River in the Desert: Modern Travels in Ancient Egypt

David W. Rupp is a professor in the Classics Department, Brock
University.

Ancient Egypt and, to a much lesser extent, contemporary Egypt have been
the subject of travel books by non-Egyptians since Herodotus in the
fifth century BC. It is very difficult, therefore, to write a general
introduction to the land of the river in the desert that says something
new or different. Roberts, undaunted by this fact, has written a
quasi-travel book that attempts to break new ground. The book is full of
contradictions between what Roberts claims are his objectives for
writing on this subject and what we see in his collection of essays. The
book reveals more about Roberts the person than it does about Egypt’s
culture and Egypt the place.

One could best describe the author’s idea of travel as
“anti-tourism.” During his several sojourns in Egypt, which he
relates collectively in this volume, he appears to have striven to push
the limits of Egyptian laws, customs, beliefs, and sensibilities, at
times to juvenile extremes. This Western pop-culture approach to other
cultures leaves the reader with the impression that Roberts feels
inherently superior to the Egyptians, as well as to other selected
groups of people encountered in his travels.

These caveats aside, Roberts is a skilful, articulate, and at times
entertaining writer who displays erudition. He has a flair for
describing locales and the universality of the human condition. His
essays are peppered with insightful quotations, from previous European
travelers and Egyptologists, that both illuminate themes he is
developing and function as points of departure for his musings.