Description
Book SynopsisWomen travelers in Egypt in the nineteenth century saw aspects of the country unseen by their male counterparts, as they spent time both in the harems of Cairo and with the women they met along the Nile. Some of them, like Sarah Belzoni and Sophia Poole, spoke Arabic. Others wrote engagingly of their experiences as observers of an exotic culture, with special access to some places no man could ever go. From Eliza Fay's description of arriving in Egypt in 1779 to Rosemary Mahoney's daring trip down the Nile in a rowboat in 2006, this lively collection of writing by women travelers includes Lady Evelyn Cobbold, Isabella Bird, Norma Lorimer, Harriet Martineau, Florence Nightingale, Amelia Edwards, and Lucie Duff Gordon.
Trade Review"I’d found kindred spirits in the women who chronicled their expeditions to Egypt in the 19th century, and spurred on by them, I’d planned my trip. . . . Beside my chair were collections of letters and memoirs written by intrepid female journalists, intellectuals and novelists, all British or European.
Relentlessly entertaining, the women’s stories reflected the Egyptomania that flourished after Napoleon invaded North Africa in 1798."—Michelle Green,
The New York TimesTable of ContentsIntroduction
Alexandria, the Delta, and Suez
What You Need to Bring, 1861 M.L.M. Carey
Arriving in Egypt, 1779 Eliza Fay
Entering Alexandria, 1842 Sophia Poole
The Pacha’s Palace, 1861 M.L.M. Carey
Onward to Cairo, 1988 Bettina Selby
Women of the Delta, 1827 Anne Katherine Elwood
First Sight of the Pyramids, 1846 Harriet Martineau
Cairo
Arriving from the Desert, 1844 Countess Hahn Hahn
So Much for an Artist to See, 1899 E.M. Merrick
The Scene from my Balcony, 1907 Norma Lorimer
Passing in the Streets, 1852 Ida Pfeiffer
The City at Night, 1870 Mary Whately
Our Neighbours, May 25, 1863 Lucie Duff Gordon
Processions Past the Window, 1842 Sophia Poole
Khan El-Khaleelee, November, 1842 Sophia Poole
Beautiful Architecture, 1907 Norma Lorimer
The Cotton Bazaar—and the Water-carriers, 1914 E.L. Butcher
The Bath, April, 1844 Sophia Poole
The Environs of Cairo
The Tombs of the Mameluke Sultans, 1828 Sarah Lushington
The Pasha’s Country Palace, 1828 Sarah Lushington
The Pasha’s Garden at Shoobra, 1853 Lady Tobin
Ascending the Pyramid, 1845 Harriet Martineau
A Trip into the Interior, 1938 Mary Chubb
Up the Nile from Cairo
Our Dahabieh, 1844 Isabel Romer
A Prayer on Starting, 1842 Sophia Poole
Our Boat from Luxor, 1827 Sarah Lushington
Met along the Way, 1875 Mary Whately
Nile Days—on the S.S. Ramses the Great, 1907 Norma Lorimer
Meeting Crocodiles, 1845 Isabel Romer
Met on the Nile, 1827 Wolfradine Minutoli
Harvest, January 1874 Marianne North
Nubia and Beyond and Turning North
Approaching Nubia, 1861 M.L.M. Carey
The Nubian Women, 1827 Wolfradine Minutoli
Assouan, 1844 Countess Hahn Hahn
The High Dam, 2006 Rosemary Mahoney
The Adventure of the Cataract, January 25, 1882 Sophia de Franqueville
The Temple of Isis, 1855 Lady Tobin
The Tropic of Cancer, 1873 Amelia Edwards
Dakkeh, Maharaka, Wady es Subua—and Abu Simbel, 1851 Emily Hornby
A Mighty Abode, 1907 Norma Lorimer
The Furthest Point, 1847 Harriet Martineau
Two Cultures to Wadi Halfa, 1988 Bettina Selby
Down the Cataract, March, 1874 Marianne Brocklehurst
Northward down the Nile
North from Assouan, 1855 Lady Tobin
Night Noises on the Nile, 2006 Rosemary Mahoney
Rowing down the Nile, 2006 Rosemary Mahoney
The Alme Dancers,1861 M.L.M. Carey
Back in Cairo, 1854 Lady Tobin
7: Luxor and the West Bank—the Thebes of Old
Arrival at Thebes, 1817 Sarah Belzoni
Luxor Temple—Far and Near, 1843 Countess Hahn Hahn
Trade in Antiquities, 1874 Amelia Edwards
The Unrivalled Ruins of Karnak, 1859 Emily Anne Beaufort
Last Scenes at Luxor, 1847 Harriet Martineau
“Belzoni’s Tomb,” 1824 Anne Katherine Elwood
Praise for the Paintings, 1828 Sarah Lushington
Mummies, 1828 Sarah Lushington
Egypt Beyond the Nile—the Desert
The First Day Out, 1899 Emily Hornby
No Water in the Desert, 1876 Isabella Bird
The Khamsin, 1848 Harriet Martineau
Beyond the Desert—and an Afreet, 1911 Lady Evelyn Cobbold
The Travelers: Brief Biographies
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Illustration Sources
