Book Review: Preserving Egypt’s Cultural Heritage

Los Angeles Times

Second story on the page.

A new book, "Preserving Egypt’s Cultural Heritage," offers intriguing glimpses into dozens of projects. A collection of essays edited by Randi Danforth, the book, which includes before and after photographs, is a reminder of the passion and meticulousness that comes with conserving Egypt’s glorious and often troubled past.

The splendor is much diminished these days. The world’s first empire, which the book describes as once spanning “from the fourth cataract of the Nile in the south to the Euphrates River to the northeast,” disappeared centuries ago. Today’s Egypt is a poor, chaotic and dusty offspring, a nation still important but slipping in stature in a changing Middle East.

"Preserving Egypt’s Cultural Heritage" is the story of saving for new generations what flourished from the days of Pharaohs to Christian monasteries to the rise of Islam.