Disclosure : This site contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.

The Nile: Downriver Through Egypt`s Past and Present

From Herodotus`s day to the present political upheavals, the steady flow of the Nile has been Egypt`s heartbeat. It has shaped its geography, controlled its economy and moulded its civilisation. The same stretch of water which conveyed Pharaonic battleships, Ptolemaic grain ships, Roman troop-carriers and Victorian steamers today carries modern-day tourists past bankside settlements in which rural life – fishing, farming, flooding – continues much as it has for millennia. At this most critical juncture in the country`s history, foremost Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson takes us on a journey up the Nile, north from Lake Victoria, from Cataract to Cataract, past the Aswan Dam, to the delta.The country is a palimpsest, every age has left its trace: as we pass the Nilometer on the island of Elephantine which since the days of the Pharaohs has measured the height of Nile floodwaters to predict the following season`s agricultural yield and set the parameters for the entire Egyptian economy, the wonders of Giza which bear the scars of assault by nineteenth-century archaeologists and the modern-day unbridled urban expansion of Cairo – and in Egypt`s earliest art (prehistoric images of fish-traps carved into cliffs) and the Arab Spring (fought on the bridges of Cairo) – the Nile is our guide to understanding the past and present of this unique, chaotic, vital, conservative yet rapidly changing land.

Related Products:

Coptic Egypt – The Egyptians of the Nile The Nile and Its People – 7000 Years of Egyptian History Ancient Egypt and the Nile Unfolding Journeys – Secrets of the Nile Egypt & Cairo ITMB Egypt – through writers` eyes Cairo & Nile Delta ITMB Egypt – A View from Above DK Eyewitness Travel Guide Egypt Among the Ruins: Syria Past and Present The Automobile Club of Egypt Midnight in Cairo: The Female Stars of Egypt`s Roaring `20s Insight Guides Egypt (Travel Guide with Free eBook) Ottoman Explorations of the Nile: Evliya Celebi`s `Matchless Pearl These Reports of the Nile` map and his accounts of the Nile and the Horn of Africa in The Book of Travels Egypt – A Short History Hampshire Past & Present Egypt: A Nation in Crisis The Twelve Rooms of the Nile Lonely Planet Egypt Heart of Europe: The Past in Poland`s Present Default ThumbnailPast & Present London Past and Present Middle School Treasure Hunters; Danger Down The Nile Egypt Pocket Guide: Coptic Egypt How Star Wars Conquered the Universe: The Past, Present, and Future of a Multibillion Dollar Franchise Ethiopia: Past and Present 24 Hours in Ancient Egypt: A Day in the Life of the People Who Lived There London Local Pubs: Past and Present Flaubert in Egypt Spying on Whales: The Past, Present and Future of the World`s Largest Animals Doncaster Past and Present Preston Past and Present Blackburn Past and Present Ely, Haddenham and Littleport Past and Present Rugby and Lutterworth Past and Present Redditch and Bromsgrove Past and Present Cannock & Rugeley Past and Present Great Britain: Cassini Past and Present Historical Series Default ThumbnailRichmond and Ealing Past and Present Sinai: Egypt`s Linchpin, Gaza`s Lifeline, Israel`s Nightmare