NILE -- A JOURNEY DOWNRIVER THROUGH EGYPT'S PAST AND PRESENT: DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
"Travelling no faster than the current itself, you can witness every era of Egypt's long history -- pharaonic, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, colonial and contemporary -- unfold before your eyes."
-- Toby Wilkinson, Nile
SOME QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
How is the experience of travelling through history geographically, in this particular case from the extreme South of Egypt towards the North different than travelling though history chronologically? What did this geographic approach add to your understanding?
How did The Nile lead you to rethink the ways in which the different layers of Egyptian history are interconnected?
To what extent is today's Egypt still connected to and profoundly shaped by its deep past?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of Wilkinson's book?
What surprised you?
What theme or themes would you highlight in an effort to connect different sections of Wilkinson's book?
Religious belief over time is one recurrent theme in Wilkinson's book. What new things did you learn about ancient Egyptian religion? What is the history of more recent religions with Egypt, including Christianity, Islam and Judaism? How are those beliefs influenced by earlier religions?
Wilkinson divides his book into nine separate geographic regions. Was there anything particularly interesting about any of these regions?
Aswan
Deep South
Luxor
Western Thebes
Qift and Quena
Abydos
Middle Egypt
Fayum
Cairo
What places described by Wilkinson
were of particular interest to you? Why? What specific characters, if any,
jump off the pages of Wilkinson's book for you a) from Ancient Egypt, or b)
from the more recent past? What should one understand about
the Nile River to understand Egypt and its history? SOME EXTRA SOURCES
Rachel Newcomb, "Book Review: 'The Nile,' A Journey Through Egypt's Past And Present, By Toby Wilkinson," Washington Post, July 18, 2014.
Nick Romeo, "'The Nile' Is A Trip Through Egypt's History Via Its River," Christian Science Monitor, June 11, 2014.
Farah Nayeri, "'The Nile: Downriver Through Egypt's Past And Present' By Toby Wilkinson," Independent, March 21, 2014.
Jeremy Seal, "'The Nile' By Toby Wilkinson, Review," Telegraph, February 21, 2014.
Anthony Sattin, "'The Nile: Downriver Through Egypt's Past And Present' By Toby Wilkinson -- Review," Observer, February 16, 2014.
Matthew Price, "Sailing The Nile Akin To Wading Through Egypt's History, Says Author Toby Wilkinson," National, February 13, 2014.
Robert Davis, "Review Of 'The Nile: A Journey Downriver Through Egypt's Past And Present,'" New York Journal Of Books.