Discover three sides of ancient, modern, exciting Egypt: exuberant Cairo, with its Arabian Nights bazaars, Islamic monuments, shining skyscrapers and awesome pyramids; Luxor’s astonishing wealth of age-old temples and magnificent tombs; dreamy, relaxed, timeless Aswan, gateway to Abu Simbel and other monuments of Nubia rescued from the rising waters of Lake Nasser. With comprehensive listings and an entertaining narrative, this guide introduces three outstanding cities to the independent tourist. Egypt is a land of spectacle, a country vast in time, but, far from being a daunting experience for the traveler, its story is there for anyone to comprehend and enjoy. That is the purpose of this book, a guide and narrative spanning five thousand years, in which the exuberance of Cairo, the splendor of Luxor and the beauty of Aswan form the principal chapters.
Cairo, Luxor, and Aswan
An AUC Press Guide
Michael Haag
Discover three sides of ancient, modern, exciting Egypt: exuberant Cairo, with its Arabian Nights bazaars, Islamic monuments, shining sk
352 pp.
30 illus, 35 maps and plans
14X21cm
ISBN 9789774163692
For sale only in the Middle East
16.95
Also available by this author
Cairo Illustrated
Michael HaagCairo is an exploding modern metropolis of eighteen million people that nevertheless preserves within its heart the finest medieval city in the world, its alleys, mosques, and caravanserais the original setting for the Arabian Nights, whose atmosphere is palpable still for the visitor wandering through its bazaars, while at sunset the Pyramids glow gold against the Western Desert as they have done for one million seven hundred thousand evenings past. The monuments of pharaohs and sultans lie within the city’s reach, making Cairo and its environs an unequaled storehouse of human achievement. In this guide to the largest city in Africa and the political and cultural fulcrum of the Arab world, Michael Haag explores Cairo’s past and present in word and picture, from Saqqara to the Citadel of Saladin, from the ancient synagogue and churches of Old Cairo to the skyscrapers along the Nile, from Khan al-Khalili, the vast bazaar as intricate as inlay work, to the Belle Epoque façades of the downtown streets, and introduces you to the treasures of three great civilizations at the Islamic, Coptic, and Egyptian Antiquities museums. Beautifully illustrated with 150 color photographs, this is a fascinating armchair tour of Cairo in all its variety.
...read more
Paperback
96 pp.200 color illus.
20X28cm
16.95
Luxor Illustrated
With Aswan, Abu Simbel, and the Nile
Michael HaagLuxor stands on the site of ancient Thebes, Egypt’s opulent New Kingdom capital. It encompasses the spectacular temples of Luxor and Karnak on the east bank of the Nile, and on the west bank the vast necropolis, which includes the Colossi of Memnon, the famed Ramesseum, Queen Hatshepsut’s magnificent funerary temple, and the Valley of the Kings, riddled with royal tombs, among them the fabled resting place of Tutankhamun. The splendor and profusion of pharaonic monuments at Luxor justifies its reputation as the greatest outdoor museum in the world. Reaching beyond Luxor, this book also covers all the major sites of Upper Egypt, including Abydos, Dendera, Esna, Edfu, and Kom Ombo. Special attention is given to Aswan, one of the most beautiful places in Egypt, with its nearby island temple of Isis at Philae. The climax of this informed and richly illustrated book comes with the remarkable temples at Abu Simbel, with their colossal figures of Ramesses II and his lovely wife Nefertari cut from the living rock.
...read more
Paperback
96 pp.200 color photographs, 4 maps
20X28cm
16.95
Vintage Alexandria
Photographs of the City, 1860–1960
Michael HaagUsing vintage photographs from the second half of the nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth, many of them from private family albums, this book brings to life the world of that vanished Alexandria, a vibrant, stylish, and cosmopolitan city, the largest port in the Mediterranean, that was the prosperous gateway between Egypt and the world. Seen here in the setting of their homes and gardens, and on the city’s streets and beaches, the faces of those forgotten Alexandrians come to life: the Greeks, Italians, Jews, and all those others from around the Mediterranean whose energy and expertise helped modernize and develop Egypt, and who planted their family roots in the city. This was the luxuriant and evocative city celebrated by Constantine Cavafy, E.M. Forster, and Lawrence Durrell, and they too are included in these pages along with photographs of scenes and people that were familiar to them. Vintage Alexandria traces the development and growth of the city, follows its story through the dramatic events of two world wars, and above all provides a background to the city’s place in twentieth-century cultural history, through the eyes of Alexandria’s cosmopolitan citizens themselves. Those citizens and others who passed through the city and appear in these pages included Antony Benaki (the Greek cotton trader whose collection formed the basis of the famous Benaki Museum in Athens), Robert Koch (who isolated the cholera virus and developed a vaccine in an Alexandria laboratory), the Greek children’s writer Penelope Delta, Claude Vincendon (the third wife of Lawrence Durrell), King Victor Emanuel III of Italy, Eve Cohen (the second wife of Lawrence Durrell, and the model for “Justine”), Safinaz Zulfikar (later married to King Farouk as Queen Farida), Rudolph Hess (Hitler’s deputy, who attended school in Alexandria), Jean de Menasce (the “best translator” of T.S. Eliot), Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron), the Egyptian film director Youssef Chahine, the Egyptian and international film star Omar Sharif, King Hussein of Jordan, Rhona Haszard (the post-impressionist painter), Ahmed Hassanein Pasha (the Egyptian explorer and diplomat), and Noel Coward (the English writer and wit, who sang at the Fleet Club in Alexandria and was mobbed by sailors).
