Egypt

Excerpts from “The Arab in Egypt”, from the 1937 Journal of the Arab Horse Society

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The article was written by Fouad Abaza, the Director-General of the Royal Agricultural Society of Egypt and a Governor of the Arab Horse Society of England. It includes a description by Doris Walter of her 1934 visit to Kafr Farouk, as well as a description of T.G.B. Trouncer’s Sidi Salem stud. There are a few … Read more

Sobha in Russia

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Below is a photo of the 1879 Hamdaniyah Simriyah mare Sobha, bred in Egypt (Wazir x Selma), bought by the Blunts in 1891, and then sold to Colonel de Sdanovitch in 1899, who sent her to the Russian stud at Derkul. Photo sourced from the History of Russia in Photographs.

Busima: the Egyptian racehorse that Raswan wanted?

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On Bogdan Zientarski and Carl Raswan’s expedition to Syria and Iraq, to find horses for Prince Roman Sanguszko’s Gumniska Stud, one of their first stops was Egypt. There, they saw a number of horses from different studs and stables, including the Astraled son Rustem, the Crabbet-bred mare Bint Riyala, a grey son of the Sheykh … Read more

Bushra, Kuhaylah Ju’aytiniyah from the Tahawi

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Republishing this beautiful post, which I first published on October 7th 2013 after a visit to my friend Yasser Ghanem Barakat in the Nile Delta. We were chatting today and he confirmed to me the original ‘Amarat provenance of that line (see below). In the 1950s, Shaykh Mahrooth Ibn Haddhal, Shaykh of the ‘Amarat Bedouins, … Read more

Origin of the Egyptian Kuhaylan Khallawi strain of Futna

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Sheykh Tahawi Saeed Mejalli al-Tahawi who is in his nineties was interviewed recently by Yehia Abdel-Satar Eliwa al-Tahawi. The old man, who is the memory of the Tahawi clan of Egypt, told him that the original Kuhayla Khallawiyah mare had come to Shaman Ghumah al-Tahawi from the Mawali Bedouins. I had hypothesized this connection of the … Read more

Lady Anne Blunt’s grave

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Today was an important and solemn day of my two-year stay in Egypt. I found the Cairo cemetery where Lady Anne Blunt is buried and the old lady who guards it led me to her tomb. The “noble lady of the horses” was right there. I had a thought for many of you, and wished you … Read more

The French, the Suez Canal and the Tahawis

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Historian Mohamed Saud al-Tahawy is digging into what appears to have been a privileged and deep relationship between the Tahawi leaders of the house of Saud al-Tahawi and the French engineers who dug the Suez Canals and the French managers who operated it afterwards, including Ferdinand de Lesseps; he has some correspondence between de Lesseps’ successor … Read more

Virginia Deyr, 1979 Hamdaniyah Simriyah tracing to Sobha from the Abbas Pasha line

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This photo of the lovely 1979 Hamdaniyah Simriyah mare Virginia Deyr (Tristram x LR Double Bubble by Ar-Raad) in old age appeared in one of the Khamsat magazine issues and is courtesy of Jeanne Craver.   This Hamdani strain, going back to the mare Sobha (Wazir x Selma) is one of the handful strains handed down … Read more

Muhammad Sadyk Pasha, owner of *Shahwan

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The splendid Arabian stallion Shahwan, purchased by Lady Anne and Wilfrid Blunt in 1892, was foaled in the possession of Muhammad Sadyk Pasha, who was given his dam in foal by Ali Pasha Sharif. He is the maternal grandsire of Ibn Yashmak, through whom he finds his way into modern Egyptian pedigrees. I found the trace … Read more

Bint Radia photo

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This is Bint Radia (Mabrouk Manial x Radia), also from the Agriculture Museum. This photo I have seen in a book before, just don’t ask me where.    

Rare photo of RAS stallion Mansour

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Last spring, my wife, who by now knows Cairo’s cultural gems well, took us to the Agriculture Museum, housed in the palace of Fatma, daughter of the Khedive Ismail, in the Doqqi neighborhood. You can click on the links to learn more about the museum and its treasures; here my objective is to share with you … Read more

Donia of Ahmad Pasha Kamal?

