Egypt Guidebooks

In this beautifully illustrated volume, Magda Mehdawy has gathered in one book the most complete collection of Egyptian recipes ever assembled. Drawing on the traditional recipes she learned from her grandmother and other members of her generation, Mehdawy offers a surprising range of sumptuous recipes and unusual flavors that are part of Egypt’s millennia-long cultural heritage. She also reveals the historical depth of the national cuisine, beginning with a section on food and wine-making techniques used by the ancient Egyptians. For readers interested in more recent traditions, Mehdawy provides lists of typical menus served on Islamic holidays and feasts, and a fascinating overview of traditional beliefs regarding vegetables and spices.
While covering regional dishes from all over Egypt, Mehdawy emphasizes the cuisine of her native Mediterranean city of Alexandria, providing a wide selection of seafood dishes, such as baked sardines and shrimp kufta with rice. Grouped by food categories—including Broths and Soups, Stuffed Vegetables, Poultry, Pickles, Jams, and Desserts—the book helpfully lists detailed health information as well as practical advice on shopping for the best-quality ingredients, and where to find them. Even chefs already familiar with Egyptian cuisine will find new dishes here. With copious illustrations in full color throughout, this compendium is a great introduction to the rich flavor and variety of the traditional Egyptian kitchen.

This fully illustrated, comprehensive travel guide with more than 175 color photographs and 20 detailed, full color maps, brings you the best of Egypt. Among its other features are:
Charting Your Trip, a rich overview that helps tailor your visit to the time you have and your specific interests.
Experiences, unique and hands-on, including sailing on a Nile felucca at Luxor and touring Sinai with Bedouins.
Insider Tips on favorite hot spots, practicalities, and more.
Walking Tours, with maps color-coded to site descriptions, including Islamic and Coptic Cairo and the Valley of the Kings.
Excursions off the beaten path, including deep desert safaris and trips to little-visited but well-preserved ancient temples.

Stunning photographs make this guide to the seashells of Egypt’s Red Sea coast a delight for scientists and beachcombers alike. Biologist Mary Lyn Rusmore-Villaume offers succinct descriptions of over five hundred species, indicating geographic range, size, color, and other details. The book is organized by taxonomy, divided between gastropods and bivalves, and each species is illustrated with one or more photographs for easy identification, all taken especially for this book by the author using shells from her own collection. All the shells most people are likely to see are included here, as well as many rare specimens (including an entirely new species discovered by the author). The species covered come from all regions of Egypt bordering the Red Sea, including the Gulf of Suez, South Sinai, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the mainland coast from Hurghada to Shalatin.
As the only guide to Egypt’s Red Sea shells, this is an invaluable reference for anyone interested in the Red Sea and its rich biodiversity. Copiously illustrated and comprehensive in its approach, Seashells of the Egyptian Red Sea represents a unique contribution to the scientific knowledge of the marine fauna of this branch of the Indo-Pacific region.

The Egyptian Museum, one of the world’s most famous cultural institutions, presents the whole history of ancient Egypt, from the formation of the first unitary state in the Nile Valley to the Roman conquest. Its archaeological treasures shed light on the most important periods of Egyptian history: works of art that are astounding in their skill and ingenuity, objects used in daily life by men and women who died thousands of years ago, and the mortal remains of some of the greatest pharaohs of antiquity. Together with comprehensive descriptions of the famous grave goods of Tutankhamun and the treasures of Tanis, the book reviews what a century of excavation has revealed at the pyramid sites of Giza, Saqqara, and Dahshur, the royal tombs of Thebes, and the temple of Karnak, where hundreds of statues have been found, including some of the most splendid examples of Egyptian sculpture. This beautifully illustrated book is an elegant introduction to the world’s greatest collection of Egyptian antiquities, presenting the Egyptian Museum’s finest treasures and providing a clear, concise, but detailed portrait of the marvelous culture that gave rise to them. Also available in French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish.

