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Title: Incidents of Travel in Egypt, Arabia Petraea and the Holy Land by John LLoyd Stephens ISBN: 0-486-29155-3 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 12 July, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Egypt hasn't changed much after all these years! (circ.:1995
Comment: At the very beginning of Stephens' travelogue, he explains to the careful reader the methodology he used to validate the legitimacy of his writing. I thought it brazen of him, and since he falsified this "rationalization for writing" under such a guise, at times I did not know whether to believe him or not. He did have a quaint deadpan, tongue-in-cheek demeanor.
I thought it funny that just after our returning from Poughkeepsie, (New York) I was reading about his traveling through Poughkeepsie!
Little nuances such as "... with all the extravagance of Eastern hyperbole..." (page 233) dot the pages.
Throughout the book, there are many wonderful learning experiences such as "...I remember I had a long discourse about the difference between the camel and the dromedary. Buffon gives the camel two humps, and the dromedary one; and this, I believe is the received opinion, as it had always been mine; but, since I had been in the East, I had remarked that it was exceedingly rare to meet a camel with two humps. I had seen together at one time, on the starting of the caravan of pilgrims to Mecca, perhaps twenty thousand camels and dromedaries, and had not seen among them more than half a dozen with two humps. Not satisified with any explanation from European residents or travelers, I had inquired among the Bedouins; and Toualeb, my old guide, brought up among camels, had given such a strange account that I never paid any regard to it. Now, however, the sheik told me the same thing, namely, that they were of different races, the dromedary being to the camel as the blood-horse is to the cart-horse; and that the two humps were peculiar neither to the dromedary nor the camel, or natural to either; but that both are always born with only one hump, which, being a mere mass of flesh, and very tender, almost as soon as the young camel is born a piece is sometimes cut out of the middle for the covenience of better arranging the saddle; and, being cut out of the center, a hump is left on either side of the cavity; and this, according to the account given by Toualeb, is the only way in which two humps ever appear on the back of a camel or dromedary. I should not mention this story if I had heard it only once; but, precisely as I had it from Toualeb, it was confirmed with a great deal of circumstantial detail by another Bedouin, who, like himself, had lived among camels and dromedaries all his life; and his statement was assented to by all his companions. I do not vie this out as a discovery made at this late day in regard to an animal so well known as the camel; indeed, I am told that the Arabs are not ignorant of that elegance of civilized life called "quizzing." I give it merely to show how I wiled away my time in the desert, and for what it is worth.2 In spite of Stephens' information, zoologists still classify camels as Dromedary (one hump) and Bactrian (two humps)." (Pages 241-242).
I never quite understood the evacuation and continuous abandonment of Petra until Stephens stated: '...in reference to the interpretation of the prophecy, "None shall pass through it for ever and ever,'I can say that I have passed through the land of Idumea..."(Page 306)."...because the Bedouins would always be lying in wait for travelers..." (Page 266.)
Do absorb the explanation and vivid description of POOLS OF SOLOMON on page 327 and The traditions of prayer at The Wailing Wall on pages 368-369.
I had just gotten half-way through this book the night (5-27-02) my father own died, and how I wished that I could be able to share my findings, my questions I need answered, and discuss this book with him!
Rating: 5
Summary: A great book, fun and simple, easy reading.
Comment: Mr. Sthepens was a great traveler and writer too, he made easy to follow his travels and gave his very personal point of view ot those days. In particular I like his graphic description of the conditions that people lived in the past. I recomend it to everybody all ages.
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Title: Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan (Volume 2) by John L. Stephens ISBN: 0486224058 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 01 June, 1969 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Incidents of Travel in Yucatan by John Lloyd Stephens, Karl Ackerman, Frederick Catherwood ISBN: 1560986514 Publisher: Smithsonian Institution Press Pub. Date: May, 1996 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: The Lost Cities of the Mayas: The Life, Art, and Discoveries of Frederick Catherwood by Fabio Bourbon ISBN: 0789206234 Publisher: Abbeville Press, Inc. Pub. Date: March, 2000 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: On the Trail of the Maya Explorer: Tracing the Epic Journey of John Lloyd Stephens by Steve Glassman ISBN: 0817313036 Publisher: Univ. of Alabama Press Pub. Date: November, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Breaking the Maya Code by Michael D. Coe ISBN: 0500281335 Publisher: Thames & Hudson Pub. Date: 01 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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