaman al-Sa‘īd (Happy Yemen), it has long served as a centre of discovery for travellers and a research subject for historians, social scientists, natural scientists, and others.
In the second episode on Yemen, we highlight the music scene from the beginning of the 20th Century to the present.
Music in 20th Century Yemen
The beginning of the 20th Century was difficult in Yemen because of the wars between the Zaydī imams and the Ottoman occupiers. During these wars, the artists swung between the Ottoman authority, which encouraged music, and the Zaydīn, who did not.
Thus, their social, religious, and political position was difficult, as described in the biography of Sa‘d ‘Abd al-Lāh, who, as an artist, was accused by Aden’s jurists and fundamentalists of contravening the religious system of drinking alcohol.
His ‘ūd playing was also subject to accusation. A beautiful legend tells how he faced these accusations and how, thanks to his art and his mastery of religious qaṣīda, he regained the respect of the imam by performing religious qaṣīda and even some religious prayers accompanied by the ‘ūd.
This allowed him to resume his art under the rule of Imam YaḥyaḤamīd al-Dīn. Yet his position remained complicated, and fundamentalists probably killed him in the early 20th Century. We do not have any recordings of him, but some of his numerous students do. Some remained in Sanaa and practised the art of singing.
Music scene in Aden
In contrast, others travelled to Aden, which was under English rule, including famous ‘Alī al-‘Aṭṭāb and MuḥammadẒāfir, who fled from the fundamentalist Zaydī rule and moved to Aden in their early 20s.
In the southern provinces, a vibrant group of artists emerged during the British occupation of Aden (1839 – 1967), with singing and music becoming widespread among Yemeni artists. Professor Muhammad Murshid Naji noted that Lahji singing before the era of Ahmed Fadhl al-Qumindan was influenced by the Sana’ani style. Lahji singers would perform Sana’ani songs, and the singer Hadi Sabit al-Nubi developed his oud-playing by drawing on the techniques of a northern artist whose name remains unrecorded.
Naji attributes the emergence of the first Lahji melody to the poet, composer, and singer Fadhl Mater, who was credited with inventing the initial melody set to the Lahji rhythm. This innovation led Hadi Sabit to sing in the Sana’ani style over one of Al-Qumandan’s poems. It is worth noting that instrumental music is not widespread in Yemen, where it exists under one form whose origin is said to be Turkish, called firtāsh: it is a muwaqqa section, yet it allows variation and improvisation by the artist.
Sanaa singing was divided into two parts: a part in Aden and a part in Sanaa, and the Aden part is the one we have recordings of. Their recordings date back to the late 30s, while those made in Sanaa started later than the 50s. The first recording made in Sanaa in Historical Yemen was made by German orientalist and music expert Hans Helfritz who visited Yemen in the late 1920s and early 1930s to study Yemeni Music in this fundamentalist religious atmosphere, which aroused the suspicion and caution of the pious and religious in particular, and he was accused of being a spy.
Upon the First World War outbreak, the German Odeon Records company had to stop its commercial and recording activities as Yemen was under English occupation. Local record companies started right away, including the major “Aden Crown Company” that took over from Odeon and resumed recording Sheikh ‘AlīAbū Bakr Bāsharāḥīl, as well as Sheikh Ṣalāḥ ‘Abd al-lāh al-‘Antarī and Sheikh Muḥammad al-Mās, who died in the 1950s. They had recorded with the Aden Crown Company in the 1940s.
In the 1920s and 1930s, Indian musical influences became prominent as numerous musical and theatre groups and films were introduced in Aden and Hadhramaut, which had long been under the administration of the British Viceroy of India. By the 1940s and 1950s, Yemeni musicians had adapted these influences to create an “Arabized” Indian style, in which tunes from Indian films were reinterpreted with texts set in classical Arabic rather than colloquial language.
