tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6760875.post115546272614974183..comments2023-11-02T10:29:04.103+00:00Comments on Egyptology News: Maintaing standards of guiding in EgyptAndiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03342690442454499340noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6760875.post-73761130938688634262007-03-07T04:59:00.000+00:002007-03-07T04:59:00.000+00:00I have a PhD in Egyptology and I find these remark...I have a PhD in Egyptology and I find these remarks to be very disrespectful. Guides are not simply talking heads but they are considered internal ambassadors of their country. This is a role that a foreigner like you can never play.<BR/><BR/>Your techniques of dealing with guides are appalling. You are supposed to be working together with the guide. How terrible of you to trash the guide behind his or her back and then "lecture" at the bar. Or to try and debate them to make them look stupid. <BR/><BR/>If you don't like working with unqualified guides then you do have a choice. Evaluate their qualifications before agreeing to work with them.<BR/><BR/>I guess it makes you feel real good to be superior in your mind though.<BR/><BR/>What you must be aware of is that the problem of foreign guides is that there are foreign guides who are not trained in Egyptology or guiding or anything working illegally in the country. They are neither experts in Egyptology nor can they play the role of internal ambassador. Those are the real threat.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6760875.post-1155715762692442742006-08-16T09:09:00.000+01:002006-08-16T09:09:00.000+01:00Ah now there is a joke. I have a PhD in Egyptology...Ah now there is a joke. I have a PhD in Egyptology and have worked as a "tour leader" in Egypt so I think I can speak to this. I have observed quite a number of "highly trained" Egyptian guides giving all kinds of misleading and downright laughable "information" to tourists, most of it either significantly out of date or just made up on the spot. Rare is the Egyptian guide that will say "I don't know." <BR/><BR/>Understand that Egyptian tour guides are trained for tourism, not Egyptology. Few can even read the names of famous kings in hieroglyphs, though they can point to ones they have been previously shown. Asking them to tell the difference between the cartouches of Ramses II and Ramses III is beyond them, and there is no way they will know "obscure" kings like Taharka or Ptolemy V.<BR/><BR/>Since foreign "tour leaders" are not technically allowed to say anything on-site, the solution in our groups was to start a debate with the Egyptian guide, providing correct information that way. Another technique is to just tell the group off-site to ignore what they just heard and give a lecture on the site in the hotel bar. In many ways this was much more enjoyable.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com