Age: 67
male
Ghassan Massoud (Arabic: غسّان مسعود / Ghassān Masʻūd; born September 20, 1958) is a Syrian actor and filmmaker born on September 20, 1958, in Damascus, Syria. He achieved global recognition for his roles in both Arabic and worldwide films. Massoud has been active in the industry for several decades, earning a distinguished reputation as one of the most highly regarded actors in the Middle East. Massoud is known for writing and directing the theater play "Diplomasiyyoun," as well as his appearances in many Syrian-made films. He has appeared in the Syrian television series "The Chant of Rain," but most recently, he starred as Abu Bakr in MBC's series "Omar." He's most well-known internationally for his role as Saladin in Ridley Scott's 2005 film "Kingdom of Heaven," alongside playing Ammand the Corsair in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Throughout his career, Massoud has been recognized for the commitment he has to his craft. He continues to be an influential figure in the world of Arab cinema, teaching drama at both the Damascus Music and Drama School and the Higher Institute for Dramatic Arts.
In 1912 Cairo, Fatma el-Sha'arawi serves as an agent for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities and has recently been recognized for thwarting a malevolent scheme—a story recounted in the prequel novelette A Dead Djinn in Cairo. The Hermetic Brotherhood of Al-Jahiz, mainly composed of Englishmen who admire Al-Jahiz—a Sudanese mystic who reintroduced magic to the world around forty years ago—suffers a brutal attack when a man donning a golden mask murders its members during a meeting. Fatma is tasked with finding the murderer and resolving the case. With assistance from her new Ministry partner, Hadia Abdel Hafez, and her lover, Siti—a Sekhmet devotee and informant linked to the clandestine followers of the Egyptian pantheon—Fatma follows a trail of clues and leads throughout Cairo and its environs pursuing the gold-masked assailant who proclaims to be Al-Jahiz himself supposedly returned to the world.
