Luxor's Alabaster Factory

2008-04-29T06:19:00.000-07:00

I work in Hassan and Hassein Alabaster Factory when I am not helping the tourists or fulfilling my role with the Holy Man. The factory belongs to my brother Abdul Omar Mohamed. We are located in El Qurna, on the West Bank of Luxor very close to the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens.

I also cater to International Order - personal or business. May aim is to provide you with the opportunity to have some special pieces even those made to order to suit your needs. Contact me for more informaiton by email or direct phone.

Most tourists like to visit the Alabaster factory after their visit to the sacred sites on the West Bank and we show you how the alabaster has been worked since the times of Ancient Egypt.

The Alabaster factories are the source of employment for many families and most factories are family run businesses. From the managers to the artisans and the salesmen we rely heaveliy on tourist business.

As you can imagine it is a long time since the ancient Egyptians began to work with alabaster, but our Egyptian artisans have not last the knowledge of how to work with this material. Alabaster is still the most important factor of the economy in Egypt, it is still a characteristic of our culture adn our history. There aren't many artisans left "knowing how to handle" alabaster, so it's up[ to our craftsmen like those working in our family run businesses on the West Bank of Luxor to preserve this ancient tradition so it is not lost to future generations.

We have two type of Alabaster, one that belongs to the family of gypsum, which is used for the handmade products and the much harder stone which is known as alabaster marble and is used for machine made products.

But it's not just alabaster that we have here in our factory. We have many other carved products of Ancient Ehptian Pharoahs and the gods that tyhe ancient Egtyptians used to worship. The products in our factory are of the highes quality unlike some pieces you will find in the market stalls.

Every piece of alabaster is different, so purchasing a peice of alabaster means you receive a unique piece that has a personality of its own. The alabaster is mined in quarries about 30-50klms outside Luxor.

Those that are spiritually minded you might be interested to know that the Ascension temples were built of Alabaster, because the ancient Egyptians believed it was the stone of the sun gods. Even the sarcophagi were built with the harder variety of alabaster. The qualities of alabaster draw you very much along your spiritual path directing you upward toward God. If you light a candle inside an alabaster jar you are setting the intention of keeping the flame alight for your personal spieitual progress. Is is especially so for the "white alabaster".

Mary Magdalene was known to be the "lady with the Alabaster jar", this being the jar that carried the4 oil that she anointed the Master Jesus with before his crucifixion. This oil was used for many ages before to this for the anointing of a King prior to his death and burial to be united with the Goddess (Mother Earth). This tradition pre-dates back to the time of Isis, the sister bride of the god Osiris.

Many of the early Christian churches were decorated with alabaster and you can even still find many altars in the Egyptian churches made of alabaster.

With the arrival of Islam tradion carried over and the famous Mohammed Ali's Alabaster Mosque at the Citadel is named because the outside of the mosque is covered with the stone.
Luxor is said to be Heaven on EArth according to spiritual believer becasue of the Ascension Retreat that is said to be held in the etheric (invisible realms) above Luxor. If this is the case then isn't it any wonder that the alabaster is said to have such stgrong spiritual and healing qualities.
If you mention my name and my website next time you visit Hassan and Husein Alabaster Factory you are sure to get a discount, and ask for me (Ashraf) I would love to show you around. Or you can contact me directly by email, I can ship anywhere in the world.

See you in Luxor soon and don't forget our name - Hassan and Hussein Alabaster factory - or give me call and I will pick you up. +20104215951
Email: adham_rasha@yahoo.com.au

Alabaster in Luxor

Luxor's Alabaster Factory