#307 Egypt...Thanks Nagwa!

The 150pt stamp on the upper left corner was issued in 2009 honoring Naguib Mahfouz.

Naguib Mahfouz (Arabic: نجيب محفوظ‎, ) (1911–2006) was an Egyptian novelist who won the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature. He is regarded as one of the first contemporary writers of Arabic literature, along with Tawfiq el-Hakim, to explore themes of existentialism. He published over 50 novels, over 350 short stories, dozens of movie scripts and five plays over a 70-year career. Many of his works have been made into Arabic and foreign-language films.

#283 Egypt...Thanks Nagwa!

This block of four stamps are from 2000-2002 definitive series showing Pyramid built for Pharaoh Sneferu in 4th Dynasty.

Located about 100km south of modern Cairo,the pyramid at Meidum is thought to have been originally built for Huni, the last pharaoh of the Third Dynasty. It was completed and probably usurped by his successor, Sneferu, who also turned it from a step pyramid to a true pyramid by filling in the steps with limestone encasing. The Meidum pyramid was built in different stages, beginning as a seven-step pyramid to which an additional step was added at a later stage. It appears to have collapsed sometime during the New Kingdom. A subsidiary pyramid is located on the south side, between the main pyramid and the enclosure wall, and a memorial temple is on its east side.

Known as "the collapsed pyramid", the outer layers of the casing began to collapse, leaving the exposed core showing. Because of its appearance, it is called el-haram el-kaddab — (False Pyramid) in Arabic. Some believe it was the collapse of this pyramid during the reign of Sneferu that led him to change the angle on his second pyramid at Dahshur to 43 degrees. In the fifteenth century, it was described as looking like a five-stepped mountain by al-Maqrizi, gradually falling further into ruin so by the time it was investigated by Napoleon's Expedition in 1799 it had its present 3 steps.

#264 Egypt...Thanks Farah!

The 25pt stamp is from 2000-2002 definitives issue showing Seostris,king of ancient Egypt (reigned 1836–18 bce) of the 12th dynasty (1938–c. 1756 bce), who completely reshaped Egypt’s government and extended his dominion in Nubia, the land immediately south of Egypt.

During the reigns of his predecessors, the provincial nobles of Middle Egypt had enhanced their power through royal favours and intermarriage with the families of neighbouring potentates. Around the middle of Sesostris III’s reign, the rich provincial tombs, which were a mark of the nobles’ power, abruptly ceased to be built. Simultaneously, the memorials of middle-class persons increased at Abydos, the Upper Egyptian

The 30pt stamp is also from 2000-2002 definitives issue showing Princess Merit-aten,who was an ancient Egyptian princess of the 18th dynasty. She is likely to have been the daughter of Meritaten, eldest daughter of Pharaoh Akhenaten.

The 50pt stamp shows scene from 20th Dynasty.

The 150pt stamp was issued in 2009 celebrating 4th Ministerial Conference of FOCAC (Forum on China–Africa Cooperation) held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

FOCAC is an official forum between the People's Republic of China and the states in Africa. There have been four summits held to date, with the most recent meeting having occurred from November 8 to 9, 2009 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Previous summits were held in October 2000 in Beijing, December 2003 in Addis Ababa, and November 2006 in Beijing.

#256 Egypt...Thanks Farah!

The 150pt stamp on the left was issued in 2009 honoring Desmond Tutu,African Nobel Prize Winner.

Desmond Mpilo Tutu (born 1931) is a South African cleric and activist who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid. In 1984, Tutu became the second South African to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Tutu was the first black South African Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, and primate of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa (now the Anglican Church of Southern Africa). Tutu chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and is currently the chairman of The Elders. Tutu is vocal in his defence of human rights and uses his high profile to campaign for the oppressed. Tutu also campaigns to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, homophobia, poverty and racism. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism, the Gandhi Peace Prize in 2005 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Tutu has also compiled several books of his speeches and sayings.

The 150pt stamp on the right was issued in 2009 honoring Suzanne Mubarak, the First lady of Egypt.

#221 Egypt...Thanks Nagwa!

The 2 EGP stamp shows Mask of Tutankhamun's mummy, the popular icon for ancient Egypt at The Egyptian Museum. It is said, by professionals, to be worth nearly as much as the Crown jewels.

Tutankhamun,who was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty (ruled c.1333 BC – 1323 BC in the conventional chronology), during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom.

His original name, Tutankhaten, means "Living Image of Aten", while Tutankhamun means "Living Image of Amun." In hieroglyphs the name Tutankhamun was typically written Amen-tut-ankh, because of a scribal custom that placed a divine name at the beginning of a phrase to show appropriate reverence. He is possibly also the Nibhurrereya of the Amarna letters. He was likely the 18th dynasty king 'Rathotis' who, according to Manetho, an ancient historian, had reigned for nine years — a figure which conforms with Flavius Josephus's version of Manetho's Epitome.

The 1922 discovery by Howard Carter of Tutankhamun's intact tomb received worldwide press coverage. It sparked a renewed public interest in ancient Egypt, for which Tutankhamun's burial mask remains the popular symbol. Exhibits of artifacts from his tomb have toured the world. In February 2010, the results of DNA tests confirmed that Tutankhamun was the son of Akhenaten (mummy KV55) and his sister/wife (mummy KV35YL), whose name is unknown but whose remains are positively identified as "The Younger Lady" mummy found in KV35.