GLAM/Newsletter/August 2026/Contents/Egypt report
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Egypt’s GLAM Team Brings Egyptian Postal History and Public Libraries to Wikimedia
As part of its ongoing efforts to expand and diversify GLAM activities in Egypt, the GLAM Team, affiliated with the Egypt Wikimedians User Group, has been exploring new ways to bring a wider range of cultural and historical resources to Wikimedia projects. Beyond museums and traditional heritage institutions, the team is increasingly turning its attention to specialized archives, documentary collections, and public libraries, where valuable materials often remain underrepresented online.
Throughout August 2026, this broader approach took shape through two complementary initiatives. One focused on Egyptian postal heritage, bringing together volunteers to document and upload historical airmail stamps to Wikimedia Commons. The other focused on books and libraries, combining field visits to branches of the Misr Public Library in Benha and Qena with an online workshop to identify valuable titles, create Wikidata items, and document selected works on Wikimedia Projects.
From August 12 to 16, the team members gathered online for a workshop dedicated to Egyptian postal heritage, organized by Sohila Elshaaer. Over five days, participants focused on documenting and uploading historical airmail stamps to Wikimedia Commons.
By the end of the workshop, the team added 96 airmail stamps to Commons, fully categorized and available under free licenses. These files help address content gaps in Wikipedia articles related to Philately and Egyptian Postal History.
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Airmail stamp issued by the United Arab Republic in 1963 (140 millimes) in reddish-orange and violet, depicting the Great Temple of Abu Simbel with an airplane flying overhead. -
A 1947 Kingdom of Egypt airmail stamp with a face value of 100 millimes, depicting King Farouk I. -
Egyptian airmail stamp (2 millimeZoo Tycoon: Marine Manias, orange/black) featuring an aircraft flying over the Giza Pyramids, inscribed "POSTE AERIENNE" and "ÉGYPTE".
Between August 26 and 30, the team held the first session of the Books & Libraries workshop, during which two of the team members visited two branches of the Misr Public Library—in Benha and Qena—to create book titles that did not yet have corresponding Wikidata items.
During the workshop, Amr F. Nagy and Ahmed Naji created book items and uploaded photographic documentation for the selected works. The batch highlighted notable historical and architectural titles, including Khaled Azab's "Walls and Citadel of Saladin" (أسوار وقلعة صلاح الدين) and Mohamed Abou El-Ghar's "The Egyptian Labour Corps" (الفيلق المصري), alongside political and cultural works by authors such as Mohamed Hassanein Heikal and Galal Amin.
In total, Session I resulted in 25 new titles created that previously lacked Wikidata items, along with 35 images and 2 new categories on Wikimedia Commons for the two libraries.
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A participant's workspace setup during the Books & Libraries Workshop at Misr Public Library in Benha. -
Field visit to Misr Public Library in Qena with a logo of the Egypt Wikimedia during the "Books & Libraries" Workshop. -
Cover of Mohamed Abou El-Ghar's The Egyptian Labour Corps, photographed during a visit to Misr Public Library in Qena.
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More Info
For more information about GLAM activities in Egypt, visit our page here.
- From the team
- Brazil report
- Catalan areas report
- Colombia report
- Czech Republic report
- Egypt report
- Italy report
- New Zealand report
- North Macedonia report
- Serbia report
- Switzerland report
- UK report
- Ukraine report
- USA report
- Biodiversity Heritage Library report
- Memory of the World report
- Wikimedia Commons report
- Calendar