The Egyptian Museum, one of the world’s most famous cultural institutions, presents the whole history of ancient Egypt, from the formation of the first unitary state in the Nile Valley to the Roman conquest. Its archaeological treasures shed light on the most important periods of Egyptian history: works of art that are astounding in their skill and ingenuity, objects used in daily life by men and women who died thousands of years ago, and the mortal remains of some of the greatest pharaohs of antiquity. Together with comprehensive descriptions of the famous grave goods of Tutankhamun and the treasures of Tanis, the book reviews what a century of excavation has revealed at the pyramid sites of Giza, Saqqara, and Dahshur, the royal tombs of Thebes, and the temple of Karnak, where hundreds of statues have been found, including some of the most splendid examples of Egyptian sculpture. This beautifully illustrated book is an elegant introduction to the world’s greatest collection of Egyptian antiquities, presenting the Egyptian Museum’s finest treasures and providing a clear, concise, but detailed portrait of the marvelous culture that gave rise to them. Also available in French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish.

The Egyptian Museum, one of the world’s most famous cultural institutions, presents the whole history of ancient Egypt, from the formation of the first unitary state in the Nile Valley to the Roman conquest. Its archaeological treasures shed light on the most important periods of Egyptian history: works of art that are astounding in their skill and ingenuity, objects used in daily life by men and women who died thousands of years ago, and the mortal remains of some of the greatest pharaohs of antiquity. Together with comprehensive descriptions of the famous grave goods of Tutankhamun and the treasures of Tanis, the book reviews what a century of excavation has revealed at the pyramid sites of Giza, Saqqara, and Dahshur, the royal tombs of Thebes, and the temple of Karnak, where hundreds of statues have been found, including some of the most splendid examples of Egyptian sculpture. This beautifully illustrated book is an elegant introduction to the world’s greatest collection of Egyptian antiquities, presenting the Egyptian Museum’s finest treasures and providing a clear, concise, but detailed portrait of the marvelous culture that gave rise to them. Also available in French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish.

The Fayoum, a large and exceptionally fertile depression in Egypt’s Western Desert, some 90 kilometers southwest of Cairo, is a region both rich in history and outstanding in natural beauty. Its historical legacy includes temples, pyramids, and towns from the Middle Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Period, as well as churches, monasteries, and mosques from later times. Neil Hewison here outlines the history (and prehistory) of the Fayoum and its lakes, describes the agriculture and rural life of the region, then guides the visitor around the province site by site, never averse to taking an interesting detour along the way.
Originally published in 1984, this guide to one of Egypt’s most distinctive and beautiful regions quickly became regarded as a classic. The text has been thoroughly revised and updated for this new edition, including a new section on the recently declared UNESCO World Heritage Site of Wadi al-Hitan, the Valley of the Whales. The book is illustrated with color photographs and two maps. Recommended by Lonely Planet.

Egypt is primarily a land of deserts and mountains, the habitable Nile Valley and Delta occupying less than 5 percent of the country. Although the ancient Egyptians lived on only a small fraction of the land, they made extensive use of resources from the less hospitable areas, exploiting the opportunities and adjusting to the constraints of their physical environment. This updated and expanded edition of The Geology of Egypt: A Traveler’s Handbook describes these features and more, providing a guide for the visitor to Egypt interested in learning about its history from a different perspective.

The author presumes no background in geology or related fields and provides an introduction to the relevant geological concepts, presenting examples to illustrate how the country’s geological features influenced Egyptian civilization. Most examples are selected from the pharaonic period and Greco-Roman period, though many cases also illustrate how geological factors continue to have an impact on modern Egyptian society.

The text is organized as a trip on the Nile from Lake Nasser downstream to the Delta, with chapters devoted to such popular sites as Aswan, Luxor, and Giza. Also covered are the Eastern and Western Deserts, as well as the Sinai Peninsula. Maps, illustrations, fifty color photographs, and an extensive glossary help make a complex but intriguing subject accessible to everyone.

