@Mictorrani
@Mictorrani
Tongue Twisters Tongue twisters were developed as practical tools to train speech, but many people like them because they are fun. The original creator of a tongue twister is normally unknown; except for the one by Espy below, I don't know who originally created these. If you want, I'm sure you can find more tongue twisters on internet - in different languages. What follows here is just a small selection to illustrate the concept. Most tongue twisters make use of…
@Mictorrani
Pachomios, Christian Monasticism & Saint Catherine of Alexandria **Pachomios & the Origin of Christian Monasticism** Christian monasticism originated in Egypt in the 320s, and its founding is attributed to Pachomios (292-346 AD) from Thebe (today's Luxor). When he died, he was abbot over 8-11 monasteries (various sources state different numbers). Pachomios wrote the first Christian convent rule, which forms the basis for all the different convent rules that emerged when the…
@Mictorrani
The Fatimids of Egypt, The Only Shi'ite Caliphate in History I. The Fatimid Dynasty and its Origin The Fatimid movement, a branch of Shia Islam, started with an Ismaili sect in Salamiyah, in Syria, and the eighth imam, Abdullāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Ismā'īl. Through his father, the seventh imam, he claimed to descend from Ali, the first Shi'ite imam, and the Prophet Mohammed's daughter Fatima. Thus his name became "al-Fātimiyyūn". Over time, the Abbasid Caliphate came to see the…
@Mictorrani
Al-Hakim - The Mad Caliph Of the Fatimid caliphs in Egypt, Al-Hakim is one of the most difficult to get hold of. His behaviour was apparently unpredictable and violent and he is sometimes described as "The Mad Caliph", especially in Western literature. Nevertheless, he seems to have inspired to a very strong loyalty amongst his followers and he benefited from education and learning. He does not get less interesting by that he never actually died. Well, of course he did at…
@Mictorrani
Al-Azhar - Mosque & the Oldest University in the World In the year 970, the fourth Fatimid Caliph, the first in Egypt, decided to build the Al-Azhar Mosque (after the conquest of Egypt in 969 and the founding of Cairo). It is dedicated to the Prophet Mohammed's daughter Fatima, who was called az-Zahrā', the brilliant, from which the name of the mosque was derived (Azhar is the masculine of Zahrā'). It was the first mosque built in Cairo, although in today's Cairo there are…
@Mictorrani
Being Blind and Suddenly See: Bliss or Curse? We always expect people to be as they were the last time we saw them. Even if that was 50 years ago. They do not age or change while we are not seeing them. That is, not in our mind. Intellectually, we know that they cannot be the same - but emotionally, we do not. Then, when really seeing them again, we react with surprise over the change. The mental image does not coincide with reality. It's similar with people we know from…
@Mictorrani
The Cult of the Green Fairy; La Fée Verte There are many drugs, each with its own specific characteristics. Absinthe, however, has or had an almost mythic status among artists. ***La Fée Verte***, as if was sometimes called, has had enormous influence on European art and literature, especially from the middle of the 1800s and until it was forbidden in many countries, starting in Belgium in 1906, and finally in France in 1914, and it is closely connected to a discussion on…
@Mictorrani
Once the Most Precious Gem on Earth *Most gems are minerals, but a few are organic, derived from plants or animals. Here we will take a brief look at an animal gem, perhaps the most important of them all:* ***the pearl****, once the most precious gem on earth, with a value equal to a country.* *"Pearls are worthless in the desert."* (Indian Proverb) *"Those who wear pearls do not know how often the shark bites the leg of the diver."* (African Proverb) **I.** Traditionally,…
@Mictorrani
Understanding Dietary Fats Part 1 (of 2) *Dietary fats are a difficult subject, and there is still a lot left to learn. They are literally life and death to us; fats are involved in almost all degenerative disease. It might be justified to sum up what we know at the current level of knowledge.* I. For What Do We Need Fats? Dietary fat is a source of energy. It contains more energy per weight unit than carbohydrates or protein. Using it as a source of energy, however, might…
@Mictorrani
