Egypt is the
oldest
tourist
destination
on earth.
Ancient
Greeks and
Romans
started the
trend,
coming to
goggle at
the
cyclopean
scale of the
Pyramids and
the Colossi
of Thebes.
At the onset
of colonial
times,
Napoleon and
the British
in turn
looted
Egypt's
treasures to
fill their
national
museums,
sparking off
a trickle of
Grand
Tourists
that, by the
1860s, had
grown into a
flood of
travellers,
packaged for
their Nile
cruises and
Egyptological
lectures by
the
enterprising
Thomas Cook.
Today,
the
attractions
of the
country are
little
different.
The focus of
most visits
remains the
great
monuments of
the Nile
Valley,
combined
with a few
days spent
exploring
the souks,
mosques and
madrassas
of Islamic
Cairo.
However,
possibilities
for Egyptian
travel also
encompass
snorkelling
and diving
along the
Red Sea
coasts,
remote oases
and camel
trips into
the
mountains of
Sinai, or
visits to
the Coptic
monasteries
of the
Eastern
Desert.
The land
itself is a
freak of
nature,
whose
lifeblood is
the River
Nile. From
the Sudanese
border to
the shores
of the
Mediterranean,
the Nile
Valley and
its Delta
are flanked
by arid
wastes, the
latter as
empty as the
former are
teeming with
people. This
stark
duality
between
fertility
and
desolation
is
fundamental
to Egypt's
character
and has
shaped its
development
since
prehistoric
times,
imparting
continuity
to diverse
cultures and
peoples over
five
millennia.
It is a
sense of
permanence
and
timelessness
that is
buttressed
by religion,
which
pervades
every aspect
of life.
Although the
pagan cults
of ancient
Egypt are as
moribund as
its legacy
of mummies
and temples,
their
ancient
fertility
rites and
processions
of boats
still hold
their place
in the
celebrations
of Islam and
Christianity.
The
result is a
multi-layered
culture,
which seems
to accord
equal
respect to
ancient and
modern. The
peasants (
fellaheen)
of the Nile
and Bedouin
tribes of
the desert
live much as
their
ancestors
did a
thousand
years ago.
Other
communities
include the
Nubians of
the far
south, and
the Coptic
Christians,
who trace
their
ancestry
back to
pharaonic
times. What
unites them
is a love of
their
homeland,
extended
family ties,
dignity,
warmth and
hospitality
towards
strangers.
Though most
visitors are
drawn to
Egypt by its
monuments,
the enduring
memory is
likely to be
of its
people and
their way of
life.
