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revue de presse sur l'actualité culturelle, archéologique, politique et sociale de l'Égypte
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The role of the chantress in ancient Egypt, by Suzanne Lynne Ostine

The role of the chantress in ancient Egypt, by Suzanne Lynne Ostine | Égypte-actualités | Scoop.it
From historyoftheancientworld.com - February 11, 9:52 AM

The specific nature of the title ‘s_m`yt’ or “chantress”, which occurred from the Middle Kingdom onward, is investigated through the use of a database cataloging 861 women who held the title. Sorting the data based on a variety of details has yielded patterns regarding their chronological and demographical distribution. The changes in the social status and numbers of women who bore the title indicate that the Egyptians perceived the role and status of the title differently through time. Information on the titles of the chantresses’ family members has allowed the author to make inferences concerning the social status of the women who held the title “chantress”. Middle Kingdom title-holders were of modest backgrounds and were quite rare. Eighteenth Dynasty women were of the highest ranking families. The number of women who held the title was also comparatively small. Nineteenth Dynasty women came from more modest backgrounds and were more numerous. Women of the Third Intermediate Period were nearly all from priestly families at Thebes and the large number indicates the strength of the cult of Amun.

 

The title occurs sporadically after the Third Intermediate Period, but is known through the Ptolemaic era. From the earliest occurrences of the title until the latest, it is clear that the title was closely associated with the state religious hierarchy. It has been shown that during the New Kingdom the ‘s_m`ywt’ participated in state religious rites including processions, daily temple rituals, and the ‘Sed’-festival ceremony. This association with the state religious apparatus also had political implications. The author has interpreted the fluctuating numbers of women who held the title, along with their historical context, to conclude that, at times, the title may have been used by the religious authorities as a tool to involve more families in the temple systems and the local or national power structures

Egypte actus's insight:

Click here to read this thesis from University of Toronto : http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk3/ftp04/NQ58632.pdf

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Egypt: Israel responsible for sewage on Sinai coast

Egypt: Israel responsible for sewage on Sinai coast | Égypte-actualités | Scoop.it
From www.jpost.com - April 7, 11:26 AM

The Egyptian National Commission for the Protection of the Environment in North Sinai has accused Israel of causing pollution levels to rise in Sinai's coastline, Egypt Independent reported this week.

The commission's head, Abdallah Hijawy, claimed that since Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza strip, Jerusalem has removed major water pumps that were used to stop massive amounts of sewage from reaching Sinai, according to the report.

 

“In front of the international community, Israel is responsible for the service sector in the occupied lands," Hijawy was quoted as saying, "even the color of the water has changed and the smell is terrible."

According to the report, an increased level of pathogens in the Mediterranean, caused by industrial waste water excreted from Israel and the Gaza Strip, has raised human susceptibility to cancer and other diseases.

 

Hijawy said he plans to pursue a course of action through an international court, after being told by an Arish court that they had no jurisdiction in international cases such as these.

This is not the first time Israel has been accused by Egypt of interfering with the Sinai coast.

 

More on:http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Egypt-Israel-responsible-for-sewage-on-Sinai-coast-308859

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Pollution : La mer Rouge pourrait devenir noire

Pollution : La mer Rouge pourrait devenir noire | Égypte-actualités | Scoop.it
From hebdo.ahram.org.eg - February 27, 4:06 AM
Des ONG protestent contre le lancement d’un appel d’offres pour la prospection pétrolière en mer Rouge. Les forages d’études sont susceptibles de porter gravement atteinte à l’environnement.

Tout commence par une simple annonce concer­nant un banal appel d’offres pour la pros­pection pétrolière et gazière dans certaines zones de la mer Rouge. Or, ces zones sont situées tout près de la réserve naturelle de Wadi Al-Gemal, et celle-ci, ainsi que l’ensemble de l’écosystème marin, pourraient subir les effets d’une pollution extrêmement nocive résultant des activités pétrolières.

C’est en tout cas ce qu’affirment les ONG oeuvrant dans le domaine de la protection de l’environnement et les spécialistes des sciences marines. « Il ne devrait pas y avoir de prospection pétrolière dans de telles zones. Les plateformes pétro­lières menacent les écosys­tèmes, notamment les récifs coralliens et les poissons », affirme un responsable d’Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (Hepca), une ONG qui tra­vaille sur la protection de l’environnement en mer Rouge.

Selon lui, l’écotourisme et la plongée pourraient également être menacés dans cette zone si des pros­pections pétrolières y ont lieu. Selon les ONG, le gouvernement, représenté par l’Organisme général du pétrole, aurait dû procéder à une étude d’impact envi­ronnemental avant de lan­cer son appel d’offres. Or, cela n’a pas été fait.

