G is for...Girgis...Geography...and...Glass...

is for

Girgis, Mina and the Nile Project

 – Mina is an Egyptian ethnomusicologist and the co-founder of the Nile Project, an initiative to bring together musicians from the 11 countries through which the Nile runs to create a sustainable future. Transforming conflict through a common cultural platform of shared music.   

Geography 

Just a recap of the geographical boundaries here, what the Arablands actually mean. Loads of confusion re the MENA, it's not synonymous with Arabs.  Iran and Turkey are notable countries which are part of the ME but not Arab, the majority language there is Persian and Turkish respectively. And there are a whole bunch of other, minority ethnicities and languages - Kurdish, Armenian, Berber, etc which are part of the MENA.


The Arab nations are organised formally into the League of Arab States, known in Arabic as Gameat ud Dowwal al Arabiyya, with 22 member states. Here’s a map that marks out what it means to be an Arab.

Credit

The other G-word is the Gulf Cooperation Council, a political and economic alliance of the Arabian Gulf monarchies - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and UAE. 

Glass

Glass has been made for more than five thousand years, produced around 3000 BCE in what is today Iraq and Syria. The first glass vessels were made simultaneously in Egypt and Mesopotamia in around 1500 BCE.

Medieval Middle Eastern glass vessels. Bahrain Museum. 

By the 1^st century BCE Syrian craftsmen had discovered the blowpipe – this made glass infinitely easier to manipulate, cheaper and widely available. Blown glass flourished under the Roman Empire and the first workshops were set up in the eastern fringes of the Empire in Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and the province of Cyprus, reaching southwards into Egypt.

Glass lighting fixture in restaurant. Cairo. 

The advent of Islam elevated ME glass-making to another level.  From the 7^th to 14^th century, major new techniques were added by the Arab glassmakers – superbly innovative and decorative relief-cut glass and gilded and enamelled lusterware for instance. 

Reflection from stained glass. Qalawun Complex, 

13th century.  Cairo.

By the 13^th century Syrian glass craftsmen had found ways of applying enamels and gilding on glass, producing spectacularly coloured polychrome glass objects of great artistic complexity, including typical lanterns to light mosques.  Middle Eastern glass was prized for its craftsmanship and artistry across the world.  The glass making traditions still continue today in their original homes.

Do you think cross-cultural collaborations like the Nile Project can help solve long standing geopolitical conflicts?

Gosh, that's one week of this A-Z gone already, zipped past like a nanosecond, hasn't it? Time flies, and it flies faster when you're enjoying yourself! Have a great Sunday and see y'all next week!

Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2017