The acclaimed artist Muhammad Juma Khan, known for his mastery of the Hadhrami style, became one of the foremost practitioners of this hybrid form. The distinctive features of Adeni singing developed during the twentieth Century due to the convergence of multiple Yemeni and foreign musical elements, especially from India. Though a large portion of Aden’s pre-independence population was of Indian origin, the evolution of Adeni song was notably influenced by Egyptian melodies, and some musicians even incorporated Western rhythms such as the waltz.
Yemen Radio
Imam YaḥyaḤamīd al-Dīn, who feared openness and foreign interference, forced the Turkish Ottomans out and defended the independence of Yemen, yet within conservative and fundamentalist restrictions. As a consequence, the Yemeni Radio was only launched in 1955. It was a reaction to the launching of the Ṣawt al-‘Arab Radio, which had started broadcasting from Cairo, notably liberalist political ideas. Imam Aḥmad, the son of Imam YaḥyaḤamīd al-Dīn, who took his reign in 1948, consulted with theologians who refused the launching of the Radio. Still, the Radio was launched, and only news was broadcast at first.
They also recorded Qāsim al-Akhṭash, a Yemeni artist in Sanaa. He recorded using reels that existed then, allowing a longer recording duration. Yet recordings were made in Aden before Sanaa Radio’s recordings. They were commercial recordings of Sheikh ‘AlīAbū Bakr Bāsharāḥīl made in the late 1930s, in 1939, by the Odeon.
Singing post 1962 Revolution
After the 1962 revolution, Sanaa singing prospered, yet without the qanbūs or ṭarab, but with the kabanj’ūd played by talented artists such as MuḥammadḤamūd al-Ḥārithī, Aḥmad al-Snaydār, and ‘Alī al-Ānisi among others who became famous and served the Sanaa song with the big ‘ūd and a style inspired a little from Egypt and Syria, while preserving the main form or style.
On the other hand, some other artists did not become famous in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. They are: Ḥasan al-‘Ajamī, Yaḥya al-Nūnū, ṣaḥn player Muḥammad al-Khamīsī, as well as Muḥammad ‘Ushaysh, and they all preserved the old style and preserved the ṭarab as well and revived the old style and methods, considering that many elements, such as the firtāsh and the muṭawwal, had been neglected by the other artists. They continued to play the ṭarab and the ṣaḥn.
Women singers in the public domain
This period also witnessed the rise of women singers. Traditionally, singing was by men, and emerging women performers challenged dominant societal norms. Among these names is Nabat Ahmed (b. 1955), who has appeared in the Yemeni music scene since the early 1970s. Other names presented in the recently published book entitled “Women’s Lyrical Voices in Yemen 1950-2000” by researcher Yahya Qassem Sahel include: Raja’ Basudan, Nabiha Azim, Mona Ali, Taqiya Al Taweelah, Fatima Bahdela and Fatima Mansour Al-Shatri (Habbaniyah).
The rise of the tape cassette
The tape cassette became a dominant and accessible music dissemination format in the 1970s. It also helped a wider circulation of songs within and outside Yemen—the evolution of music in Yemen in the 20th Century and the advent of recording somewhat settled things. Today, we know that, for example, a certain qaṣīda was sung to a particular melody by a specific artist in 1940, recorded by Odeon on a specific date. Still, we do not know how it was before the recording era. This is an essential characteristic of the oral heritage: it is not fixed and settled when transmitted from generation to generation. The sea flows from generation to generation with all its forms, types and variations.
ūdvs Qumbus
The ‘ūd was not used in Yemen before Islam, yet there are indications of its existence there after Islam. Additionally, vocal forms such as the Sanaa singing, including ḥumaynī poetry, are a form of classical poetry influenced by the local colloquial language. It has existed in Yemen since the Medieval period (Middle Ages), i.e. at least since the 12th Century or the 13th Century during or after the Ayyubid dynasty.
