Luxor (Thebes), the renowned historical city, is home to some of the richest and most valuable monuments and antiquities in the entire world. As one of the oldest cities globally, it served as the capital of ancient Egypt during the Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom eras. In February, Luxor became the venue for Wikimedia activities for the first time, marking it as the first city in Upper Egypt to host a Wikimedian event. Over five days, numerous documentation trips, interviews, photo tours, and training workshops were conducted.
The Egypt Wikimedians User Group (EWUG) kicked off February with great enthusiasm. From February 1st to 3rd, the group organized one of its largest photo trips, visiting numerous tourist attractions in Luxor and Qena. These trips aimed to document folk celebrations and capture hundreds of photos to enrich the Wikimedia Commons project. Participants included eleven members from Egypt user group, Among the attendees were two photographers who won international and local awards such as Wiki Loves Africa and Wiki Loves Monuments.
Luxor was chosen in January 2025 First World Capital of Culture, History and Heritage by The African-Asian Union (AFASU), and this was a prominent reason for taking a trip there. The trips were not limited to photography only, as there are many photos of Luxor’s landmarks, but the goal of the trip was to look closely through the eyes of Wikimedians, searching for highlighting and documenting any monuments, landmarks or events that had not been photographed or documented before, and the trip was by volunteers from Egypt and residents of the region in particular.
Decentralization and establishing working groups
The first day began with a training workshop in Qena, introducing attendees to Wikimedia projects, their mechanisms, and policies. This workshop marked the group’s first session in Upper Egypt, reflecting EWUG’s goal to decentralize its activities and organize workshops and edit-a-thons outside the capital. This initiative aims to encourage broader participation in Wikimedia projects, regardless of participants’ locations. As part of this effort, EWUG established a working group for the Upper Egypt region, which includes eight governorates. This is in addition to four other regional groups: the Greater Cairo region group (covering three governorates), the Alexandria and Western Delta group (six governorates), and the Eastern Delta, Canal, and Sinai group (six governorates). Following the workshop, the group visited the nearby Dendera Temple Complex, where they took dozens of photos.
Photo trips
On February 2nd, the group had a busy day exploring several archaeological sites in Luxor, including the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Habu, and the Colossi of Memnon. They also attended the Mawlid of Sheikh Al-Ashi in the nearby village of Al-Ashi, a folk celebration featuring traditional activities such as tahtib (a stick-fighting martial art) and Mermah (horsemanship races). The EWUG documented these events in three Wikipedia articles and uploaded related photos to Commons.
On February 3rd, the group visited the Karnak Temple Complex and concluded the day with a trip to the Luxor Museum. It is worth noting that the group had previously visited the Luxor Museum on January 31st and documented the Mawlid of Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Qenawy in Qena on February 8th, uploading dozens of photos from both events to Commons. In total, the EWUG visited ten archaeological sites, attended two folk celebrations, took over 1,600 photos, published three related articles on Wikipedia, and organized a training workshop.
Online sessions and internal projects
Online activities also played a significant role in February. In collaboration with the Wikipedian Editor Project, Ahmed Nagi and Donia El-Demyati organized two online sessions on February 10th and 12th as part of the Wiki Project Med, which aims to enrich medical content on Wikipedia. These sessions were attended by 26 students from the faculties of medicine, pharmacy, and physical therapy, along with several editors.
For more details about photo trips see: Egypt Wikimedians User Group/Trips/Photo trips in Luxor & Qena 2025
Can you help us translate this article?
In order for this article to reach as many people as possible we would like your help. Can you translate this article to get the message out?
Start translation