Understanding Dietary Fats Part 2 (of 2) *This is the second part of an article about dietary fats. The first part was Understanding Dietary Fats* ***Part 1 (of 2)****.* https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/understanding-dietary-fats-part-1-of-2-e8b4f70d III. The Balance of Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acids According to the cancer model created by Johanna Budwig, cancer is mainly a result of wrong fats. Especially, cancer can be ultimately cured by replacing the wrong fats of the…
@Mictorrani
Muslim Titles: Caliph, Sultan, Vizier *In my articles about Egypt, I refer to rulers as Caliph or Sultan,or a chief officer as Vizier. It can be confusing to some readers what these titles really mean, so I want briefly to explain the history behind them.* *(The lead image is a detail from a painting by Cristofano dell'Altissimo, an Italian painter who lived 1525-1605. The painting is from 1552-1568. It is named "Saladino" and depicts the Egyptian-Syrian Sultan Saladin. It…
@Mictorrani
Malignant Melanoma: Sun, Sunscreens, and Vitamin D Malignant melanoma is a very dangerous, often deadly form of skin cancer. Its occurrence increased most rapidly in recent years - at least amongst people with a relatively fair complexion. The increase is commonly blamed on the sun and exaggerated exposure to its light: UV radiation. This might be true to an extent, but the whole problem is more complicated than that. This area is subject to a lot of research. New "facts"…
@Mictorrani
Saladin & The Ayyubid Dynasty - Saladin's Eagle, and Saladin's Citadel Saladin For many people, Saladin is a Saracen Sultan in Sir Walter Scott's novel "The Talisman", but he did really exist. In Egypt he is a great hero, and in Europe he had a reputation for being extremely chivalrous. Salāh ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb [صلاح الدين يوسف بن ايوب] was born in Tikrit, in present Iraq, in 1137 or 1138. For Arabs, he is an Arab hero - yet he wasn't an Arab at all, but a Kurd. As a…
@Mictorrani
Acidity & Acidification Part 1; Degenerative Disease Introduction Acidity, what acidity? The question of acidity is often misunderstood. When first hearing about it, most people think they grow acidic by ingesting acids or acidic food – such as lemons. Nothing could be more wrong. Lemons in themselves are acidic, but the way we are looking at it now, lemons are strongly alkaline. The reason for this is that ***we are not discussing the acidity of what we ingest, but the…
@Mictorrani
Acidity & Acidification Part 2; What To Do This is a continuation of *Acidity & Acidification Part 1; Degenerative Disease* https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/acidity-acidification-part-1-degenerative-disease-db0298a2 What to do? In order to prevent a general acidification of the healthy individual, the best is to keep a good diet in this respect. How to compose such a diet is indicated in this article, although it is far from exhaustive advice, especially for those already…
@Mictorrani
Oxygen: Life & Death – A Balanced View on Antioxidants The Origin of Photosynthesis & Atmospheric Oxygen In my e-book, From Fungi to Cancer, I wrote: Very long ago, Mother Earth had an atmosphere very different from today's. It did not contain free oxygen. The single-celled organisms, which dominated then, had to produce energy from fermentation and glycolysis - not very effective methods. An organism (a cyanobacterium) developed the chlorophyll and the photosynthesis, a…
@Mictorrani
THE WAY BACK: Life after a stroke **A case of the** ***power of graduality*** **and the importance of** ***self-discipline.*** https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/the-power-of-graduality-7432c3a0 *This article is inspired by a real case story, a musician friend of mine who had a stroke. He applied his experience as a musician in his training to recover lost functions, especially the motor ability of his right hand.* After a stroke, the way back to a normal life can be long and…
@Mictorrani
The Egyptian Mamluks, Shajar al-Durr & Baibars The Mamluks The ***Mamluks*** were slaves [the word means "slave" or "property" in Arabic], who were bought young and given military training. They came to become an elite force to many Muslim rulers and would later become a factor of power in their own right. They actually took control of several states. (Mamluk is sometimes written as mameluk, mamaluke, marmeluke, mamlouk, mamluq, mamluke, or mameluk.) But why were slaves used…