A Nile Anthology

The stretch of the longest river in the world that nurtured the world's first great civilization has drawn and impressed visitors since ancient times. The Greeks were fascinated by the mysterious annual flood of the Nile that brought both water and nourishing silt to the lands along its banks, while nineteenth-century travelers were amazed by the magnificent tombs and temples of Upper Egypt.A Nile Anthology brings together the accounts and reflections of visitors and travelers to the Nile between Luxor and Aswan through the ages, from Herodotus in the fifth century BC, and the Arab geographers of medieval times, to such nineteenth-century luminaries as Amelia Edwards, Florence Nightingale, Jean Francois Champollion, Edward Lane, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. From the practicalities of river travel to descriptions of the pharaonic monuments, via the sights, sounds, and smells of the teeming souks, our writers guide us through a world and an age long gone.

1. Introduction to the Nile
The Boundaries of the Country, c. 960 Ebn Haukal
The Delights of Nile Water, 1826 John Carne
Nile Water, 1825 Dr. R.R. Madden
Notes along the Nile, 1910 Pierre Loti

2. Arrangements for Traveling up the Nile
Up Nile, c. 960 Ebn Haukal
Just an Excursion, 1819 John Fuller
The Dahabiya, 1873 Amelia Edwards
Nile-boat Prayers, 1842 Sophia Poole
Esprit du Nil, 1873 Amelia Edwards
At Home on the Nile, 1849 Florence Nightingale
Onboard a River Steamer, 1863 Lucie Duff Gordon
On the Boats, 1990 Deborah Manley
Only on the River, 1836 John Lloyd Stephens
Life on the Nile, c. 960 Ebn Haukal

3. Weather Conditions on the Nile
Melancholy and Invaders, 1851 George Melly
Tracking, 1873 Amelia Edwards
The Khamsin, 1849 Florence Nightingale
Wind-bound, 1836 John Lloyd Stephens

4. Creatures Living Along the Nile
Timseach! Timseach! 1845 Eliot Warburton
Locusts, 1827 Robert Hay
Creatures Come down to Drink, 1817 Captains Charles Irby and James Mangles

5. The Journey to Luxor
The Constant Change of Scene, 1833 Robert Curzon
Nile by Night and Dawn, 1845 Eliot Warburton
So Much to See, 1848 Harriet Martineau
Life in the Grottoes, 1860 Mrs. M. Carey
The Temple of Hermopolis at Minya, 1813 James Silk Buckingham
Asyut and Explorations, 1836 John Lloyd Stephens
Coming upon Dendera by Night, 1892 Jean Francois Champollion
Ikhmim: A Wondrous Thing, 1183 Ibn Jubayr

6. Luxor - Both Sides of the Nile
Luxor—Ancient Thebes, 1846 Cuthbert Young
A Hundred Gated Thebes, 1817 Captains Charles Irby and James Mangles
Good Morning, Luxor! 1873 Amelia Edwards
Luxor Temple: Grandeur and Craft, 1844 Prince Puckler-Muskau
Life at Thebes, 1850 Florence Nightingale
Karnak at Last, 1799 Vivant Denon
Dining at Karnak, 1930 Princess Marta Bibescu
Temples on the Other Side, 1819 John Fuller
Medinet Habu and the Tombs, 1799 Vivant Denon
Preparing to Collect the ‘Young Memnon,’ 1817 Giovanni Belzoni
To the Valley of the Kings, 1904 William Jarvie
To the Valley of the Kings, 1938 H.V. Morton
‘Belzoni’s Tomb,’ 1819 John Fuller
Walking above the Valley, 1927 Annie Quibell
On the Other Side, 1927 Constance Sitwell

7. Toward and at Aswan
Upper Egypt in January, 1836 William Ramsay
Raising the Water from the Nile, 1844 Edward Lane
Edfu, the Ancient Apollinopolis Magna, 1827 The Modern Traveller
Observed at Kom Ombo, 1848 Harriet Martineau
Approach to Aswan: The Country Changes, 1817 Dr. Robert Richardson
Nearly Five Hundred Miles up the Nile, 1843 Countess Hahn-Hahn
Doing Business at Aswan, 1879 Villiers Stuart
The Brassy Landscape of Nubia, 1927 Constance Sitwell

8. Beyond the Cataract and into Nubia
The Cataract Bars the Way, 1777 Claude Etienne Savary
Into Nubia, 1897 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
An Engineer at the Cataract, 1859 Isambard Kingdom Brunel
The Rush of the Cataract, 1836 Lord Lindsay
Philae, 1825 Dr. R.R. Madden
Philae, 1852 Dean Arthur Penrhyn Stanley
The Island of Philae, 1833 Robert Curzon
Weather on the River, 1817 Giovanni Belzoni
On First Entering the Temple at Abu Simbel, August 1, 1817 Giovanni Finati
The Great Temple at Abu Simbel, 1817 Captains Charles Irby and James Mangles
At the Second Cataract, 1927 Constance Sitwell
The Great Rock at Abu Sir, 1836 Lord Lindsay