Data Request

Having finished my memoir, "Tattoo,"  (now being copy edited) I have begun work on another novel, this one to be set in the Egypt of Khedive Ismail in the 1870s.   

I have amassed books, journal articles and such like that on the period but I would ask one and all to send me links or docs pertaining to such things as:

- Possible names for women of the khedival family.  I will not use any actual names.  The family is still extant.

- Maps and photos of Cairo at that time

- Information on the Egyptian (Ottoman) Army of the time (ranks, uniforms, etc."

pl

Comments

[Aristonicus]

Sir,

These links should cover the uniforms and ranks:

http://www.ottoman-uniforms.com/egypt-army-from-pre-1800-till-1883-study/

http://www.ottoman-uniforms.com/1877-till-1878-egypt-expedition-force-russo-turkish-war/

Regards,

D Lucas

[The Twisted Genius]

Will my old friend Balthazar be trudging in the shadows of the Pyramids? I still occasionally spend time with him sitting near the campfires of my mind sharing a skillet of fried potatoes and wild onions further flavored with bacon grease. We share a bottle of wine as we take in the flickering flames and the cool night sky.

[turcopolier]

TTG

Jean-Marie will be along for the ride. pl

[nick b]

Col.,

Kenneth Cuno wrote a chapter in the book Family History in the Middle East: Household, Property and Gender, that has a simplified genealogy of the Khedival family on pg 270. I think you should be able to access it via this link:

https://books.google.com/books?id=JB_yDalets0C&lpg=PR12&ots=8kw-6L3l3V&dq=Simplified%20genealogy%20of%20the%20khedival%20family&pg=PA270#v=onepage&q=Simplified%20genealogy%20of%20the%20khedival%20family&f=false

I believe he later turned the chapter into a book entitled: Ambiguous Modernization: The Transition to Monogamy in the Khedival House of Egypt. I can't speak for the book, but the chapter at least mentions many of the Khedival women by name, as does the genealogical chart. Hopefully this is helpful.

[nick b]

Col.,

Heliotypes of Egypt, including Cairo, circa 1880 from New York Public Library:

http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/search/index?filters%5Bpublisher_mtxt_s%5D%5B%5D=Photoglob%20:%20Schroeder&keywords=&layout=false#

200 or so photos from Cairo circa 1860 from the library of Congress: (there are a few in there from Cairo, IL ca. 1860 too, also interesting.)

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Cairo+1860&fa=displayed%3Aanywhere&sp=1&st=gallery

[Green Zone Cafe]

It might be worth watching some of this Ramadan soap:

http://www.mbc.net/ar/programs/saraya-abdeen.html

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A7%2B%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%86

You might be able to find the whole series on DVD.

[Matthew]

I'm looking forward to reading your memoir.

[JohnH]

Amin Maalouf has written a number of historical novels on the Middle East as well as works of non-fiction. I'm sure he could point you in the right direction...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amin_Maalouf

"The Rock of Tanios" is about that period in Lebanon and the grim life of a village under the rule of a warlord who had first dibs on every woman coming of age.

[Patricia]

Sir,

Muhammad Al-Muwaylihi's novel, What Isa Ibn Hisham Told Us, may be of use to you, if not already in your collection. His father, Ibrahim, was the private secretary of Khedive Ismail.

[Babak Makkinejad]

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/13012/24/Revitalising-Khedival-Cairo.aspx

[Claud_Alexander]

Looking up my notes from a presentation I did way back when in 2006 on the Khedive's army (for an Arabic class), the following books might be useful (and apologies if any obvious, known already).

Fahmy, Khaled. "All the Pasha's Men: Mehmed Ali, his Army and the Making of Modern Egypt." Earlier period, and with a lot of postmodern theoretical commentary, but still main source for Khedival army's initial formation and traditions.

Dunn, Charles P. "Khedive Ismail's Army" [the obvious one] http://www.amazon.com/Khedive-Ismails-Army-Military-Studies/dp/0415645956/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1439911039&sr=8-1-fkmr1&keywords=britain+khedive+army

Ibid. "Americans in the Nineteenth Century Egyptian Army: A Selected Bibliography" Journal of Military History. [http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/jmh/summary/v070/70.1dunn01.html ] (Largely but not entirely biblio of above,

McE. Dye, William. "Moslem Egypt and Christian Abyssinia; Or, Military Service Under the Khedive, in His Provinces and Beyond Their Borders, as Experienced by the American Staff" [not online, and alluring enough that I had it borrowed by interlibrary loan.]

De Leon, Edwin. "The Khedive's Egypt; or, The old house of bondage under new masters"
https://archive.org/details/khedivesegyptoro00delerich [chapter on Army one of the few focused contemporary reports I could find, as opposed to memoir or anecdotal literature.]

For uniform details, etc., when I checked this in 2006, the nearest I could find for ppt illustration purposes were in the Osprey book on Tel-el-Kebir. Since battle occurred before Kitchnener-Sirdar reorganization of Khedive Army, I imagined this was good enough for government work, but perhaps not for a serious work of historical fiction.

Apologies again if each and all of the above grindingly obvious to one already researching the period.

[Duncan Kinder]

Focus especially on the British families that lived in the Levant, including Egypt:

http://levantineheritage.com/

[turcopolier]

Duncan Kinder

Focus on what you please. This book is focused on Egypt in the 1870s and the Americans there at the time. pl

[Duncan Kinder]

The Rees family was primarily based in Smyrna, but had connections in Alexandria. This book is way over priced, so I have not read it. However, you may be able to obtain it through a library:

http://www.amazon.com/Merchant-Adventurers-Levant-Privateers-1700-1956/dp/0954556615/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1439914642&sr=1-1&keywords=9780954556600

[Duncan Kinder]

I meant this website is primarily focused on that topic.

[turcopolier]

Duncan Kinder

Thank You pl

[LeaNder]

Balthazar???

I never really realized you once wandered around the wider shadow of the Pyramids. Maybe I should have considering your response to events in Libya???? ;)

skillet, oh, I see more British some type of kettle or frying pan. wild onions?

[LeaNder]

"who had first dibs on every woman coming of age"

jus primae noctis, in Europe. Within limits, concerning heiresses.

[LeaNder]

Interesting, I wasn't aware of the usage and etymology.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_tattoo

[turcopolier]

LeAnder

"Tattoo" in the title refers to the US Army bugle call, not military shows. "John Balthazar" is a character in my fiction. pl

[Babak Makkinejad]

They were Magis - mogh - Persian priests.

All 3 of them.

[Babak Makkinejad]

And I thought TTG was referring to one of the Three Magis.

[turcopolier]

Babak

If you had read my novels you would have known better. pl

[Dan Murphy]

Juan Cole's Colonialism and Revolution in the Middle East covers the backdrop to the Orabi Revolt of 1882. Mostly focused on average folks rather than the palace/military.

[turcopolier]

Dan Murphy

I am not writing a political treatise. pl