Atef M. Abdel-Hamid (Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt)
The sacred geography in Henry Field’s Voyage
to Egypt (1883)
Despite being rich in valuable historical and geographical data Henry Field’s
book about his trip to Egypt, entitled “On the Desert”, represents one of the lit-
tle-known travelogues. This travelogue is important as an eye-witness account of
a critical political period in Egypt in the 1880–1890ss.
Henry Field visited Egypt in the aftermath of a dramatic change followed by the
failure of the national movement led by Ahmed Arabi and the consequent British
occupation. The traveller made learned remarks on the urban structure of Cairo,
and provided a good description of the Cairo-Suez road. The Sinai Peninsula was
Field’s main destination and the description of its landscapes, nature and Bedouins
is given a lion share in his travelogue.
Henry Field’s Voyage to Egypt can be classified in the traditional category of
the Bible-oriented trips.
While some parts of the travelogue provide valuable information on the his-
torical geography of Egypt it is also permeated with Orientalist stereotypes. On
the other hand, Henry Fields makes interesting comparisons between the past and
present situation in the Middle East and evaluates the Egyptian realities against
those of South America, India and some parts of Europe.
Секция I.
Источниковедение и историография
Ближнего Востока
Historiography of the Middle EasT
