Located along the Nile River, in an area between northern Sudan and southern Egypt is what is left of the ancient Kingdom of Nubia. Here you will find ancient monuments, a displaced population and fresh attempts to bring a rich culture to light.
One of the oldest and richest cultures in Africa, Nubia’s history can be traced as far back as 2,000BC. The last Nubian kingdom collapsed in the 16th century. Now, one Nubian village in Egypt – Gharb Sohail – has become a major tourist attraction and many locals have turned part of their homes into guesthouses. Big halls, a mastaba (a traditional bench built into the wall) an area for women’s gatherings that usually take place after sundown, and a tea area, represent a typical Nubian living unit. One of the traditional drinks is always at the ready: red tea with basil, hibiscus tea, or strong African jabana coffee.
Many traditional Nubian homes are decorated with crocodiles (see above) and in the case of the Rabe family home, there was even a live crocodile in a cage in the main room! Although this is largely done for the benefit of tourism, the representation of this animal is nonetheless a tradition that goes back thousands of years. When Herodotus, the Greek historian, visited Kemet he talked about being confused that the Egyptians, as he called them, on the one hand worshipped crocodiles but on the other they ate them.
After the displacement of thousands of Nubians from their homeland 52 years ago, the scars of loss and cultural tragedy continue to spur demands for a right of return.
by Farah El-Akkad
Palm trees and vast farms by the Nile
River, ‘the land of Gold,’ ‘Egypt’s gateway extending till northern
Sudan,’ ‘an African Empire’ — that’s the way older generations of
Egypt’s Nubians remember their long-lost homeland.
Before the 1960s, Nubian villages were
flooded every summer, spurring a government decision to begin
construction of Aswan’s High Dam in an effort to create more water and
electricity capacity for Egypt’s burgeoning population. But while the
revised 1959 Nile Waters Treaty was a necessity to Egypt’s
hydro-infrastructure ambitions, it necessitated the displacement of tens
of thousands of Egyptian and Sudanese Nubians.
The decision to resettle the Nubian
population between 1963 and 1964 was a major traumatic event: one that
has been ingrained in the historical and cultural memory of the Nubians
of Egypt and North Sudan. According to the acclaimed 1999 documentary Egyptians and the Nile,
scores of families left their farms and ancestral homes with thousands
of lost memories; many others refused to leave their flooded houses and
chose instead to die there.
This month marks 52 years since the
displacement of Nubians from their land. The displacement, known as “the
bitter occurrence,” saw more than 50,000 Nubians expelled from their
land after promises of a right of return following the completion of the
High Dam were broken. Over 45 villages were razed, their inhabitants
displaced and promptly relocated, mainly in Kom Ombo far from their
original lands. Decades have passed and Nubians have not forgotten their
old land and still demand their right of return. Today, Nubians
continue to reside mostly in Kom Ombo, about 60 km north of Aswan,
spread out across five main villages: Nasr Al-Noba, Al-Fadigga, Arab,
Thoman Waffia and Al-Konouz. Though these villages depend mainly on
agriculture, they hold none of the magic and glory of the Nubians’
original lands.
“I remember very vividly what happened on
that day. Our farm was completely flooded months before leaving and the
crop was damaged. I also recall my grandfather who was almost my age
today talking to one of the army officers and leaving our home with
tears in his eyes. Even though they said it was for the best and they
would bring us back, my family felt it was not true,” says 75-year-old
Abdel Hamid Saafan, a Nubian who once lived in Abu Handal, one of the
last villages that were razed in 1964. Saafan says his family moved into
a new house, but most other people had no place to live because more
than 60 percent of the construction of the new houses was not yet
finished. To the Nubians’ dismay, the new houses were totally different
from their old village’s culture and style, nor was any attention paid
to the hot weather conditions or the Nile’s considerable distance from
the settlements.
The Egyptian Nubian Foundation
held an event at their headquarters in Abdeen Square in memory of the
bitter incident. Chairman of the Foundation Mossad Herky says the
commemoration is “part of a series of continuous events held annually to
keep alive the memory and remind the government that we did not forget
its promise to us — the right that was promised 52 years ago during
Nasser’s era and also by other consecutive governments until today.”
Nubians feel marginalized and isolated
from society to this day, Herky says. But they are not disheartened, and
every year the community spotlights the sad incident and renews its
demands that the government preserve Nubian culture and return Nubians
to their land. “I am 32, but I recall my grandfather’s stories about old
Nubia throughout my childhood and the same stories are not being told
to my son. The displacement will remain a black spot in the history of
Egypt not because of the act itself, but because the government’s
promise was not true,” says Ibrahim Gamal, a resident of Nasr El Noba.
