The Pharoah's Shadow - Travles in ancient and modern Egypt by Anthony Sattin (2000)
Read: March 2011
I can't even remembered where I picked this book up - it's definitly second hand and has some water damage that makes it look older than the 10 years that it is. I think it probably came in to my hands via the "free books" shelf at work, where people abandone books as they leave Cairo.
The book has an interesting premise - connecting the ancient to the modern in terms of beliefs, pasttimes and practices. It has been inspired by a book by Winifred Blackman who lived in Egypt and travelled its roads in the 1920's. She wrote copious notes and reflections on what she saw then as a resurrection (or continuation) of ancient Egypt and a fraction of these were published at the time. Her published book though made repeated references to future books she intended to write on various topics her expereinces had inspired, but sadly these, and the rest of her notes, did not materialise.
Sattin though uses her book as a starting point to seek out the ancient in the modern and seeks to reaffirm her findings as well as come across new ones. It takes him on many a journey with trusty friends and not so trusty drivers. The best journeys are those that are on numerous pieces of public transport and involve him avoiding the police until the last minute (he does much of his research after the 1999 terror attacks that invovled touristic sites and as such the movement of non-Egyptians should be restricted....except he manages to get round a lot of this through claiming ignorance and the "I've got here, so you may as well let me visit X temple").
I did find this book interesting; reading about his travels and the people he meets and the connections drawn between then and now. On the whole though I found the connections either rather obvious and general, or vague and therefore unnotable. Things happening in 7's for example is not exclusive to ancient Egypt, or modern Egypt. Belief in curing powers of individuals or of certain locations too does not seem such a significant discovery as many cultures have this belief and so it could be traced to ancient times in the same country or even links drawn between cultures...
UPDATE
M&D both read this when they visited at Easter and we went travelling in the Delta on a tour and to Siwa for a few days. I suggested it to them as when we were in the delta dad was asking a lot about the temples and relating it to life now. They both really liked the book and found it fascinating and very good. It was actually better for me to talk to them about it after they'd read it and I realised that maybe I enjoyed it and found it more interesting than I first thought. This expereince did make me think that maybe I should try to find a book club - so that I can discuss books with other people, rather than my own ramblings! But on the other hand if there were a book club, how would I get them to read the books I wanted to!
Read: March 2011
I can't even remembered where I picked this book up - it's definitly second hand and has some water damage that makes it look older than the 10 years that it is. I think it probably came in to my hands via the "free books" shelf at work, where people abandone books as they leave Cairo.
The book has an interesting premise - connecting the ancient to the modern in terms of beliefs, pasttimes and practices. It has been inspired by a book by Winifred Blackman who lived in Egypt and travelled its roads in the 1920's. She wrote copious notes and reflections on what she saw then as a resurrection (or continuation) of ancient Egypt and a fraction of these were published at the time. Her published book though made repeated references to future books she intended to write on various topics her expereinces had inspired, but sadly these, and the rest of her notes, did not materialise.
Sattin though uses her book as a starting point to seek out the ancient in the modern and seeks to reaffirm her findings as well as come across new ones. It takes him on many a journey with trusty friends and not so trusty drivers. The best journeys are those that are on numerous pieces of public transport and involve him avoiding the police until the last minute (he does much of his research after the 1999 terror attacks that invovled touristic sites and as such the movement of non-Egyptians should be restricted....except he manages to get round a lot of this through claiming ignorance and the "I've got here, so you may as well let me visit X temple").
I did find this book interesting; reading about his travels and the people he meets and the connections drawn between then and now. On the whole though I found the connections either rather obvious and general, or vague and therefore unnotable. Things happening in 7's for example is not exclusive to ancient Egypt, or modern Egypt. Belief in curing powers of individuals or of certain locations too does not seem such a significant discovery as many cultures have this belief and so it could be traced to ancient times in the same country or even links drawn between cultures...
UPDATE
M&D both read this when they visited at Easter and we went travelling in the Delta on a tour and to Siwa for a few days. I suggested it to them as when we were in the delta dad was asking a lot about the temples and relating it to life now. They both really liked the book and found it fascinating and very good. It was actually better for me to talk to them about it after they'd read it and I realised that maybe I enjoyed it and found it more interesting than I first thought. This expereince did make me think that maybe I should try to find a book club - so that I can discuss books with other people, rather than my own ramblings! But on the other hand if there were a book club, how would I get them to read the books I wanted to!
