The Pharaoh's Shadow: Travels In Ancient And Modern Egypt

In a ruined temple along the Nile, Anthony Sattin came across a woman praying to the gods of ancient Egypt to bless her with a child. Later that day, a policeman stopped his taxi to ask if he had a mobile phone - he wanted to call his mother. Flaubert's observation that Egypt "is a wonderful place for contrasts - splendid things gleam in the dust" is no less resonant today.

Europeans, Turks, Mamelukes, Arabs, Greeks, Romans and Persians, Jews, Christians and Muslims; all have left their mark, but none have eclipsed the surviving customs from ancient Egypt, from fertility rituals and funerary rites to the cult of local saints, snake-charmers and magicians. This book is a masterly synthesis of travel and historical enquiry, bringing to life a country of perennial fascination.