Armchair Traveler ~ Ancient Egypt

As an armchair traveler, your only limit is your imagination. You can journey via books or online to not only contemporary, world-wide destinations, but also to different eras. Let’s be time travelers and journey to Ancient Egypt.

Start your adventure on YouTube by searching “Ancient Egypt.” You can easily spend many hours exploring Ancient Egypt, from history to music to tombs to the Nile to … wherever your imagination leads.

A favorite book is “The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt” (General Editor: Helen Strudwick). There is a wealth of information that keeps the reader enthralled for many hours. There are photos below to give you an idea of its contents which range from history (including Cleopatra), to religion, to art, to impressive information about their everyday life. There is also an intriguing section about their writing, reading hieroglyphs and the Rosetta Stone.

Over the years, I have read the marvelous Amelia Peabody mystery series by Elizabeth Peters. The author had a Ph.D. in Egyptology and while the series is set in the late 19^th, early 20^th century Egypt, the author imparts to the reader much information about ancient Egypt. As I had not read the books in order, two years ago I decided to do so, as it is a favorite series. It was thoroughly enjoyable, renewing acquaintances with interesting characters and scenarios and learning more about Ancient Egypt.

The book, “Amelia Peabody’s Egypt” contains fascinating photos from that era plus information about Egypt. It is a must read for any reader that has enjoyed the series. In addition to the photos, there are favorite quotes from the characters, a detailed synopsis and photos of The Winter Palace, a fabled hotel (opened in 1886) in Luxor. The reader will have spent enjoyable time with the characters at the hotel and it’s rather fun to see a photo, from 1905, of the hotel.

Of course, you can also watch mummy movies or check out a favorite, “Death on the Nile.” The Agatha Christie book is a fun read as are the movies: the 1978 film with Peter Ustinov, David Niven, Better Davis and Mia Farrow and the 2004 film with the very familiar David Suchet as Hercule Poirot.  The settings are beautiful … and you may find yourself adding Egypt to your list of countries to explore and plan a journey for the near future.

And while you are exploring Ancient Egypt online, take time to discover Egyptian food and experiment with recipes. Immerse yourself in your armchair traveler country of a different era … explore the possibilities.

Savor your journeys… real, imagined or virtual, near or far

One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things ~ Henry Miller

Egypt is not a country we live in but a country that lives within us ~  Pope Shenouda III