(Rasha Hanafy/Al-Ahram Hebdo)

 

Plus : http://hebdo.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/963/37/0/1788/Pollution--La-mer-Rouge-pourrait-devenir-noire.aspx

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Any oil to spare? Throw it in the Nile, no one will notice or care

Any oil to spare? Throw it in the Nile, no one will notice or care | Égypte-actualités | Scoop.it
From www.egyptindependent.com - February 21, 8:58 AM

A five-kilometer-long oil spill was discovered near Edfu, a town north of Aswan, in October. Aside from the usual environmental damage from oil spills — destroyed ecosystems and destruction of wildlife — the oil continued to drift north, reaching crucial water purification facilities and destroying farmland, robbing thousands of access to drinkable water.

But despite strident calls for the Environment Ministry and Aswan Governor Mohamed Mostafa to look into the spill, residents and environmental activists say no real investigation took place.

Ahmed Zaky, an environmental activist and Aswan resident, says authorities made announcements to the press and then bought in equipment to dilute or clean the spill and “calm residents down.”

“[But] there was no investigation whatsoever,” he says.

Mostafa has said the remaining oil shrunk to an area five meters long, as state news agency MENA reported. The Environment Ministry added that the oil spill investigation had closed after the area was cleaned up and the problem solved. It attributed the spill to an accidental leak from a nearby sugar factory.

 

Not everyone, however, is convinced that the case is closed, as many residents’ land remains covered in oil and fish farms remain destroyed. The Habi Center for Environmental Rights filed a legal complaint, seeking to hold Mostafa and the Irrigation and Water Resources, Health and Environment Ministries accountable for the damage.

 

More on:http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/any-oil-spare-throw-it-nile-no-one-will-notice-or-care

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Is fracking responsible for the flooding of an Upper Egyptian village?

Is fracking responsible for the flooding of an Upper Egyptian village? | Égypte-actualités | Scoop.it
From www.egyptindependent.com - January 29, 9:36 AM

The village of Fares, located about 75km north of the city of Aswan near Kom Ombo, is currently being destroyed by severe flooding of contaminated water caused by controversial oil drilling practices performed over the past four years, according to the residents.

Egypte actus's insight:

Fares is an agricultural village home to approximately 25,000 residents.

While they rely on arable land to survive, the continuous destruction of farms, trees, water supplies and even housing has forced many to try move away from the village into the desert, or onto higher terrain in the mountains.

However, government officials have been preventing evacuees from relocating onto what they claim is “private land,”  leaving many of Fares’ residents homeless.

According to Sheikh Ahmed Abdel Hameed, a resident of Fares and key community activist, the initial floodings started in 2009 when oil drillers from DanaGas started test drilling on residential land in Fares without local consent.

“Not long after the drillers left, contaminated water started to pump out of the ground from the holes they had made, destroying everything,” says Abdel Hameed, adding that now over 500 feddans of land and housing has been destroyed by constant flooding.

“It’s poisonous water, and even small amounts destroy the plantations and trees, instead of hydrating them ... and sometimes it can get up to five feet high, destroying our houses too.”

It is believed that this reaction is caused by a controversial drilling practice known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. It entails drilling a vertical tunnel thousands of feet below the surface until it reaches a layer of rock where gas or oil are buried. (...)

The EIPR first started focusing its attention on controversial oil drilling practices last September when Shell announced that it would be using hydraulic fracturing to release natural gas in the western desert.

The organization first demanded that an immediate moratorium be placed on the practice until Egypt had governmental institutions capable of properly overlooking the details of all drilling practices, and closing many of the potential loopholes in the bureaucratic process.

This demand is yet to be met. However now, due to the direness of the situation, the campaign has focused its attention primarily on the people of Fares.

“Whether or not it is directly related to the oil drilling or not, the people of Fares have a right to their land, to find out what or who is destroying it, and be able to hold those guilty accountable as well as receive proper compensation for their losses,” says Reem Labib, an environmental justice researcher with EIPR.

“There are clear signs that relate the problems of contaminated flooding in Fares to oil and gas drilling practices, so if they’re not related like they claim, then we need to confirm that and determine what is.”

According to Labib, the next step for the group is to collect samples of the flooded water from Fares and determine what chemicals and pollutants it contains.

However, given current political turmoil, it is uncertain when this will be carried out.

In the meantime, residents of Fares continue to fear for their future.

“Please help us,” says Abdel Hameed. “We have tried all in our power and knocked on every door possible. Nothing is working and no one cares because we are a small village and far away, but we are Egyptians too, and we have nowhere to safely live and no land to farm to survive.”

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Dépollution : Assouan promise à mieux respirer

Dépollution : Assouan promise à mieux respirer | Égypte-actualités | Scoop.it
From hebdo.ahram.org.eg - March 13, 8:23 AM
Pour améliorer la qualité de l’air de la ville d’Assouan et réduire l’effet de serre mondial, la société égyptienne des industries chimiques KIMA met en place un nouveau projet de réduction de ses émissions polluantes.

KIMA est un nom que les Egyptiens associent directement à la pollu­tion … et toutes sortes de pollution ! Et pour cause : cette usine d’engrais a toujours été l’une des causes essentielles de pollution de l’air et de l’eau dans la ville d’As­souan, en Haute-Egypte.

