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Traveling Through Egypt

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Traveling Through Egypt From 450 B.C. To the Twentieth Century, Edited By Deborah Manley and Sahar Abdel-HakimThis is a wonderful concept for a travel book, one which I have not encountered recently. The editors have taken travel notes and travelogs from travelers through Egypt throughout written history. The observations about Egypt compiled in this book are from 115 different writers, the earliest being from Strabo who lived from 63 BC - 23 A.D., and they give a compendium of fascinating facts about this ancient country. Early travelers noted in great details the land, climate, workers and their tools, various monuments and buildings from pre-history, which no longer exist. The writers speak of the importance and impact of the various stages of the Nile River in different seasons. End notes tell a little about each of the writers. The book is absolutely fascinating and a MUST for anyone who intends to see Egypt.

A fascination with Egypt runs through American culture from our currency to our current crop of Hollywood blockbusters, which continue to recycle mummy mythology. Even a century ago, American producers of silent films reached into ancient Egypt for potent imagery, which they jury-rigged in Hollywood soundstages. Right now, teenagers playing computer games may encounter imagery of the ancient library of Alexandria, while building their own virtual civilizations.

That's why this volume edited by Deborah Manley and Sahar Abdel-Hakim is such a valuable and intriguing insight into travelers' impressions of Egypt over many centuries - or, to be more accurate, over several millennia. They include in this book some excerpts from Herodotus in 450 BC.

Rudyard Kipling, in a 1913 essay, warns that Egypt holds a host of infuriating secrets, many of which he attributes to political complications forced upon Egypt by imperial powers. Explaining Egypt is like trying "to explain baseball to an Englishman or the Eton Wall game to a citizen of the United States."

The hundreds of excerpts in this book try to meet Kipling's challenge by sharing snapshots from travelers from many lands, cultures and eras.