Fodor's Exploring Egypt

by Sattin, Anthony; Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc.; Franquet, Sylvie

• ISBN13: 9780679034728
• ISBN10: 0679034722
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-06-01
• Publisher: Fodors Travel Pubns

Summary

Fodor's Exploring Guides are the most up-to-date, full-color guidebooks available. Covering destinations around the world, these guides are loaded with photos, essays on culture and history, descriptions of sights, and practical information. Full-color photos make this a great guide to buy if you're still planning your itinerary (let the photos help you choose!) and it's a perfect companion to a general guidebook, like a Fodor's Gold Guide. All the great sights plus the history and anecdotes that bring them to life Extraordinary coverage of history and culture Itineraries, walks and excursions, on and off the beaten path Architecture and art Practical tips and full-color maps and photos Getting there and getting around When to go and what to pack Quick tips on where to sleep in every price range Savvy restaurant picks for all budgets Praise for Fodor's Exploring Guides "Most travel guides are either beautiful or practical. This one is both." -- New York Daily News "Beautiful...and the depth of text is impressive." -- San Diego Union Tribune "Authoritatively written and superbly presented...worthy reading before, during, or after a trip." -- Philadelphia Inquirer "Concise, comprehensive, and colorful." -- Washington Post "Absolutely gorgeous. Fun, colorful, and sophisticated." -- Chicago Tribune

Table of Contents

Our Egypt, by Anthony Sattin and Sylvie Franquet Egypt Is

Discusses aspects of life and living today, from politics and religion to Egyptians and the Nile River

Gift of the Nile Politics Religion Religious Tension

The Economy

The Egyptians A Different View Etiquette

The Arts Egypt Was

Places the region in its historical context and explores those past events whose influences are felt to this day

The Old Kingdom

The Middle Kingdom

The New Kingdom

The Ptolemies Romans and Christians Under Arab Rule Fatimid and Ayyubid Mamluk and Ottoman Under Ottoman Rule Modernized Colonized Independent War and Peace Focus On

The Pyramids Mosques City of the Dead Cafés The Egyptian Museum

The Metro Europeans in Cairo Egyptian Food Egyptian Drinks Belly Dancing El-Faiyum Oasis Ancient Religion Akhenaton

The Osiris Cult Temples Moulids SOS Egypt Tombs Tutankhamun Boats and Cruises

The Aswan Dam Ancient Alexandria Café-patisseries Beaches Building the Canal

The Red Sea Mountains Monasticism

The Bedouin Scuba Diving

The Desert Interior Rides A Desert Ride

The West Bank Walks Cairo: Enclave of Devotion Cairo

From the Citadel to Bab Zuwayla Cairo: To the Northern Gates Cairo

Among 1,001 Shoe Stores Luxor

Along the Corniche On Elephantine Island Siwa

Through the Palm Groves Literary Alexandria Up Gebel Musa (Mount of Moses)

Drives The Great Desert Circuit Rosetta

In the Red Sea Mountains Boat Trips Felucca Trips Gazetteer

This section is broken down into eight regional chapters and covers places to visit, including walks and drives

Within this section fall the Focus-On articles, which consider a variety of topics in greater detail

Cairo Lower Nile Valley Luxor Upper Egypt and Nubia Oases in the Western Desert Alexandria and the Delta Canal Zone and Red Sea Coast Sinai Travel Facts

Contains the strictly practical information that is vital for a successful trip

Arriving Essential Facts Getting Around Driving Communications Emergencies Other Information Tourist Offices Hotels and Restaurants

Lists recommended establishments in Egypt, giving a brief résumé of what they offer

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

Egypt Is...


Gift of the Nile

The Nile Valley Egypt occupies 3.3 percent of Africa's landmass, but 95 percent of Egyptians inhabit only about 5 percent of their country, most of it near the Nile. The Nile runs through rainless Egypt from south to north and irrigates it like the blessed river that Muslims believe runs through the gardens of paradise. It is worthy of praise: flowing out of the lakes of Ethiopia and Uganda, it is over 3,800 miles long, and for the last 1,600 miles of its course through Sudan and Egypt, it has no tributaries and receives very little rainfall. So vital is it to the country that Egypt is defined according to its direction of flow. The south of the country is known as Upper Egypt, while the north is called Lower Egypt, and when asked for directions, Egyptians will often refer to the river: qibli, toward the mountains in the south, and bahari, to the sea in the north.


