On August 14, 1956, this issue cover was published—just 19 days after Nasser’s nationalization of the Suez Canal on July 26. Faten Hamama, an Egyptian actress is posed holding a fishing net onlooking the vast Mediterranean Sea.

Textual evidence in this spread contains serialized memoirs of cinema star Faten Hamama. This cover embodies how nationalization made itself visible to the state’s citizenry, who were primary consumers of popular media forms. The Mediterranean (and the Nile) was the forefront of Egypt’s national identity.

Al-Kawakib Magazine: Cover Issue 262

Alexandria, North Africa, Egypt

The Sea