After the January 25 Revolution Nubians
hoped for better living conditions north of the High Dam, but their
hopes were dashed and then renewed after June 30, Gamal says. “It seems
we always come last,” laments Gamal. “Why is wanting to go home to
develop and invest in our homeland too much to ask?" he exclaims, adding
that Nubians have sacrificed a lot for Egypt and the least they deserve
is for their demands to be met.
There is hope yet with the Egyptian
government showing some positive steps over the past 5 years. Following
the January 25 Revolution, former Prime Minister Essam Sharaf gave the
go-ahead for the creation of the High Institute for Reconstruction South
of the High Dam. In 2012, the government started a program to encourage
young Nubians by selling one square meter lots for LE 10 in Nasr Al
Noba. In October 2014, the Egyptian Minister for Transitional Justice,
Ibrahim Henedi, issued a decision to form a special committee to discuss
Nubians’ demands to return to their areas of origin (now located north
of Aswan’s High Dam). Moreover, the government has built schools,
hospitals and a number of youth centers in addition to fitting sewage
pipeline in different Nubian villages in the past 10 years.
Yet many Nubians feel this is not enough,
arguing that most governmental initiatives go no further than the
paperwork stage and are nothing but fodder for talk shows. “Nubians’
demand of their right of return does not mean they are not aware of
Egypt’s ongoing political and economic challenges and will do their
utmost effort to help make Egypt a better country and work hard to
improve our living conditions,” says Herky.
New York Subway 1871? Pay Attention to the Electrification of the Subway
The Beach Pneumatic Transit Company –…
Illustration from The Broadway Pneumatic Underground Railway, 1871, in the Ephemera Collection.
Pay attention to the quality of the picture high definition picture in 1871.
Taras Grescoe’s Straphangers, a new book about public transportation. The review mentions the inclusion of “a subway prototype, from 1870, constructed inside a huge pneumatic tube” in New York. In other words, an underground train whose motion was controlled entirely by forcing air through the tunnel.
The pneumatic underground railway conceived by Alfred Ely Beach, in 1869, in response to the ever growing traffic and congestion on New York City streets, especially Broadway. Beach’s underground railway ran just the length of one block under Broadway, between Warren to Murray Streets.
The rail line was built primarily as a demonstration of how such a system could work, and employed a 48-ton blower to move the train down the tracks. When the train reached the end of the line at Murray Street, the baffles on the blower were reversed, drawing the train car back toward Warren Street.
The entrance to the station was through the Devlin Stores, in what was later known as the Rogers, Peet & Co building. The station and passenger car were both very elegant, with mirrors, fountains, and saloons for ladies and gentlemen in the station; and the car featured comfortable, upholstered seats for 22 people. When the number of riders exceeded 22, a large platform car with a wooden sail at one end was used instead, where passengers sat upon comfortable settees, which accommodated up to 30 passengers.
Despite the popularity of Beach’s railway, selling 25-cent rides to over 400,000 people during its first year of operation, it remained little more than a novelty. Beach fought Tammany Hall for over two years as he tried to pass a bill introduced to the New York State Legislature to extend the line all the way to Central Park. The bill finally passed in 1873, only to face funding problems both from waning public interest, and the stock market crash that led to the Panic of 1873.
Eventually, Beach abandoned the project. This blank stock certificate below is probably one of many that sat unused as financiers drifted away.
Lobbying and in 1894 granting municipal ownership of the underground railroad.
In 1891, the Rapid Transit Act was passed, establishing the Board of Rapid Transit Railroad Commissioners, and mandating that the Board was to first design routes and develop a general construction plan. The Board was then to receive consent for construction from property owners and local authorities. Once consent was obtained, from the property owners themselves or the Supreme Court in lieu thereof, the right to build and operate the railroad could be sold at auction to a construction corporation.
Unfortunately, the Board received only one bid that was promptly rejected. It was openly suggested that this was due to opposition from the owners of the elevated railroad, still in operation at this time. In order to move forward, an amendment to the Rapid Transit Act was passed in 1894 granting municipal ownership of the underground railroad. The contractor was to supply all equipment for construction, held in lien by the city, and operate the railroad as a lessee of the city for a period not to exceed fifty years. Construction plans and routes were finally approved by the Supreme Court, and in January of 1900, the Board awarded John B. MacDonald contract for construction of the subway. August Belmont provided the financial backing to complete the construction and organized the Rapid Transit Subway Construction Organization, later named the Interborough Rapid Transit Company.
Link
https://www.mcny.org/search/site?keys=pneumatic+underground+railway
https://www.mcny.org/story/contemplating-and-commemorating-rapid-transit-new-york-city
Pay attention to the quality of the picture high definition picture in 1871.
