Egyptian Mosque Minarets – Elephantine Island Art Print

Description

I arrived in Egypt in the dead of night. Between the dark night and my tired eyes, the drive into Cairo from the airport was simply a blur. But I quickly became familiar with the mosque minarets during the call to prayer on my first morning in the city. After that, they became a ubiquitous feature of my Egyptian experience. From the villages to the cities, those exotic minarets were the unifying theme.

I’ll never forget spotting the minaret in this print on the skyline of a village on Elephantine Island near Aswan. As dusk fell, our group was waiting in the courtyard of a Nubian home where we were having dinner. When I saw the incredible blue skies above, I decided to climb up a set of stairs on one side of the courtyard to look over the walls. And that brilliant gold minaret rising against the dusk blue was the beautiful sight that greeted me! Combined with the mostly blue buildings of the village, it makes for a really striking print don’t you think?

I also love the contrast of the earthy buildings of the Egyptian village with the crisp strong lines of the golden minaret. There’s a clear sense the community pride is focused on their lovely mosque. It’s almost a clear delineation between the earthly realm and the heavenly in the same scene. This is one of those prints that still defines my Egyptian experience. When I think of the character of the place, this one golden moment on Elephantine Island and the hospitality I felt in that little village still comes to mind.

Have you perchance visited this same village? Maybe you had an even closer view of the mosque beneath that golden minaret? Or do the colors and content of this Egyptian print speak to you despite never having visited? I hope you might pause for a second and share what you find most appealing about this print?