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From Lady Anne Blunt’s Journals, January 9th, 1908, at Prince Yusuf Kamal’s sale of the horses of his father, Prince Ahmad Kamal who had died the year before: “Besides my three and Ghazala, a handsome but very slight of bone Keh. Memrieh was sold to somebody Bey”.   Lady Anne bought three bay mares/fillies at … Read more

Treff-Haven Sabeel, the lifeline

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This stallion, Treff Haven Sabeel  is, in my opinion, a ray of hope for US-based Egyptian breeding. I was saying on Facebook that such strong couplings, short backs, high, prominent withers and exceptionally strong shoulders have all but disappeared from New Egyptian horses. That’s because the halter shows for which most of these horses or their … Read more

Johara and Kaukab from Ali Pasha Sharif

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As I continue perusing Lady Anne’s Journals and Correspondence and what was published of her Sheykh Obeyd Studbook looking for information on those horses of Ali Pasha Sharif breeding she did not own, I came across this conclusion, which others might have already reached before. Excerpts from the Sheykh Obeyd Studbook published in Pearson and Mol … Read more

Egypt Grand Hotels of the past

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A wonderful blog about Egypt’s Grand Hotels and golden era. On the Shepheard, quoting from this blog: “Long before London’s Savoy or the Paris Ritz, Shepheard’s of Cairo was the epitome of glamour. It was a hotel from which explorers set off for Africa, where kings entertained mistresses, where movie stars rubbed shoulders with of?cers … Read more

Cairo’s Shepheard Hotel

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From Wikipedia: “Shepheard’s Hotel was the leading hotel in Cairo and one of the most celebrated hotels in the world from the middle of the 19th century until it was burned down in 1952. A modern hotel called the Shepheard Hotel was built nearby in 1957” and “in the First World War, the hotel served as British Headquarters in the Near … Read more

Thabit Pasha the Wakil of APS

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Another character who makes occasional appearances in Lady Anne Blunt’s Journals is Thabit Pasha, who acted as Wakil (Trustee) for Ali Pasha Sherif’s estate in the later years of his life, and who was a central character in the process of Lady Anne’s acquisition of the remnant of the Stud of Ali Pasha Sharif in … Read more

The Yekens

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Both Ahmad and Fathi Bey Yeken (Yakan, Yeghen) make fleeting appearances in Lady Anne’s Journals and Correspondence (where their name is sometimes mis-transcribed as Bekin) whether as visitors of the Sheykh Obeyd Stud or occasional buyers of surplus stock. Either Ahmed or Fathi Bey is mentioned as the buyer of the colt of Fasiha (Ibn Sherara x … Read more

The Venus Hadban line in Lady Anne Blunt’s writings — a new discovery

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I am in Yemen for the week. I am done with work for today, and the only book I brought with me is Lady Anne Blunt’s invaluable Journals and Correspondence (Archer and Fleming, 1986). Lately I have been combing the Journal entries for references to non-Blunt, non-Ali Pasha Sherif early foundation stock of Egyptian Arabian … Read more

Eternal Fascinators

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Lately I have been re-reading Lady Anne Blunt’s Journals and Correspondence to let steam off increasing workload. I try to read a few entries while in the car, in airport terminals, and — I confess — in the bathroom. I have been paying special interest to the entries about Ali Pasha Sherif horses — it’s … Read more

Coptic Museum and Youssef Kamal

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So today my wife made me take a break from work to see the Coptic Museum in Old Cairo. I enjoyed the visit. In the evening I checked the website of the museum and found this reference, about the collections in its library: “The late Prince Youssef Kamal collection is in the Museum library with … Read more

The cemetery of Mohammed Nafea Pasha in Cairo

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He is the Mohammed Abu Nafie Pasha that is connected to the RAS foundation mares Nafaa El Saghira and (the elusive) Nafaa El Kabira, both of which are named after him.  The banner above reads: “The late Mohammed Nafea Pasha established this cemetery in 1921″, and the one on the left has his date of … Read more

Dachna, 1983 Shuwaymah Sabbah mare in Germany

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Stephan Eberhardt shared with me this photo of his Algerian/Tunisian/Egyptian mare Dachna (Khaiber x Dahna by El Aswad a.k.a Ibn Galal-15), a Shuwaymah Sabbah tracing to the Tiaret mare Cherifa. I am always pleased to see that these asil lines  from North Africa have crossed well with Egyptian lines in Europe. The mare has two close … Read more

