Traveling through the deserts of Egypt : from 450 B.C. to the twentieth century

For generations, travelers have been lured by the beauty and mesmerizing stillness of Egypt’s deserts, leaving behind the comfort of what is familiar in a quest for adventure, knowledge, and escape, and for others still, a taste of eternity. Traveling Through the Deserts of Egypt is a compilation of some of the most fascinating and beautiful writings to come out of the experiences of desert travelers through the ages. Seen through their eyes, the desert emerges as possessed of a multitude of identities, a source of majesty and life-giving natural beauty, barrenness, and yet incalculable mystery. By reading in the footsteps of those who crossed the desert’s valleys, slept in its caves, and rode its camels, we discover that the desert in its boundlessness and utter unpredictability shatters all our notions of time and holds out the offer of an intensity of meaning and renewed self-awareness that is as irresistible as it is rewarding. The collection includes extracts from the writings of Herodotus, Ibn Khaldun, Ferdinand Lepsius, Leo Tregenza, Harriet Martineau, Ahmed Fakhry, and Ahmed Hassanein. For generations, travelers have been lured by the beauty and mesmerizing stillness of Egypt's deserts, leaving behind the comfort of what is familiar in a quest for adventure, knowledge, and escape, and for others still, a taste of eternity. Traveling through the Deserts of Egypt is a compilation of some of the most fascinating and beautiful writings to come out of the experiences of desert travelers through the ages. Seen through their eyes, the desert emerges as possessed of a multitudeof identities, a source of majesty and life-giving natural beauty, barrenness and yet incalculable mystery. By reading in the footsteps of those who crossed the desert's valleys, slept in its caves, and rode its camels, we discover that the desert in its boundlessness and utter unpredictability shatters all our notions of time and holds out the offer of an intensity of meaning and renewed self-awareness that is as irresistible as it is rewarding. The collection includes extracts from the writings of Herodotus, Ibn Khaldun, Ferdinand Lepsius, Leo Tregenza, Harriet Martineau, Ahmed Fakhry, and Ahmed Hassanein, among many others Intro 1 Contents 5 Introduction 15 1. The Deserts of the Imagination and Reality 19 2. The Western ‘Libyan’ Desert 37 3. The Eastern Desert and Sinai Peninsula 63 4. Preparations for the Journey 85 5. Starting Out 105 6. The Desert Day 119 7. The Desert Night 143 8. Nature in the Desert 155 9. Experiences of the Desert 171 10. The Threats of the Desert 179 11. The People of the Desert 197 12. The Return to the World 221 The Travelers: Brief Biographies 229 Bibliography 241 Index of Travelers 245 A compilation of writings of desert traveler experiences, including accounts written by Herodotus, Ibn Jubayr, Richard Lepsius, L.A. Tregenza, Harriet Martineau, Ahmed Fakhry and Ahmed Hassanein. The writings describe the desert of Egypt and the encounters of travelers with the nature and wildlife