News — Vendor Spotlight

In ancient Egypt, scarab amulets were commonly worn by both the living and the deceased as protective talismans. Some scarabs were inscribed and wrapped with the mummy. They were typically made of stone, ceramic or other materials, and could be worn as jewelry or attached to clothing. Today, scarab artisans commonly use soapstone to create scarab beads. When we were recently in Egypt, we sat with our friend and scarab artist, Mahmoud. He walked us through the steps he takes to make scarab beads for our company. He starts by making the oval shapes from raw soapstone. Once the basic shape...

Our Luxor Vendor We have been buying our hand-carved scarabs, alabaster and other items in stone and ceramics from the Matani family in the village of el-Gourna, across the Nile from Luxor.  This wonderful family has been involved in making replicas of ancient statues for as many generations as can be remembered.  The patriarch is named Mahmoud, one of the kindest, gentle vendors we have ever known. Mahmoud's home was originally made from sun-dried mud bricks, as were most homes in Luxor for countless centuries. When my parents, wife and I were on a buying trip in the mid 1990's there was...

Our owner Steve Collins, traveled to Cairo in 1979 to tour the Middle East with his college friend David. In the 3 month trip, they bought hand-crafts and jewelry along the way with the hopes of bringing their treasures back home to sell them and help pay for their trip.  Now, more than 40 years later, Steve is still at it!  He lives in the US, but he spends a good part of his year traveling to Egypt to find new treasures. Over the years, he has made relationships with artisans in Egypt that are as close as family.  Steve...

Running a successful Egyptian import business means making connections with your staff. It also means that Steve, our founder, speaks fluent Arabic.Our Cairo office is managed by 3 Egyptians who have been working with us for over 25 years! We consider them as close as family and Steve talks with them daily. We really appreciate and care deeply for these men and their families.Hassan Gouda, Hassan Attiya, and Nasr Mahtouk manage orders with our vendors, receive and check the quality of our goods, and create shipments for export. They grew up in Faiyum (an Oasis west of Cairo), but live...