19 February 1914 marriage certificate of my parents; Dalwat Amin Chamsi + Abbas Baligh Sabry

a detailed map of Cairo's Sayeda Zeinab district evidencing the historic section of Darb al-Chamsi
and the 16th century Timraz Ahmadi Mosque were two of my ancestors are buried
areas marked X are part of a wakf (trust) created by Sirwan-pasha Mohammed Chamsi
and to this day produce dividends to be divided among his many descendants but no one shows up to collect

this is a small section of what an 18th century wakf looked like
this 1776 wakf was drawn up by my ancestor Hussein Tufenkian Chamsi for the benefit of Tirmaz Ahmadi Mosque

Timraz Ahmadi Mosque in Sayeda Zeinab district where my ancestor Sirwan Mohammed Chamsi is burried
Sirwan was a title meaning "head of the diwan". for a while Mohammed Chamsi was chief of staff to Viceroy Mohammed Ali Pasha hence the title
Sirwan Mohammed Chamsi's grandfather, Emir Hassan Tuffekian Chamsi (son of Emir Mohammed Agha Tufekian chamsi) restored part of the Mosque in 1766. He also created a Wakf (trust) part of the proceeds were earmarked for the upkeep of the mosque
for a while Timraz Mosque was the temporary headquarters of the Qaderi Sufi Order in Cairo. During the 18th century the Chamsis were prominent Qaderi figures claiming descent from the 11th century Sunni mystic preacher Abdelqader al-Gilani.

Advertisment in Al Ahram
grandmother Nefissa Ali Agha (widow of Hassan Sabry) administrator of an agricultural Waqf (Trust Fund) near Beni Suef, Upper Egypt

my father listed in the 1911 British census while a student in the UK
staying at same boardinghouse is Abdel Aziz (Mohammed) Eloui with whom Baligh Sabry shared several cousins in common

legal court document evidencing ownership and perimeters or our Maadi villa

1953 travel manifest to the United States; no e-tickets in those days

below are what travel documents looked like in the 1960s & 70s long before computers, barcodes, magnetic strips and microchips appeared
since I worked for a UN organization I was issued with an international travel document. I had become a citizen of the world!

the singularity of Egyptian IDs in those days is that it included a separate page for each of FOUR wives!!!
in my case I only used one of these pages dedicated to my lovely wife and lifetime companion Mona Shiaty
listed under her real name "Madiha"