Egyptian Village Minaret at Dusk
by Mark Tisdale
Title
Egyptian Village Minaret at Dusk
Artist
Mark Tisdale
Medium
Photograph - Photo
Description
One of the many things about Egypt I'll never forget is the near ubiquitous presence of minarets piercing the skyline of cities and villages. In fact, my first experience seeing one was waking after being awakened suddenly by the first of many morning calls to prayer on my first morning in Cairo. A shock even if you know its coming when you're not used to it!
The yellow mosque seen in this photo was photographed in a little Nubian village on Elephantine Island near Aswan. Our group had the privilege of meeting and dining with a family there and while the food was being prepared, I looked up and saw the beautiful dusk blue sky forming over the courtyard we where we were seated. I hadn't yet spotted the minaret, but I knew the sky would be amazing and climbed up a staircase in the courtyard to see what was there. When I was greeted with this view, my jaw dropped. I loved how the gritty buildings in the foreground echoed the blue of the sky. And it speaks volumes about the importance of the Mosque in Egyptian culture when one compares how pristine it looks compared to the rest of this small weather-worn village.
I really hadn't counted on that minaret being there at all, but it only made sense that one would be visible on the skyline, and this photo has come to me to be one of my favorites. It tells a story about life in Egypt, today's Egypt. I came to see the antiquities but I fell in love with the whole of Egypt from the awe inspiring landscapes to the little villages like this one near Aswan.
Uploaded
December 16th, 2012
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Viewed 920 Times - Last Visitor from White Plains, NY on 08/31/2023 at 7:58 AM
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