Egyptian Romany: The Essence of Hispania Review

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(More customer reviews)Egyptian Romany is the eleventh book in a line of non-fiction works by author, Moustafa Gadalla, a torch bearer illuminating the threadbare excuses and suppositions of centuries of Western academic posturing (as means of job protection) upon Egypt and its ‘imagined' (more Western job protection) history. Perhaps that is a little misleading, as Moustafa Gadalla's work is not theory debunking, rather it is by his process of revealing to the world the tenets of ancient and modern Egyptian life the outdated academic battleships who should never have been trawling in these waters to begin with are sunk. If you are at all familiar with the author's work, Egyptian Romany will not disappoint and if all you care about is understanding how interpolated Spain, with preference to the Iberian coast, was and still is with ancient Egypt you may be stunned with the stark, yet undisguised, realisations and common-sense findings within.
Among the repertoire of the author's multilingual published works, Egyptian Romany shares a certain relationship to the earlier work, Exiled Egyptians, in that it is a tracing of lineage and interrelationships along the tides of millennia. Unlike, said previous work, Egyptian Romany explores the special relationship between the two lands, one that is prevalent in modern society in Spain to this very day.
It is the ‘silent majority', known perhaps most commonly as Gitanos/Gypsies/Romany who by their very nature of non-violence toward northern colonists were pushed out of their country into nomadic-seeming existence that the book begins, delving immediately into etymological fact before breaking down the stages of conquest over the land and people. The union of Egypt and early Iberia is explored with the Virgin Mary/Isis, which remains indelibly powerful today; this link is revealed clearly woven back to its intrinsic roots in Egypt with story and symbology. Spiritual kinship is not the premise of Egyptian Romany, however, as it is one that has strong trade ties that Egypt was dependent on from the Iberia, given silver was one of the metals more plentiful outside of the limited eastern Mediterranean stores. Moustafa relates metallurgical methods and historical accounts delving trade routes and methods of oceanic transport, in particular, in rich detail. Beyond these geo-cultural foundations the author investigates the collapse of the peaceful relationship between the countries by the aggressive invasions by Roman, Moorish, and other forces who would come to occupy and laud their selves over the indigenous peoples; in detail the impact on Iberia itself and the fact-less bias of such occupiers and their academic champions in their assertions of ‘renaissance' over their colonised demesne. An excellent dissertation on languages and dialects of Hispanic culture ends the book with two similarly power-packed chapters on the religious and musical traditions from Egypt with preponderance on their representation in Iberian culture.
Like previous Tehuti Research Foundation volumes, Egyptian Romany continues with similar design and layout, no-nonsense lineated illustration is coupled with small to full page geographical maps permeate chapter. Paragraphs are concise and neatly laid out, with important information easily accessed with bullet points and highlight that have the care of any manual or instructive material. This is not an academic book in the sense of vast swathes of tiny text drowning in its own paragraphs. The visual elements and typography make the book an easily digestible work for the young to the old. Extensive glossary, bibliography, and sources are provided for the reader and the index, as with other Tehuti Research Foundation volumes, is on par excellence, not some shallow and haphazard accretion.
Speculation is not the pulpit of Moustafa's work, you do not get the sense of browbeating for indigenous demands as it is by facts and historical observation gathered in such a lucid manner that makes intelligent and refreshing reading. If you at all are interested in the Egyptian themes that wend throughout Iberian history whether you know about them or not, I highly recommend this book, and if you're at all familiar with Moustafa Gadalla's work then Egyptian Romany will be another welcome addition to your library.

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