Taras Grescoe’s Straphangers, a new book about public transportation. The review mentions the inclusion of “a subway prototype, from 1870, constructed inside a huge pneumatic tube” in New York. In other words, an underground train whose motion was controlled entirely by forcing air through the tunnel.
The pneumatic underground railway conceived by Alfred Ely Beach, in 1869, in response to the ever growing traffic and congestion on New York City streets, especially Broadway. Beach’s underground railway ran just the length of one block under Broadway, between Warren to Murray Streets.
The rail line was built primarily as a demonstration of how such a system could work, and employed a 48-ton blower to move the train down the tracks. When the train reached the end of the line at Murray Street, the baffles on the blower were reversed, drawing the train car back toward Warren Street.
The entrance to the station was through the Devlin Stores, in what was later known as the Rogers, Peet & Co building. The station and passenger car were both very elegant, with mirrors, fountains, and saloons for ladies and gentlemen in the station; and the car featured comfortable, upholstered seats for 22 people. When the number of riders exceeded 22, a large platform car with a wooden sail at one end was used instead, where passengers sat upon comfortable settees, which accommodated up to 30 passengers.
Despite the popularity of Beach’s railway, selling 25-cent rides to over 400,000 people during its first year of operation, it remained little more than a novelty. Beach fought Tammany Hall for over two years as he tried to pass a bill introduced to the New York State Legislature to extend the line all the way to Central Park. The bill finally passed in 1873, only to face funding problems both from waning public interest, and the stock market crash that led to the Panic of 1873.
Eventually, Beach abandoned the project. This blank stock certificate below is probably one of many that sat unused as financiers drifted away.
In 1891, the Rapid Transit Act was passed, establishing the Board of Rapid Transit Railroad Commissioners, and mandating that the Board was to first design routes and develop a general construction plan. The Board was then to receive consent for construction from property owners and local authorities. Once consent was obtained, from the property owners themselves or the Supreme Court in lieu thereof, the right to build and operate the railroad could be sold at auction to a construction corporation.
Unfortunately, the Board received only one bid that was promptly rejected. It was openly suggested that this was due to opposition from the owners of the elevated railroad, still in operation at this time. In order to move forward, an amendment to the Rapid Transit Act was passed in 1894 granting municipal ownership of the underground railroad. The contractor was to supply all equipment for construction, held in lien by the city, and operate the railroad as a lessee of the city for a period not to exceed fifty years. Construction plans and routes were finally approved by the Supreme Court, and in January of 1900, the Board awarded John B. MacDonald contract for construction of the subway. August Belmont provided the financial backing to complete the construction and organized the Rapid Transit Subway Construction Organization, later named the Interborough Rapid Transit Company.
Link
https://www.mcny.org/search/site?keys=pneumatic+underground+railway
https://www.mcny.org/story/contemplating-and-commemorating-rapid-transit-new-york-city
How Old is Really Old?
According to Edgar Cayce's (the sleeping prophet of America that lived between 1877-1945) readings a portion of southwest America was
occupied approximately 10 million years ago. However these "people" were
more like thought forms projected into primitive life than the human
being we know today.
The land of Lemuria and Mu was located to the west if America long before the land of Atlantis was occupied. Its destruction occurred sometime around 50000 years ago.
Atlantis located in the Atlantic ocean was first occupied by an advanced race if humans in 210,000 B.C.
A series of cataclysms happened resulting in breaking up the island. The first happened in 50,700 B.C. followed by the second in 28,000 B.C. Finally in 10,014 B.C. the remaining island if Atlantis sank.as all but few remaining islands of Mu.
At each of these critical time periods groups if people escaped from these sinking lands and fled not only to Egypt India and parts of Europe but also to Americas.
Cayce also stated that the leaders if these ancient advanced civilizations were aware that their land were doomed and they sent several groups to different locations to preserve records of humanity's history.
The land of Lemuria and Mu was located to the west if America long before the land of Atlantis was occupied. Its destruction occurred sometime around 50000 years ago.
Atlantis located in the Atlantic ocean was first occupied by an advanced race if humans in 210,000 B.C.
A series of cataclysms happened resulting in breaking up the island. The first happened in 50,700 B.C. followed by the second in 28,000 B.C. Finally in 10,014 B.C. the remaining island if Atlantis sank.as all but few remaining islands of Mu.
At each of these critical time periods groups if people escaped from these sinking lands and fled not only to Egypt India and parts of Europe but also to Americas.
Cayce also stated that the leaders if these ancient advanced civilizations were aware that their land were doomed and they sent several groups to different locations to preserve records of humanity's history.
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