The scale and richness of the tombs and temples on the banks of the Nile at Luxor have attracted and fascinated travelers for thousands of years. Now finally comes the vade mecum that generations of visitors would have loved to have. The Illustrated Guide to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings, fully illustrated with superb color photographs, not only provides a comprehensive itinerary through the tombs and monuments of ancient Thebes and the museums of modern Luxor but also has extensive chapters devoted to the history of the city and Egyptian religion, as well as advice for the modern traveler on hotels and restaurants. Simple but detailed itineraries lead us first through the sites on the east bank of the Nile, including Karnak and Luxor temples, the Luxor Museum, and the Museum of Mummification. Then we cross to the west bank for a thorough exploration of the temples—the Ramesseum, Deir al-Bahari, Medinet Habu, and more—and the tombs of the Kings, the Queens, and the Nobles. A glossary of archaeological and ancient Egyptian terms and an extensive bibliography are included at the end of the book. The combination of authoritative texts, full-color photographs, planimetric maps, and descriptions of every major tomb and monument in Luxor will facilitate and enhance any visitor’s tour of one of the world’s richest and most significant collections of archaeological sites.

The scale and richness of the tombs and temples on the banks of the Nile at Luxor have attracted and fascinated travelers for thousands of years. Now finally comes the vade mecum that generations of visitors would have loved to have. The Illustrated Guide to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings, fully illustrated with superb color photographs, not only provides a comprehensive itinerary through the tombs and monuments of ancient Thebes and the museums of modern Luxor but also has extensive chapters devoted to the history of the city and Egyptian religion, as well as advice for the modern traveler on hotels and restaurants. Simple but detailed itineraries lead us first through the sites on the east bank of the Nile, including Karnak and Luxor temples, the Luxor Museum, and the Museum of Mummification. Then we cross to the west bank for a thorough exploration of the temples—the Ramesseum, Deir al-Bahari, Medinet Habu, and more—and the tombs of the Kings, the Queens, and the Nobles. A glossary of archaeological and ancient Egyptian terms and an extensive bibliography are included at the end of the book. The combination of authoritative texts, full-color photographs, planimetric maps, and descriptions of every major tomb and monument in Luxor will facilitate and enhance any visitor’s tour of one of the world’s richest and most significant collections of archaeological sites.

The scale and richness of the tombs and temples on the banks of the Nile at Luxor have attracted and fascinated travelers for thousands of years. Now finally comes the vade mecum that generations of visitors would have loved to have.

The Illustrated Guide to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings, fully illustrated with superb color photographs, not only provides a comprehensive itinerary through the tombs and monuments of ancient Thebes and the museums of modern Luxor but also has extensive chapters devoted to the history of the city and Egyptian religion, as well as advice for the modern traveler on hotels and restaurants. Simple but detailed itineraries lead us first through the sites on the east bank of the Nile, including Karnak and Luxor temples, the Luxor Museum, and the Museum of Mummification. Then we cross to the west bank for a thorough exploration of the temples—the Ramesseum, Deir al-Bahari, Medinet Habu, and more—and the tombs of the Kings, the Queens, and the Nobles. A glossary of archaeological and ancient Egyptian terms and an extensive bibliography are included at the end of the book.

The combination of authoritative texts, full-color photographs, planimetric maps, and descriptions of every major tomb and monument in Luxor will facilitate and enhance any visitor’s tour of one of the world’s richest and most significant collections of archaeological sites.

Egypt’s Coptic Church is one of the oldest in the world, encompassing two millennia of history, tradition, and culture. The Coptic Museum, founded in Old Cairo in 1908, houses the world’s largest and most exquisite collection of Coptic artifacts, representing every historical era, from the earliest Christian period to the nineteenth century. After undergoing extensive renovations and repair, the Coptic Museum is open to the public again, making this richly informative and illustrated book very timely for anyone interested in this rich artistic heritage. Structured as a guide, but fully illustrated with superb color photographs, this book suggests a simple but comprehensive itinerary through one of Egypt’s most fascinating museums.

Taking readers through the various exhibits, this useful guidebook explains and illuminates the aesthetic and religious importance of each of the museum’s works on display, such as icons, stelae, sculptures, wall paintings, wooden altar screens, liturgical implements, and vestments and bible caskets. Textiles, ceramics and documents (including the Nag Hammadi Gnostic library from the fourth century, one of the most important collections of papyri in the world) provide valuable insights into the economic and social life of Egypt’s Copts over the last two thousand years.