It was nineteenth-century archeologists who coined the term Middle Egypt for the stretch of river between Cairo and the Qena Bend; in native usage and current administration there's no such area, unlike Upper and Lower Egypt, which are ancient divisions. Nevertheless, it's a handy label for a region that's subtly distinct from Upper Egypt, further south (in this guide, the Middle Egypt account ends at Sohag; the sites to the south - at Abydos and Dendara - are dealt with in the Upper Egypt account as the best access to them is from Luxor). Owing little to tourism, the towns are solidly provincial, with social conservatism providing common ground for those wanting to preserve peaceful relations between the Muslim majority and Middle Egypt's Coptic community (about 20 percent of the local population, roughly double the national average). In recent years, a spate of terrorism has heightened tensions and made much of the region a no-go zone for tourists.

 

Even before this, most foreigners rated Middle Egypt a low priority, as towns like Minya and Sohag lack the romance of Aswan or the stupendous monuments of Luxor, for all that the local antiquities have fascinated scholars. The rock tombs of Beni Hassan and the necropolis of Tuna al-Gabel are well-preserved relics of Middle Kingdom artistry and Ptolemaic cult-worship, while the desolate remains at Tell el-Amarna stand as an evocative reminder of the "heretic" Pharaoh Akhenaten. Unfortunately, all these sites lie in the heart of the danger zone and are unlikely to be open even if you're bold enough to risk a visit.

As the situation is fluid and might improve, we haven't deleted Middle Egypt from this edition, even though it was unsafe to visit at the time of writing. The following accounts are not a recommendation to go, merely an acknowledgement that places still exist and life goes on there.