Dear Colleagues
Greetings from Egypt,

I act in performing a study in the subject of “Preservation
of the endangered cultural assets of the traditional
Egyptian storytellers’ heritage and its instruments and
tools.” in cooperation with UNISCO Cairo Office,
The collections of the instruments and tools related to the
mentioned heritage include Musical instruments such as
Rababa or Arab fiddle with bow, Smsmiyya or Tanpora,
Salamiyyah, Zummarah, Mizmar, Arghul, Nay, Tabl and
Tambourine, as well as the other instruments and objects
such as storytelling props (puppets, Qaraquz or Araquz etc)
and Sanduk El-Donia  (Please see details blow about such
heritage and its instruments and tools).

I am calling for entries from professionals and museums
(which have collections of the mentioned instruments and
tools) as well as individuals who obtain privet collections
or pieces of the mentioned instruments and tools.
The entries could be in any form and not limited to the
following forms:
1- Information, documents and published studies or books in
the mentioned subject.
2- Information regarding the existing collection in your
museum or your privet collection (such as the documentation
and records information, the pieces state of conservation
and photos) with permission to include the material within
the study and its final result and publications (such as
reports, published papers, brochure and WebPages).
3- Information about the related material available on your
website and permission to include such material within the
study and to link the related mentioned pages to the
study's WebPages being designed and established to be
linked to UNISCO Website as well as to some other related
Sites.
4- Information, studies and other material regarding
similar instruments and tools other than Egyptian "for
comparative study" (as well as Information regarding the
existing collection of such similar instruments and tools
in your museum or your privet collection with permission to
include the material within the study).
5-Recommendations and studies in preservation and
conservation of the mentioned instruments and tools as well
as the Preservation and Conservation methods, materials and
techniques.
6- Recommendations and studies in Documentation, Storage
and Displaying methods and techniques.

I will be so grateful to receive your entries As Soon As
Possible and before the Dead Line of August 31, 2007.
Please send your entries with the subject marked
“Traditional Egyptian storytellers’ heritage”  

For any questions or doubts please fell free to connect me.

I also will be so grateful for all your advice and
suggestions.
I look forward to hear from you and thank you in advance,
With my best regards,
Dr. (Mr.) / Hany Hanna (PH.D) 
Senior Conservator,
Elected Coordinator, ICOM-CC–Wood, Furniture and Lacquer
General Director, Department of conservation, Helwan and
El-Saf Sector, Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), Egypt.
Professor, Institute for Coptic Studies in Cairo.
Email: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask] (please copy to
both)
Mobil No.: +2-012-4176742
Postal Address: 8 Sayed Darwish St., El-Kousaiareen, Cairo,
Egypt. (11291)

Preservation of the endangered cultural assets of the
traditional Egyptian storyteller's heritage


 The traditional Egyptian storytellers’ heritage is a very
important art in its musical, theatrical and cinematic
forms. In its expressive singing, stylized speech, motion,
repertoire of narratives and mimetic gesture, it is one of
the most unique expressions of Egyptian’s rich performing
arts tradition and folk culture. In addition to its
significance as a foremost literary and musical expression,
this heritage represents a repository for the rich spectrum
of Egyptian folk history, customs, beliefs, symbolism and
traditions not only in its intangible form but also in its
instruments and movable assets. 

  The traditional Egyptian storytellers’ heritage consists
of many stories and epic poems such as al-Sirah
al-Hilaliyyah and its characters such as Abu zed
al-Hilaliy, El-Zenaty Kalepha and Zayab Ibn Ganem.

  Al-Sirah al-Hilaliyyah, which recorded within the second
proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible
Heritage of Humanity is just one of the major oral epic
poems to develop within the Egyptian and Arabic folk
tradition from the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century,
al-Sirah al-Hilaliyyah is the last of these epics to remain
alive in oral tradition and continues to be performed in
its integral musical form until today and has survived to
the present day in Egypt.

  There were other stories such as the story of Sayf Ibn Ze
El-Yazen, the story of Antra Ibn Sadad and Abla and Antra’s
partner Shaybob and a lot of Political and emotional
stories. 
 
  
  In its musical form there are different forms of
storytelling performed by vocalists or poets with musical
instruments accompaniment.

  Several traditional musical instruments traditionally
used to accompany the traditional storytellers, poetries
and singers. Those instruments are mostly wooden
instruments. There are several sorts of instruments include
string instruments such as Rababa and Smsmiyya, wind
instrument such as Salamiyyah, Zummarah, Mizmar, Arghul and
Nay and percussion instruments such as Tablah and
Tambourine.