The ‘ūd used in Yemen until the beginning of the 20th Century was strangely not the ‘ūdkumaythrī known in the Arab culture since the drawings of Al-Ḥarīrī’s maqāmāt, or even the drawings of the Alhambra showing the ‘ūd with wooden cover. Instead, the Yemeni ‘ūd called ṭarab in Sanaa has a unique pre-Abbasid body covered with goatskin or sheepskin that produces a distinctive sound, maybe softer, that is difficult to describe, yet undeniably distinctive. It is thinner and smaller, and thus can be played standing up, which is very practical to accompany dancing.
Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ṭaḥḥān describes the ‘ūd in “Ḥāwī al-funūnwa-salwat al-maḥzūn” that dates back probably to the first half of the eleventh Century and is considered one of the most important and oldest references about ‘ūd making. He mentioned the ‘ūd that existed before his era, described it as having an animal skin cover, and detailed the contemporary ‘ūd with a wooden cover. Before that, he talked about the ‘ūd with the animal skin cover and called this ‘ūd “barbaṭ”. The name barbaṭ is derived from Persian and Arabic: “bar” means chest in Persian, and “baṭt” means duck in Arabic. Indeed, the shape of this ‘ūd from head to body resembles the shape of a duck’s chest.
Thus, the ‘ūd that reached the Arabian Peninsula and the Ḥijāz coming from Persia during the early Islamic era and the Umayyad era is the same that reached Yemen, settled there, and kept its shape with all the changes that affected the ‘ūd later on in the Arab Levant.
We do not know when it reached Yemen, yet there are indications that it existed there in the 13th Century along with the ‘ūdkumaythrī. So, both co-existed in the same place during the same periods, in Yemen but also in other regions of the Arab World, such as Andalusia and Morocco, where it still exists under a different shape, the rabāba played with a bow, whose shape is very similar to the ṭarab instrument, also called qanbūs in Yemen, a name probably derived from Turkish, since in the History of Turkish Music there is an instrument called kūbūz that probably was Arabized into qabūs then qanbūs.
Most theories in books on Arab music and the Arabic musical system until a late period presented the ‘ūd as the instrument onto which the theory could be applied. This also applies to Yemen. The Yemeni ‘ūd, i.e. the ṭarab or qanbūs, has four strings, unlike the oriental ‘ūd, which was known in the 20th Century and has five strings.
The four strings are similar to those of the oriental ‘ūd except for the fifth string, i.e. the first, the second, and the third strings are Do, Sol, Re, which is from the jawāb to the qarār. The qarār is the fourth string, but it is tuned to Do, not to La like the big ‘ūd. It is the jawāb of the first string. The three strings are double strings, and the upper is single. Considering these four strings, the Do can be a qarār to the rāstmaqām, and the third string can be a qarār to the bayyātīmaqām, and the third one, plucked, would be a Mi / sikāh.
The strings of the Yemeni ‘ūd have names: the first one is the ḥādhiq (energetic); the second one is the awsaṭ (as it is approximately in the middle), and the rakhīm. The beautiful name rakhīm came from some qaṣīda that tells about the ṣawtrakhīm (melodious voice) of the birds or the ‘ūd. The fourth string is called jarr or yatīm (orphan). The yatīm may be because it is a single string.
Jean Lambert – pioneer ethnomusicologist
Jean Lambert is a research professor in anthropology and musicology who has dedicated his life to the study, preservation, and dissemination of Yemeni music. He has been associated with the Musée de l’Homme in Paris since 1991 and is the director of the French Centre for Archaeology and Social Sciences in Sanaa (Yemen). Lambert was also the Director of the Centre for Research in Ethnomusicology (CREM-LESC, UMR 7186), CNRS, Université de Paris Ouest Nanterre.
Focusing on the Arab world, particularly in Yemen, the Arabian Peninsula and Lebanon, Jean Lambert’s works explore the relationships between local musical practices and global meanings of Arab-Islamic culture: performance context, ritual practices, mythological representations, and the formation of contemporary identities. His current research focuses on zajal in Lebanon and the 1932 Music Conference in Cairo. Dr Lambert has published several books, more than forty scientific articles, and thirty CDs of traditional music from Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq and North Africa. He is also a consulting and management board member of AMAR.
