The European fascination with Egypt and all things Egyptian dates from the Napoleonic period. While Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign was by no means a success, the expedition did bring with it a handful of historians, linguists, poets, and draughtsmen (artists who filled the position of photographer before cameras came along). These people recorded the wonders they saw along the way.

Europe had always known that Egypt was home to an ancient civilisation. You need only read ancient Greek and Roman classics to find out that the cities of Egypt were some of the greatest in the world in those times, although we now know that the great pharaohs reigned much earlier and by the time of the Roman Empire, Egyptian civilisation was a shadow of its former glory. We knew it was there and it was old, but Europe had little conception of the majestic monuments and mysterious hieroglyphs that still waited under the hot Egyptian sun.

This was an era long before river Nile cruises were a possibility and travel was very limited. There were no Nile cruise ships and no hotels and resorts welcoming European tourists. What the Napoleonic era did have was books. At this time printing technology was advanced enough that the growing upper middle classes could begin to afford books. Ancient Egypt, so strange and different to anything Europe had to offer, very quickly became a popular topic. Europe’s love affair with Egypt began with the written word.

In the 21st Century we have all read books and seen television programs about ancient Egypt but we have the advantage over our forbears. We can visit the great sites on holidays to Egypt and River Nile cruises, while they could only read about them. On one of our Nile cruise ships you can experience what they could only dream of.