Ancient Pharaonic harp strums along to new tune

PORT SAID, Egypt - When Mohamed Ghaly's workshop was reduced to rubble in February, he never imagined that a new cultural center dedicated to a musical instrument with Pharaonic roots would thrive just months later.

The semsemia, similar to a harp and made of beechwood with steel strings, is believed to have ancient Egyptian roots. It appears on ornate engravings in tombs.

Ghaly, a carpenter by trade, is one of the last craftsmen in Egypt keeping the cultural heritage of the instrument alive.