Lambert published his book “Ṭubb al-nufūsfī al-ghinā’ al-Ṣan‘ānīfī al-mujtama‘ al-Yamanī” (“The Medicine of the Soul: Music and Musicians among Urban Dwellers in Sanaa (Republic of Yemen)”) in 1997. He invited several artists to France to record CDs at the Institut du Monde Arabe and French Radio, among others. In his lifelong mission to archive/document the endangered Yemeni heritage, he collaborated with UNESCO in 2000 to inscribe the Sanaa heritage on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. He worked on supporting this art through a project that lasted from 2006 to 2009.
For More on Yemeni music, tune in to AMAR Podcasts:
The Founding Day celebrations concluded on Sunday evening, after being organized by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City and the Principality of Riyadh region over four days, from February 20 to 23, 2025.
The event witnessed a high turnout, with over 50,000 visitors from various backgrounds.
The celebrations set a Guinness World Record for the largest Saudi Ardah performance, with 633 participants showcasing this traditional dance.
This achievement highlights the significance of Ardah as a deep-rooted national tradition, reflecting pride in Saudi identity and a commitment to preserving and promoting cultural heritage globally.
Renowned Lebanese novelist, journalist, critic and lifetime advocate of the Palestinian cause Elias Khoury died on Sunday aged 76. We delve into his life & work.
Elias Khoury (1948-2024), who died last Sunday in Beirut, once said: “I confess I’m scared. I’m scared of a history that has only one version. History has dozens of versions, and for it to ossify into one leads only to death.”
This sentence remains highly significant when it comes to defining the career of the Lebanese novelist, storyteller, critic, and journalist.
In his career, in both literary terms and human, as all of the above, he never ceased to experiment and innovate, but more than that, his work showed his deep preoccupation with the search for the meaning in history and events, and the significance of this aspect is evident in most of his literary works.
It was perhaps the Palestinian issue, which took on a central place in many of his works, where he probed the sufferings which had befallen the Palestinian people and the dilemma of their fragmentation.
He did this by intertwining the human and political dimensions using characters and events, which were both rooted in reality – yet brimming with imagination.
This style was among what imbued his works with a literary depth and created a unique experience for the reader.
The way he interwove these aspects allowed him to explore psychological, political and cultural worlds, through characters and events which in some cases seemed unconventional, often relying on the technique of polyphony (using multiple voices), and alternating between narrative and inner dialogue.
Time, as a concept in his novels, was often non-linear, reflecting the complexities of life and memory.
This style is clearly evident in novels like Yalo and Gate of the Sun, where his poetic prose infuses the narrative with an aesthetic beauty.
However, when it came to addressing issues around identity and belonging, Khoury often relied on the emotional depth of the characters and events to tackle these aspects; he dealt with Palestinian and Lebanese identity in relation to their background of political unrest, occupation, and displacement.
In this way, he offered ethical and philosophical insights into the meanings of belonging in a world beset by constant upheaval.
The theme of Palestinian asylum appears extensively in his most prominent works, rooted in the many stories he collected from refugee camps during the long years of Israel’s occupation.
Many critics consider his novel Gate of the Sun (“Bab Al-Shams”) (1998) to be the first epic work with regard to the Palestinian narrative, which gave voice to their unfinished journey and their continuing torment.
The novel Gate of the Sun was associated with a later youth-led experiment opposing settler colonialism in the Palestinian territories in 2013, where young Palestinian activists gave the novel’s name to a tent village they established that year on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Israeli forces demolished the site less than two days after it was erected.
In 2013, Khoury gave a speech from Beirut to a group of 250 Palestinian activists who had been involved in establishing the Gate of the Sun encampment.
He said among other things that day: “I will not say, ‘I wish I were with you,’ for I am with you … This is the Palestine that Yunis envisioned in the novel Bab Al-Shams.”