The Mohammed Ali dynasty and the Tahawis

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Also from Lady Anne’s Journals, February 24th, 1891: “A very bad day, wet, windy, cold and dull, not suitable for Judith to go to Cairo, so that I and Wilfrid went without her. When we got into the 1st class carriage we found in it Prince Osman Pasha who entertained us with agreeable conversation the … Read more

Lady Anne Blunt and the Tahawis

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From Lady Anne Blunt’s Journals and Correspondence under the January 13, 1903 entry: “Course to Om Kamr (for the third time). We started at 7.30 am making for the Hamad. Cantering on we  came in sight of a tent, which at first H.F. [Wilfrid Blunt a.k.a. Head of the Family] thought might be Abu’s tomb … Read more

Major General Ibrahim Khairi

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I have always been intrigued by some of the early sources of RAS foundation horses, and wanted to learn more about them. I am not only referring to the Princes (Mohammed Ali, Ahmad Kamal, Yusuf Kamal, Kemal el-Dine Husayn, etc) and Lady Anne Blunt, but also by the more minor sources. One of these is … Read more

Ubayyat Ibn Thamdan at the Tahawi in Efypt, ca. 1955

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Mohammad Mohammad Osman Faysal Abdallah Saoud al-Tahawi sent me this beautiful photo of his grandfather Faysal on a Ubayyat Ibn Thamdan mare, taken around 1955. I like everything about this photo: the whitewashed tombs in the background, straight out of the Arabian Nights, the mud brick walls and the mud houses and the oasis, the … Read more

The Palace of Princess Nemat Kamal Al-Din

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A couple blocks from the Casdagli palace, in the Garden City district of Cairo, lies the palace of Princess Nematullah Kamal El Dine, wife of Prince Kemal El Dine Hussein, and daughter of the Khedive Tewfik. The palace, restored and renamed Qasr al-Tahrir (Liberation Palace) but amputated of its garden which became part of the now-famous … Read more

The Casdagli family of Cairo and Manchester

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Old Egyptian Arabian horse records have preserved the trace of a Mr. Kasdughli, who owned Arabian horses which he obtained from Lady Anne Blunt during her last years at Sheykh Obeyd near Cairo and from Prince Kemal El Din Hussein of the Egyptian Royal family, and perhaps other sources as well. Here’s on the Dahmah … Read more

Kuhaylah Tamriyah mare from the Tahawi

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This is Bint Delingat (Delingat x Bint Ammoura), one of the non-registered Tahawi mares that are currently being considered for registration by the EAO in a registry separate from the “Straight Egyptians”. She belongs to Yahia Abd al-Sattar al-Tahawi, who otherwise owns and breeds a lot of registered Arabian mares of Tahawi backgrounds, tracing in … Read more

In Geziret Saoud, Egypt

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In the ancestral homeland of the Tahawi clan, looking at old documents, with Mohammed Saoud al-Tahawi in Arab garment and headgear, Yasser Ghanem Barakat in the striped shirt, and Yahia Abd al-Sattar al-Tahawi on his right.

Bint Rammah, desert mare from the Kuhaylan Khallawi strain at the Tahawi clan in Geziret Saoud

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As I was telling you in an earlier entry, last Friday I spent a most delightful day as a guest of Yehia Abd al-Attar al-Tahawi in Geziret Saoud in the Sharqiyah province of Egypt, along with Mohamed Osman al-Tahawi and Yasser Ghanim al-Tahawi and a number of others. I took tons of pictures with my i-phone, but I am having … Read more

Tahawi working group

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The informal working group on the Arabian horses of the Tahawi in Egypt is unearthing new written and oral evidence of the Tahawi horses day after day. Stay tuned for two upcoming stories on the French/Tunisian desert bred stallion Nasr, a Saqlawi Shaifi from the Tahawi, and the US import *Malouma, a Kuhaylah Nawwaqiyah also … Read more

Yasser

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Many of you have been writing to or hearing about Yasser al-Tahawi who is one of the main persons behind the recent revelations about the original horses of the Tahawi tribe. Well here’s a picture of him, riding bareback on his Kuhaylah Ju’athiniyah mare Bushra.

New information on the Egyptian stallion Gamal El Din

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As part of the working group on the horses of the Tahawi, which Edouard mentioned in a recent post, I wanted to share with you brand new information about the Egyptian stallion Gamal El Din. The information was obtained when Yehia Abd al-Sattar al-Tahawi, Mohammad Saoud al-Tahawi, and myself, recently recorded a one hour video with … Read more

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