Yesterday, I made a quick shopping visit to the Khan El Khalili right after receiving an email from Dr. Salima Ikram that she buys her natron from there. I wanted to also use this as an opportunity to find further ingredients for our blue pigment.
At one attar, or herbalist, I picked up some Natron, which they call 3atroun, or even Qatroun. 3Atroun I found out is what every attar calls is at Khan El Khalili, which is apparently its proper name in Sudan (I wonder if it was sourced from there?). Alongside the Natron, I also grabbed some gum arabica. This will come in handy later as we use it to bind our pigment. I also got some Rashidi salt, from the city of Rashid, where the famous Rosetta Stone was discovered, and where the Nile meets the Mediterranean Sea. I also picked up shabba (Pierre d’Alun). I recalled our talk with the director of Wissa Wassef, where we were told that when dyeing textiles, it’s this element that’s used, rather than regular salt.
Next, I walked to a glass shop I had seen on Instagram and that Sama Waly had told us about. The owner 3am Sayyed, and his son Sherif welcomed me and tried to get me in touch with Hossam, who runs the workshop on el Geish street. They used to have a workshop in Khan El Khalili but was shut down by the authorities. 3Am Sayed described the process of making the blue very similarly to that of Hudhud. He works with a water like liquid (which I assume is melted glass) that he mixes with salt and copper. This he makes small balls from the paste and leaves it to dry. Once dried, he keeps it on a low fire for a few days. We will definitely be getting in touch with them soon to learn more about this. I also got some hand blown glasses from them made from their oxidised blue, which makes water taste more like water, as our daughter puts it.
Not far from them, I stumbled upon the three Tantawi brothers, which kind of made my day. Their shop, which has been passed down through generations, dates back to their grandfather, who was responsible for tiling the floors of the famous Giza Zoo. In their shop, I picked up some: syenite (or Hagar Aswani) as well as alabaster stone. They also offered me what I think could be basalt—another material we could potentially test. And on a side note: the Tantawis restore wood using gamalakka, a technique that is rare to find nowadays in Cairo.