The stories in this novel, although told from the viewpoint of Khalil, one of its protagonists, are written as different versions of the same story, with the narrator moving back and forth with the passage of time, as he wrestles with the evasiveness of memory, and questions of motive and identity, which reflect the instability of the truth, and the impossibility of capturing even one version of it.
In one interview, Khoury said: “I discovered, to my surprise, that there were basically no written accounts of the war. There was no archive to consult, there were only the whispers you might hear at home—the Druze killed your grandfather, the Christians murdered your uncle, that kind of thing.
“To me, this lack of a specifically written past meant that we Lebanese had no present, either. I’m not interested in memory as such, I’m interested in the present. But to have a present, you have to know which things to forget and which things to remember. Our lack of written history made me feel that I didn’t even know the country I grew up in. I didn’t know my place in it.
“I don’t think I made any great discoveries as a historian, but when I began writing novels, a few years later, I found that I wanted to write the present—the present of our own civil war.”
In his novel, White Masks (1981), which he wrote during the Lebanese Civil War, Khoury used a journalistic style to portray the physical devastation wrought on Beirut, its buildings and infrastructure, and the psychological toll of the war on its residents. He dealt with issues rarely addressed by Arabic novelists at that time, like women’s rights, societal restrictions and religion.
Moreover, in his novels, Khoury did not simply describe the horrors that took place, but went further: he went into their impact on people, nature and relationships.
The relevance of the colour white in this novel is in its ability to reveal; its symbolism of light, which exposes things as they are, revealing scenes with all the absurdity, tragedy, and madness they contain.
Khoury did this, letting us read into phenomena and what lay behind them, to understand what was happening around us, so that we would not unwittingly become tools in a game in which we had no choice but compliance; to perform a part.
This is an edited translation from our Arabic edition. To read the original article click here
Translated by Rose Chacko
This article is taken from our Arabic sister publication, Al-Araby Al Jadeed and mirrors the source’s original editorial guidelines and reporting policies. Any requests for correction or comment will be forwarded to the original authors and editors
Have questions or comments? Email us at: info@alaraby.co.uk
Technology Innovation Institute says model is ‘one of the most advanced Arabic’ offerings.
Concerns that Arabic might be left behind in the fast-developing AI sector are starting to evaporate with the introduction of the Falcon Arabic language model, created in Abu Dhabi.
The model was unveiled on Wednesday by the Technology Innovation Institute (TII) , an Abu Dhabi government-backed research centre which first introduced its Falcon large language model back in 2023.
Faisal Al Bannai, adviser to the UAE President for Strategic Research and Advanced Technology Affairs, spoke about the development as a leap forward for Arabic at the UAE’s Make it in the Emirates event.
“We’re proud to finally bring Arabic to Falcon, and prouder still that the best-performing large language model in the Arab world was built in the UAE,” he said.
According to TII, Falcon Arabic is trained on a native (non-translated) Arabic data set that covers both Modern Standard Arabic and regional dialects.
“It captures the full linguistic diversity of the Arab world,” said TII.
The research centre also said that so far the model outperforms other Arabic language models.
Large language models are complex systems designed to be trained on large amounts of text and data that help AI implementations identify patterns, come to conclusions and even understand nuances. In short, the models can make or break the user experience with AI.
Although Arabic is spoken by about 400 million people worldwide, it was not initially a focus during the initial growth of AI and large language models, with English the most prevalent.
The complexity and diversified Arabic dialects, coupled with various language nuances, posed a challenge for engineers and programmers trying to perfect machine learning technologies.
In recent years, the UAE has sought to bolster Arabic’s presence in the AI race.
In 2023, Jais, an open-source bilingual Arabic-English model, was introduced by G42, Mohammed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence and Silicon Valley-based Cerebras Systems.
Later that year, Jais Climate , the world’s first bilingual large language model dedicated to climate intelligence was also announced.
In addition to Falcon Arabic, TII also announced on Wednesday the release of its Falcon H1 model, which it says “outperforms comparable offerings from Meta’s LLaMA and Alibaba’s Qwen, enabling real-world AI on everyday devices and in resource-limited settings”.
