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The Church of the 21 Martyrs
  • Egypt, Middle Egypt, Off-the-beaten-path, Places

The Church of the 21 Martyrs

Tattered, discolored jumpsuits fill most of the nave at Samalut's Church of the 21 Martyrs, along with the zip tie cords that bound their hands and whatever was found in their pockets. Their fresh-faced icons adorn the back of the sanctuary with gold-leaf halos beneath an image of Christ.

Sacred Jordan

Jordan has quite the undersung trove of holy sites for the Abrahamic trio, linking as it does the Red to the Dead Sea and Jerusalem to the holy cities of the Hejaz. The ancient landscape here is an intrinsic part of the Biblical 'Holy Land,'  the 'blessed neighborhood’ of the Quran. Its sacred landmarks flag the footfall of the most eminent names in scripture, among them Job, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Elijah, John the Baptist, Jesus and Muhammad.

Scaling the Cliffs of Shahin al-Khalwati’s Khanqa

The jagged ruins of Shahin al-Khalwati’s khanqa (Sufi lodge) first caught my eye from Saladdin’s Citadel. On the hazy horizon to the south, its minaret juts from the cliffs of Muqattam like a knife. From miles away, the rest of the complex appears one with the desolate ridge.
Attending a funeral ceremony in Tana Toraja, Sulawesi (Indonesia)

Funeral Season in Tana Toraja

A carton of kreteks was our ticket to enter a funeral party in the highlands of Tana Toraja. Tobacco, sweets and palm wine were consumed in abundance as the big day's events rolled along: buffalo sacrifice, a mass slaughter of pigs and the ritual shaking of the coffin to send the deceased on their way.
Pilgrims approaching Daraza's famous shrine

The Shrine of Sachal Sarmast

Born right here in tiny Daraza, the poet-saint Sachal Sarmast is honored with one of Sindh's most truly dazzling shrines. Born in the mid-1700s as Abdul Wahab Farouqi, his piety earned him the pen name Sachal: the Truthful. His lines later earned him the additional sobriquet Sarmast, the Ecstatic—thus rendering him, roughly, the ‘Mystic of Truth’.
Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Jabal al-Tayr, Egypt

Tracing the Holy Family Trail

‘Take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt,’ the angel told Joseph. Marked with many dozens of miracles, the Holy Family's momentous, round-trip journey would, according to legend, rack up some 3,000km. In October 2022, I set out to trace their route through Middle Egypt.
Accretion of carvings in Akoris' bluff, most recently a Christian chapel

Alone at Ancient Akoris

Carved into a ridge just east of the Nile—with a history spanning over 4,000 years—is ancient Akoris, one of Middle Egypt’s secrets, set beside the sleepy village of Tahna al Gabal. The team tasked with finding some answers to its mysteries wasn't there when I arrived. It was officially ‘closed.'

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