Eygpt & The Middle East

As we all know, the spark was struck in Tunisia.

Now after eight days it seems that the protests in Eygpt show no sign of abating, the protestors apparently unimpressed by President Mubarak's statement yesterday that he would not stand again for election; they want him to go now.

Meanwhile there has been a series of prophylactic actions in other middle-eastern states, with even the President of Yemen indicating after 33 years in power, that he will not stand again and neither will there be a "dynasty"...

Now whilst a number of Presidents appear to have been rattled rather by recent events, things have taken a rather more sinister turn today in Cairo, where out of the woodwork, has appeared a large number of pro-Mubarak supporters These people have not adopted the peaceful approach of the anti-government protestors: they have behaved like thugs and many have suggested that they have in fact the backing - if not the direct involvement - of the government which, it is suggested, hopes to benefit from the chaos these people are causing i.e. instability - the word "stability" being a central part of last night' presidential speech.

I am disappointed by the Eygptian Army's performance today, in contrast to its demeanour during the protests up to now. I expected it to keep order, which it has patently failed to do; this could be viewed as the Army's having decided to side with the régime.

No doubt we shall have to wait for further developments

In the meantime, I should add that I have always had a soft spot for President Mubarak - but only for one reason: many years ago he was quoted as describing Ayatollah Khomeini as "a pig" an observation I have always felt was fully justified.

Let us hope that Cairo does not become another Tehran.

Until the next time.

The God of the Dead

Anubis Standing. Image source: Wikipedia

It was just a couple of weeks ago, I was reflecting on the name of this blog and the name "Anubis" suddenly entered my head. I couldn't guess when the last time was that I had given the jackal-headed god a thought; memory is a strange thing.

Curiously I had associated Anubis with standing guard at the bank ot the River Styx - the river that the dead must cross to reach the after life. I was wrong, and here it all starts to get confusing. "Anubis" is the Greek name for the Egyptian God Inpu. The River Styx is to be found in ancient Greek mythology and there the chap who saw the dead across the river was a rather boring type called Charron.

Anubis was said to have invented embalming and in to the ancient Eygptians was associated with embalming and mummification. His role as "god of the dead" was later taken over by Osiris, who was depicted as having green skin (the colour of rebirth) rather than Anubis's black finish - the colour of rotting flesh!

Osiris. Source: Wikipedia

Whatever the godly pecking-order in ancient Eygpt, and despite Osiris's attractive appearance, the image of Anubis is, in my view stunning - and quite haunting too. And despite Anubis's sinister/bizarre looks, he was viewed as a kind god, who took care of the dead. It seems that I am far from being alone in my opinion, and apart from the many classical images of Anubis, some artists have employed his image too - in rather humorous ways!

School! Source: Here

And it is not unreasonable to suppose surely, that just sometimes, Anubis might have the blues? In this case one assumes that the Mississippi Delta has been replaced by the Nile Delta.

Source: here

Finally, this little piece would not be complete without this strange tale all about Anubis the mummified cat, emblem of the Milwaukee Press Club.

I am hoping to compound a mythological felony and include Anubis (the god that is) in the title to this blog - Charron simply will not do!

Until the next time