Cependant, une amélioration semble se profiler. KIMA a entamé un projet de réduction des oxydes nitreux N2O et des oxydes d’azote NOx. Le projet a été enregistré le premier mars 2013 sous le Mécanisme du Développement Propre (MDP), et il recevra des crédits de carbone de type CER pendant 10 ans entre le premier janvier 2014 et le 31 décembre 2023. KIMA pourra vendre ses crédits sur le marché de carbone et compenser les investissements versés dans le projet.

Le nouveau projet de KIMA en coopération avec un partenaire suisse (First Climate) a pour objectif de réduire les émissions des N2O et des NOx dans deux lignes de production d’acide nitrique.

La technologie appliquée par les promoteurs du projet prévoit une décomposition thermique du N2O intégré à la fois à une réduction non catalytique sélective (RNCS) et à une réduction catalytique sélective (SCR), tout en réduisant simultanément les émissions de NOx aux niveaux auto­risés.

(Dalia Abdel-Salam / Al-Ahram Hebdo)

 

Plus : http://hebdo.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/965/37/0/1928/D%C3%A9pollution--Assouan-promise-%C3%A0-mieux-respirer.aspx

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Climate change and water mismanagement parch Egypt

Climate change and water mismanagement parch Egypt | Égypte-actualités | Scoop.it
From www.egyptindependent.com - February 26, 8:16 AM

Climate change, a fast growing population, ill-designed infrastructure, high levels of pollution and lack of law enforcement have made Egypt a country thirsty for water — both in terms of quantity and quality.

The River Nile, which is considered poor by many experts and hydrologists, lies at lower altitude than the rest of the country. Massive electric pumps extract the water from the river’s bed and canals and direct it to industry, agriculture and for individual water use.

A significant portion of the water contained in Lake Nasser’s 5,000 square kilometer basin is lost to evaporation, while old networks of leaking pipes also deprive the country of satisfactory access to its most important resource: water.

In order to debate water scarcity in Egypt, its causes, and how climate change makes the issue more pressing than ever, as well as looking to solutions, a panel of experts were invited to participate in the 13th Cairo Climate Talk last week entitled “Growing Thirst: Sustainable Water Solutions for Egypt.”

Tarek Kotb, the First Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, and a member of the panel discussion, talked about the dwindling water share per capita with a sense of urgency. “Every year, the Egyptian population grows by 1.8 million, while the annual quota of Nile water allocated to Egypt, 55 billion cubic meters, has remained unchanged since the 1959 Nile Water Agreement,” he says.

While Egyptians in the 1960s could enjoy a water share per capita of 2800 cubic meters for all purposes, the current share has dropped to 660 cubic meters today—below the international standard defining water poverty of 1000 cubic meters.

Kotb estimates that Egypt is gradually going to leave the stage of water scarcity and enter a phase of drastic water stress in the next 40 years, if no sustainable water management is put in place.

“By 2050, there will be about 160 million Egyptians and only 370 cubic meters of water per capita,” he says. While Egypt has other options for its water needs, such as tapping into groundwater basins and desalinating sea-water, the bulk of water is still extracted from the Nile, leading to longstanding tensions with the other Nile basin countries. (Louise Sarant/Egypt independent)

 

More : http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/climate-change-and-water-mismanagement-parch-egypt

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Ce nuage noir qui obscurcit Le Caire

Ce nuage noir qui obscurcit Le Caire | Égypte-actualités | Scoop.it
From www.lesechos.fr - February 5, 12:40 AM

Les Cairotes appellent « black cloud » ce parapluie de pollution en suspension depuis une douzaine d'années en mars-avril et octobre-novembre au-dessus de la capitale égyptienne. Il est vrai que les conditions sont réunies pour faire du Caire une des capitales africaines les plus polluées, en raison de l'absence de vent, de la concentration d'industries en banlieue et d'une circulation particulièrement chaotique dans cette ville de 17 millions d'habitants en pleine explosion démographique. Le taux de particules fines (de moins de 10 microns de diamètre), particulièrement dangereuses pour la santé, dans l'air s'avère près de dix fois supérieur aux normes de l'Organisation mondiale de la santé, selon Hassan Abou Bakr, professeur de médecine à l'université du Caire. La teneur en plomb s'avère supérieure aux normes dans la quasi-totalité des stations de mesure. On estime que la circulation de millions de véhicules anciens et mal entretenus, dont plus la moitié ont plus de dix ans d'âge, contribue pour un quart de la pollution, poussant le gouvernement à envisager l'interdiction des véhicules les plus anciens. Un autre tiers proviendrait des industries et le solde des émanations issues du brûlage de millions de tonnes de paille de riz cultivé dans le delta du Nil. La pollution provoquerait plus de 5.000 décès par an. « Vivre ici équivaut à fumer un paquet de cigarettes par jour », souligne un habitant.

Yves Bourdillon/ Les Echos
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