10 YEARS AFTER ISIS
On February 15, 2015, a 5-minute propaganda video broadcast 21 men in orange jumpsuits were lined up on a beach in Libya and brutally beheaded, one by one by ISIS militants. In the posted caption, the video was proclaimed to be a message to the “people of the Cross, followers of the hostile Egyptian Church.” The victims included 20 Egyptian Coptic Christians who were working in Libya as migrant laborers and a Ghanaian man, Matthew Ayariga.
This tragedy shocked the world and became a symbol of both the brutal persecution faced by the broader Coptic community and their resilience in the face of adversity.
This photo essay commemorates the 10th anniversary of this atrocity by spending time with the 10 wives of the victims who were married at the time of their mass execution. After a substantial increase in ISIS-claimed attacks in 2024, this story offers a timely, visual exploration of the long-term impact of violent extremism on those left behind. These photos offer an intimate look at the surprising joy, strength and sisterhood that has grown in the wake of this atrocity among the 10 women whose lives have been forever shaped by it.
February 2025 | Featured in the Middle East Eye
Ten years ago, Ebtesam Noshy Lamei (34) picked up her ringing cell phone. The voice of her husband, Samuel, came through the line from Libya, where he was working. “Pray that I come back safely,” he said.
Ebtesam remembers her heart pounding heavily at this. “Why would you not come back safely? Is there a problem?”
“No,” he said. “It’s fine. There's no problems. But you know, just pray for me. And if I don't come back, please take care of the kids.”
“No, you'll be back. Don’t even say that!” Ebtesam was frustrated. “Everything will be fine. If you don’t come back, I won't be able to do it.”
Samuel told her, “No, you'll be able to do it. You're very strong. You'll be both their mom and their dad.”
At this, Ebtesam got upset and hung up the phone. Why was he talking like that? That was the last time she would ever speak to her husband.
A few hours later, Samuel would be kidnapped and held by ISIS militants. On February 15, 2015, he and his companions' death would be broadcast around the globe. While headlines eventually shifted elsewhere, the place and people that these 21 men left behind continue to be profoundly shaped by the atrocity. Over the past decade, the ten wives of the men who were married at the time of their execution have formed a private sisterhood of support and strength.
In 2018, Libyan authorities transferred the remains of the 20 Egyptian Copts, after forensic samples had been taken from the bodies of the beheaded victims and sent to Egypt to be identified by their families. The remains were returned to the Coptic Orthodox cathedral in Al-Our newly built and named in their honor: the Church of Martyrs of the Faith and Homeland.
The church towers over the tiny farming village and now holds a significant place in both modern Coptic history and the broader narrative of the ongoing struggles faced by Copts and other minorities in Egypt and the Middle East. The special shrine to the 21 martyrs, where the remains were laid, is open to visitors from all over the world.
"When we found out about our husbands' martyrdom, that's when we all became one.
It’s like our bodies all became one as well. Her kids are my kids – my kids are her kids. We're one family now.”
-- Mariam Shehata Moawad
"At the time of the martyrdom, our husbands made history. The world stopped; the world's eyes were on them and us.
That's not something that you remember with a room, or a shrine, or something physical – no. That's something that's etched into your heart and for the rest of your days you remember it, and you remember it because it's etched in every other Christians heart as well.”
-- Ebtesam Noshy Lamei