The research centre explained that efficiency was at the core of Falcon H1 development.
“This fundamentally shifts what’s possible at the smallest scale, enabling powerful AI on edge devices where privacy, efficiency, and low latency are critical,” said Hakim Hacid, chief researcher at the TII AI and digital science research centre.
“It demonstrates how new architectures can unlock new opportunities in AI training while showcasing the potential of ultra-compact models.”
Chef Mostafa Seif of Khufu’s has been awarded the Skillet of Distinction by The Best Chef Awards, becoming the first Egyptian chef to receive the accolade. The award follows Seif’s recognition last year as the first Egyptian to earn a one-knife “Excellent” rating under the awards’ updated tiered system.
The Best Chef Awards, which moved away from its traditional top-100 ranking in 2023, now recognises chefs through one, two, or three “knives,” denoting levels of excellence. Seif’s one-knife placement in Dubai was the first for an Egyptian chef and signalled growing international attention to his work.
At Khufu’s – founded by Pier 88 Hospitality’s Giovanni Bolandrini – Seif leads a kitchen grounded in technical discipline and regionally sourced ingredients. His cooking is rooted in Egyptian culinary traditions but avoids nostalgia or showmanship, favouring clarified broths, cured seafood, and slow-roasted meats that reflect a restrained, detail-oriented approach.
In January, Seif participated in The World’s 50 Best Signature Sessions in Abu Dhabi, where he co-hosted a dinner with Argentinian chef Sergio Cabrera at MouzMari. He also joined 50 Best Talks for a panel titled Memory on a Plate, exploring the role of food in cultural and personal memory.
The Skillet of Distinction acknowledges Seif’s consistency in the kitchen and his contribution to platforming Egyptian cuisine in international settings – through technique rather than adaptation.
The King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives, known as Darah, has released a new book on the history of the adhan (call to prayer) and biographies of the muezzins of the Two Holy Mosques throughout the centuries.
The book was authored by Sheikh Dr. Saleh bin Abdullah bin Humaid, member of the Council of Senior Scholars and imam and preacher at the Grand Mosque.
It meticulously examines the adhan ritual in the Two Holy Mosques, covering its origins, virtues, and significance, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The book is divided into three sections: the adhan’s history, biographies of 95 Grand Mosque muezzins, and 147 Prophet’s Mosque muezzins.
It presents biographies of muezzins who have issued the call to prayer from the time of Prophet Muhammad to the present, the SPA reported.
Drawing on credible historical sources and interviews, the author used a scientific approach to document the evolution of adhan tools and the relationship between the muezzin and the mosque.
The book also highlights the Saudi government’s support in selecting skilled muezzins and using advanced audio technology for local and global broadcasts.
This publication enriches the foundation’s collection, serving as a vital resource for researchers and those interested in the history of the Two Holy Mosques and Islamic rituals.
Egypt’s presence at Cannes Film Market wins top honour for design, programming, and industry engagement.
The Egyptian pavilion at Cannes Film Market, headed by a joint cooperation between El Gouna Film Festival, Cairo International Film Festival and the Egyptian Film Commission, has won the award for Best Pavilion Design Award during the 78th Cannes Film Festival.
Designed by cinematic set designer Shereen Farghal, and recognised over competing pavilions from 150 nations, the Egyptian pavilion was awarded for its design, curated programming, and strategic networking opportunities offered to Arab and international filmmakers.
“This award is a global recognition of the position Egyptian cinema occupies today, and of the continuous efforts we make to represent it in international contexts,” Hussein Fahmy, President of Cairo International Film Festival, said. “We made sure that the pavilion reflects the spirit of cooperation and openness to the world through a program full of dialogue, and cultural and artistic interaction, and represents a new step for Egypt’s presence in the global film industry.”
Held annually in parallel with the Cannes Film Festival, Marché du Film is a key space for co-productions, distribution deals, and film financing.