- Rababa (Arabic Fiddle) Or Oriental Rebec Or (Spike
Fiddle) The Egyptian Rababa or Arab fiddle is the earliest
known bowed instrument. The instrument was first mentioned
in the 10th century, became prominent in medieval and later
in Arab art music. In medieval times the word Rababa was
used for any bowed instrument. The Rababa has a membrane
belly made mainly of wood, two or three strings. There is
normally no fingerboard, the strings being stopped by the
player's fingers. The Rababa’s body shapes vary; pear-and
boat-shaped Rababa was particularly common, Bedouin
musicians mainly play rectangular bodies, flat round and
trapezoidal are also found. Throughout the Middle East and
Egypt, the word Rababa or a derivative name refers to a
spike fiddle, one that has a small round or cylindrical
body and a narrow neck. It has an easily recognizable rich
thick sound - a combination of high and low tones.

- Smsmiyya (Tanpora) is a musical instrument made of wood
and has five strings. Noun as Tanpora the Smsmiyya used in
Nubia where from it moved to the Sues canal area where it
became the common popular musical instrument especially in
Port Said, Ismailiya and sues sites. 
  
- Salamiyyah is an open-ended reed-flute,
characteristically breathy in tone and commonly seen in
folk-oriented Sufi performances. 

- Zummarah (Oriental Salamia) or (Kawla) has a two
identical reed tubes, each tube has five or six holes and a
smaller tube inside which vibrates to produce the sound. It
is played using a circular breathing technique, which
produces a continuous sound.

- Mizmar  (Or reed pipe) is a double reed appears
characteristically with a large double-sided drum called
Tabl baladi. Typically, three Mizmars play together. Not
too long ago, a 3,000-year-old tomb of Egypt was uncovered
on an archeological dig sponsored by the University of
Cairo. During the excavation, an ancient reed Mizmar was
discovered in the ruins. Although pictures of such musical
instruments were depicted on the walls of other previously
excavated tombs, this was the first incidence in history of
actually uncovering the real object.

- Arghul is a reed flute, open-ended and end-blown. It has
a limited range and a breathy sound, which the player
sometimes accompanies by humming and associated with
weddings and dances, and also played by shepherds. Arghul
resembles the Palestinian Yarghul.

-Nay (Oriental Flute) is an open-ended, usually 60 to 70 cm
long, with 5 to 7 finger holes, obliquely blown flute made
from reed or wood. Exhibiting a breathy tone, it has a wide
range of almost two and a half octaves. It is also
extremely expressive and capable of producing dynamic and
tonal inflections. The development and use of the Nay has
been attributed to shepherds, but it is, in fact, an urban
instrument. The Nay also appears in some Sufi musical
performances.

- Tabl (or tablah ) (Or Darbuka) is a cylindrical
double-sided wooden drum, covered with goatskin played with
the hand on one side and with a wooden beater on the other.
The name is widely used, though the instrument itself has
regional variations.

- Tambourine (Tar) is a one of the musical instruments
which has it's origins in the middle ages. It is also known
in Egypt as Riqq (Rikk, reqq or Rek), this Egyptian
tambourine is a cylindrical drum with sets of double
cymbals, which can create many distinct tones and patterns.
 


  In the theatrical form another sort of the storytellers’
tool been used.

Qaraquz or Araquz is the fames name for this tool, which
form featuring handcrafted puppets and complex musical
styles. Qaraquz is a sort of glove puppet, which made of
wood and textile. The storyteller or puppeteer used to be
hided behind a textile and wooden screen tells or sings his
story and moves the puppets in the front of the attendance.
   

  In it cinematic form another sort of the storytellers’
tools been used.

Sanduk El-Donia (= box of the world) (Or Peep-show box) is
the name for this tool (Sanduk is an Arabic word means box
and El-Donia is an Arabic word means the world), which is a
wooden box used by the storytellers for telling the stories
accompanied by pictures and music. People used to look to
the picture inside the box through some holes while the
artist tells the stories and changes the picture.


==================== This email is a copy right protected; it is confidential and solely intended for the recipient(s) to whom it is addressed. If you have received this email in error, please reply to me advising this error. 
  Thank you,
  Dr. Hany Hanna
  [log in to unmask]



       
____________________________________________________________________________________
Take the Internet to Go: Yahoo!Go puts the Internet in your pocket: mail, news, photos & more. 
http://mobile.yahoo.com/go?refer=1GNXIC

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Change ICOM-L subscription options, unsubscribe, and search the
archives at:  http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/icom-l.html