The River's Course

One of the icons used by the ancient Egyptians to depict their watery lifeline was the lotus plant, with its thin stem and a fan-shaped bud. The river still looks very much like that when seen from the air. In southern Egypt, its valley is extremely narrow in places as the river passes between harder rock formations that it has been unable to erode, but farther north, where the rock formations are softer, the river averages more than half a mile in width, while its valley stretches some 6 miles from east to west. After passing Cairo, the Nile splits into the branches that have created the Delta.


The Delta

In antiquity the Nile had seven branches, but now there are only two, which flow into the Mediterranean near Rashid (Rosetta) and Dumyat (Damietta). Between them lies some of the most fertile land in the country: low-lying, irrigated by a network of canals, and intensively farmed. The Delta has been an inspiration to Egyptians to reclaim land from the desert, but even a river as powerful as the Nile has its limits and beyond its reach lie the rock and sand of the deserts.


The Western Desert

To ancient Egyptians, the west was the place of the dead, so it must have seemed appropriate that threats to Egypt's security often came out of the Western Desert, from the Libyans in antiquity to the Germans in World War II.


The desert here is relatively flat, with depressions that have created oases. Ironically, it is to the west that some Egyptian strategists look for the country's development. Oil fields have been found in the north, while the planned Toshka Canal will irrigate huge swaths of the southern desert.


The Eastern Desert

Unlike the Western Desert, the narrower stretch of land between the Nile Valley and the Red Sea coast is mountainous. The Red Sea mountains rise to a height of 2,500 feet and, as the ancient Egyptians knew, are rich in gold and other minerals. Although close to the Nile Valley, the Red Sea mountains were almost considered another country, where hermits went to retreat from the world. The last of the region's seminomadic tribes have now been settled.


Holy Desert

The Sinai desert offers an even more dramatic landscape than the Eastern Desert. The peninsula is flat along its coastal plains, rough and rugged in the south and the center. The sacred Gebel Musa (Mt. Sinai), where Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments, rises to 7,497 feet while the neighboring Gebel Katerina is Egypt's highest mountain at 8,668 feet.



A Different Ediquete


Trust in Allah

One of Egypt's most commonly used words expresses a trust in God that foreigners find hard to understand. Insha'allah (literally, God willing) is used whenever some future event is referred to, as in "We'll meet at eight, Insha'allah."


Tomorrow and Tomorrow

Time is a commodity in which many Egyptians are rich. When bokra (tomorrow) is referred to, usually with an accompanying insha'allah, it may mean an indeterminate time in the future -- not today, maybe tomorrow, maybe later. This applies to things they are promising to do, as well as the many blessings that life has so far failed to bestow upon them.


A Little Understanding

Insha'allah and bokra reveal something about the Egyptian character, but another common word with even more uses is ma'alesh. It means "Never mind." Foreigners rarely use it, but when an Egyptian travels and the plane is late, the food cold, or the only room left in the hotel faces a wall -- in other words, when they can't get what they want -- ma'alesh is their gracious and sympathetic response.


Separating the Sexes

Women can sit anywhere on the Cairo metro and Alexandrian tram system, but there are always cars where men are not allowed. Sexual segregation is not a matter of legislation, but increasingly it is the norm.


Covering Up

Egyptian women tend to cover themselves up outside the house, so when Egyptian men see a girl's bare shoulder, or her figure in see-through clothes, they often consider it a sexual provocation and will stop to stare. Yet when a woman openly breastfeeds her baby in the street they will hardly even notice.


The Arts


The Spoken Word

Traditions of storytelling go back to long before the Arab invasion. Pre-Islamic stories were inevitably epics, long narrative cycles relating the adventures of heroes and the desperate acts of lovers. The Hilaliya (the story of Abu Zayd) and Laila and Majnun are but two examples of stories that are still in circulation today. The audience, assembled in cafés (or in houses for special occasions), would already know the story but would enjoy the raconteur's embellishments. It was from this tradition that medieval European writers like Boccaccio and Chaucer drew their inspiration. Egyptian storytellers were popular until the advent of radio and television. Theater director Hassan el-Geretly is currently engaged in recording as many of these epic narratives as possible in an attempt to preserve and reinvent the tradition.

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Excerpted from Exploring Egypt by Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc. Staff
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.