...read more
Hardbound
152 pp.200 illus.
25X25cm
29.95
Alexandria
City of Memory
Michael HaagIn the decades before Nasser’s seizure of power and the Suez crisis, Alexandria was a magnet for the wealthy, the gifted, and the glamorous from around the world. The whole city looked seaward, its port one of the busiest in the Mediterranean, its spirit ecumenical, its life luxuriant and sensual. Alexandria was barely an Egyptian city, and the Egyptians who live there now inhabit the gently crumbling remains of a foreign world, whose palatial villas, Venetian apartments, art-nouveau cafes, Moorish hotels, and cinemas conceived in thirties deco, are haunted by a departed cast. “I lived a great, extravagant, and colorful life in wartime Alexandria,” recalled Lawrence Durrell, whose Alexandria Quartet is one of the greatest protraits of a city in modern literature. Michael Haag, who has lived in Alexandria, and has known Durrell and others who lived there during its cosmopolitan heyday, has retraced their footsteps to present an absorbing account of the places and the people of this most remarkable of cities. ‘’Michael Haag mixes memory and biography, politics and cultural studies in clear and seamless prose.’’—The New York Review of Books
...read more
Hardbound
352 pp.80 b/w illus.
19X23.5cm
24.95
Related products
Ancient Egypt
Art and Archaeology
Giorgio AgneseMaurizio Re
Ancient Egypt: Art and Archaeology covers the breadth and length of the treasures of ancient Egypt without overstretching your budget. Fully illustrated with excellent color photographs and historic prints, this book covers it all: a historical introduction and chronological listing of the pharaohs, the gods of ancient Egypt, the cult of the dead, hieroglyphic writing, travelers and explorers, the birth of modern archaeology, Alexandria, Tanis, the Giza plateau, the Egyptian Museum, Memphis, Saqqara, Dahshur, the oases of the Western Desert, Tell al-Amarna, Abydos, Dendera, Luxor, the temples of Western Thebes, the Theban necropolis, Esna, Edfu, Kom Ombo, Aswan, Philae, Abu Simbel and the Nubian temples, Serabit al-Khadem, and even a short section on the Monastery of St. Catherine. With captivating, concise text and hundreds of full-color illustrations, Ancient Egypt is the perfect gift or memento from a visit to Egypt.
...read more
Paperback
192 pp.423 color illus.
19X27.5cm
Abu Simbel, Aswan, and the Nubian Temples
Art and Archaeology
Text by Marco ZecchiIn ancient times, Egypt’s influence extended over Nubia, a vast geographical area that starts south of Aswan and ends at the confluence of the White Nile and the Blue Nile. Because of its strategic importance, the area of Nubia around Lake Nasser and Aswan is full of archaeological treasures and impressive monuments. This fully illustrated book gives a concise history of the exploration of Nubia and the sites and temples of Lower Nubia, as well as explaining in depth the archaeological rescue mission that captured the world’s imagination in the 1960s: the salvage of Abu Simbel and the Nubian temples. Detailed descriptions, plans, maps, and photographs are given of all the sites involved, including the temples that were dismantled and rebuilt in new locations above the rising waters, as well as those that were donated in thanks to nations assisting in the rescue. The most up-to-date scientific research, color photographs, and maps allow the reader to make a virtual visit to the archaeological sites and absorb the history of Nubia in all its complexity.
...read more
Paperback
158 pp.192 color, 21 b/w illus., 12 maps and plans
19X29.5cm
Ancient Egypt
Art and Archaeology
Giorgio AgneseMaurizio Re
Ancient Egypt: Art and Archaeology covers the breadth and length of the treasures of ancient Egypt without overstretching your budget. Fully illustrated with excellent color photographs and historic prints, this book covers it all: a historical introduction and chronological listing of the pharaohs, the gods of ancient Egypt, the cult of the dead, hieroglyphic writing, travelers and explorers, the birth of modern archaeology, Alexandria, Tanis, the Giza plateau, the Egyptian Museum, Memphis, Saqqara, Dahshur, the oases of the Western Desert, Tell al-Amarna, Abydos, Dendera, Luxor, the temples of Western Thebes, the Theban necropolis, Esna, Edfu, Kom Ombo, Aswan, Philae, Abu Simbel and the Nubian temples, Serabit al-Khadem, and even a short section on the Monastery of St. Catherine. With captivating, concise text and hundreds of full-color illustrations, Ancient Egypt is the perfect gift or memento from a visit to Egypt.
...read more
Paperback
192 pp.423 color illus.
19X27.5cm
12.95
Authentic Egyptian Cooking
From the Table of Abou El Sid [Arabic edition]
Nehal LehetaTraditionally, Egyptian cooking has been best practiced and enjoyed at home, where generations of unrecorded family recipes have been the sustaining repertoire for daily meals as well as sumptuous holiday feasts. Abou El Sid, one of Cairo’s most famous restaurants, has become well known for its authentic Egyptian dishes, and now presents more than fifty of its most classic recipes in a cookbook for the enjoyment of home cooks all over the world.
Egyptians will recognize their favorites, from holiday dishes such as Fettah to the arrays of appetizers like aubergine with garlic, special lentils, and tahina; those new to Middle Eastern food will find the recipes simple and simply delicious, and enjoy the Egyptian table even if they don’t have the heritage of the pharaohs in their family backgrounds.
– 57 authentic Egyptian recipes from starters to main courses to desserts.
– Each recipe illustrated with gorgeous, full color photographs.
– Beautifully designed and visually sumptuous boutique book.
...read more
13 November 2015
Paperback
144 pp.70 color photographs
19X24cm
18.99