Excerpt from Upper Egypt: Its People and Its Products, a Descriptive Account of the Manners, Customs, Superstitions, and Occupations of the People of the Nile Valley, the Desert, and the Red Sea Coast, With Sketches of the Natural History and Geology
Mighty is the stream of literature which since ancient times, but especially in modem times, has flowed over the wonderful land of the sacred Nile, but we are still far from being able to boast of possessing a complete knowledge of even Egypt proper. For the truth and accuracy of his descriptions of its modem inhabitants Lane still remains unequalled, but he has almost exclusively confined himself to the people of the capital; on the subject of country life, and especially on Upper Egypt, we possess merely the reports of travellers. In the whole of Upper Egypt only a few Europeans have hitherto settled, and these are almost exclusively Greek traders, who are not in a position to utilize their experiences by giving them to the world; still less is this to be expected of the natives themselves. Accurate observations and judgments cannot be attained by a bird's-eye view, but only by living on terms of intimacy with the people as one of themselves (like Lane), gradually getting acquainted with their manners, customs, and religious observances, and especially their language, and for this a fixed abode and much time, study, and self-denial are necessary.
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