Nile River Woman

The infamous 1997 poetry collection that got Kola Boof kicked out of Morocco.

The history of ancient Egypt is filled with fascinating queens and goddesses portrayed side by side with their male counterparts as equal partners, each playing a different and distinct role in society. Anyone interested in their identity and achievements can go to popular or academic sources, and find ample material on the subject. How about their descendants: contemporary Egyptian women? Who are they? What do we know about them, or about their accomplishments? Only scarce and limited information is available. In recent years, however, since the ill-named “Arab Spring,” images of Egyptian women have flooded TV screens and print media showing them among crowds of shouting demonstrators. Reports have focused on their trials and tribulations, and their regressive condition. This book seeks to highlight Egyptian women that the media have overlooked and ignored. It focuses on a sample of 38 pioneers, ground-breakers, and achievers in nearly all professions: academe, the arts, banking, development, diplomacy, economics, engineering, entrepreneurship, finance, government, medicine, public relations, science and technology, social services, sports, international relations, and international organizations. Their successes in Egypt and elsewhere have been recognized and honored by some of the highest national and international institutions and governments. Forgotten or unknown habits, practices, and historical events occurring in the twentieth century, both in Egypt and other parts of the globe, are also discussed in these stories. The objective of the book is three-pronged. It breaks the monolithic and unflattering stereotype of contemporary Egyptian women as victims, uneducated and uncivilized, dominated by men. The second is to make the world aware of modern Egyptian champions who are improving the quality of life in the societies and broader environments in which they live and work. The third purpose is to provide positive role models for new generations of women in Egypt and beyond, to inspire them to set their goals very high despite the obstacles they may encounter, and show them that the sky is not the limit.

Rosemary Mahoney was determined to take a solo trip down the Egyptian Nile in a small boat, even though civil unrest and vexing local traditions conspired to create obstacles every step of the way. Starting off in the south, she gained the unlikely sympathy and respect of a Muslim sailor, who provided her with both a seven-foot skiff and a window into the culturally and materially impoverished lives of rural Egyptians. Egyptian women don't row on the Nile, and tourists aren't allowed to for safety's sake. Mahoney endures extreme heat during the day, and a terror of crocodiles while alone in her boat at night. Whether she's confronting deeply held beliefs about non-Muslim women, finding connections to past chroniclers of the Nile, or coming to the dramaticm realization that fear can engender unwarranted violence, Rosemary Mahoney's informed curiosity about the world, her glorious prose, and her wit never fail to captivate.

Friendship, deceit, fear, and persecution at an elite boarding school for young women in Rwanda, fifteen years before the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi . . . “Mukasonga’s masterpiece” (Julian Lucas, NYRB) Scholastique Mukasonga drops us into an elite Catholic boarding school for young women perched on the edge of the Nile. Parents send their daughters to Our Lady of the Nile to be molded into respectable citizens and to escape the dangers of the outside world. Fifteen years prior to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, we watch as these girls try on their parents’ preconceptions and attitudes, transforming the lycée into a microcosm of the country’s mounting racial tensions and violence. In the midst of the interminable rainy season, everything unfolds behind the closed doors of the school: friendship, curiosity, fear, deceit, prejudice, and persecution. With masterful prose that is at once subtle and penetrating, Mukasonga captures a society hurtling towards horror.

Females on the Nile is a short story collection whose author, Heba Bendary, seems to have turned her pen into a camera that takes thrilling shots from various angles of a variety of critical situations in the lives of Egyptian women. These women belong to different age brackets, numerous personal backgrounds, diverse social classes, and various demographic and geographic settings. This book sheds light on the conditions of women in Egypt and probably in many other areas in the Middle East.

Travelling by dahabiah, a well-appointed sailing craft peculiar to the Nile, and armed with sketch-book and measuring tape, Amelia Edwards carefully recorded all she saw of the temples, graves, and monuments - even discovering a buried chapel of her own - and provided in A Thousand Miles Up The Nile, the first general arachaeological survey of Egypt's ruins.

This compelling story of adventure, romance, and intrigue, set in ancient Egypt, was written by the three-time Newbery Honor and Edgar Award winning author Eloise Jarvis McGraw. Mara is a proud and beautiful slave girl who yearns for freedom in ancient Egypt, under the rule of Queen Hatshepsut. Mara is not like other slaves; she can read and write, as well as speak the language of Babylonian. So, to barter for her freedom, she finds herself playing the dangerous role of double spy for two arch enemies—each of whom supports a contender for the throne of Egypt. Against her will, Mara finds herself falling in love with one of her masters, the noble Sheftu, and she starts to believe in his plans of restoring Thutmose III to the throne. But just when Mara is ready to offer Sheftu her help and her heart, her duplicity is discovered, and a battle ensues in which both Mara’s life and the fate of Egypt are at stake. “Dangerous espionage, an unusual love story, and richly drawn background make this a book to capture quick and lasting interest.”—Horn Book “Thoroughly engrossing.”—Kirkus Reviews