Book review: Egypt 1250 BC: A Traveler's Companion

Al Masry Al Youm

Even those with a particularly strong sense of national pride would probably agree that Egypt’s Golden Age is a thing of the distant past. Home to one of the earliest recorded civilizations and architectural monuments that continue to astound the modern world, Egypt has a unique and varied history. Given its unstable present and uncertain future, it is understandable that one might consider the wonders of Egypt’s earlier days with curiosity, and even a little envy. For those who have ever wondered what life was like when the Egyptian empire was the heart of the civilized world, some answers can be found in Donald P. Ryan’s book, Egypt 1250 BC: A Traveler's Companion.

Published this year by AUC Press, Egypt 1250 BC takes the reader back in time to an age when Egypt was “prosperous, energetic, and full of ambition.” Written in the style of a contemporary travel guide, Ryan’s book describes the sights and sounds of a theoretical journey up the Nile river during Ramesses II’s fifty-fourth year of reign.