Egypt

Egypt’s Lost Rival is the story of Qatna, a city that challenged Egypt’s dominance in the ancient Middle East. Located between the warrior kingdom of the Hittites and the powerful empire of Egypt, this ancient city was wiped off the face of the earth as it grew too powerful - its role in the rise of the Egyptian empire forever lost in desert sands. Like the proverbial “Lost City of Atlantis”, Qatna and its many treasures lay hidden from humanity hidden until now.

More powerful than Cleopatra or Nefertiti, Hatshepsut was once Egypt's greatest female ruler. In one of the strangest stories of ancient history, Queen Hatshepsut stole the throne from her young stepson, dressed herself as a man with a beard, and called herself pharaoh. Her power was absolute across Egypt… and then she vanished. Not only did she die mysteriously, someone systematically erased every sign of her existence: her name was chiseled from records, and her monuments were pulled down. Even her corpse is gone. For years, Egypt's pre-eminent archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, has been on the trail of this mystery.

Strut present the final instalment in their series of reissues of Sun Ra’s historic recordings in Egypt with The Sun Ra Arkestra meets Salah Ragab in Egypt plus the Cairo Jazz Band, originally released on Greek label Praxis in 1983. Salah Ragab first encountered the Arkestra at a concert at the house of Goethe Institut ex-pat Hartmut Geerken during the Arkestra’s first visit to Cairo and Heliopolis in December 1971 and, although Ra and Ragab did not meet in person on that occasion, they did meet and bond together when Ra returned to Egypt in 1983, resulting in these recordings. The Arkestra had been touring Europe in March 1983 and made their way to Cairo, playing a number of concerts during April at the Il Capo / Il Buco venue before recording the two superb studio versions of Ragab compositions, ‘Egypt Strut’ and ‘Dawn’, at El Nahar Studios in Heliopolis in May, featuring Salah Ragab on congas.

Builders of Egypt is a city-building economic strategy taking place in the Nile Valley. Immerse yourself in a world full of pyramids, where you will become a part of the ancient world. Create history, be history!