Historian and storyteller Herodotus the Greek, as one of Egypt’s earliest visitors, was also one of the first outsiders to marvel at the many wonders of this ancient land. Likely drawn by the similarities between ancient Greek and ancient Egyptian temple cultures, but yet fascinated by what he perceived as the peculiar and completely opposite customs of the Egyptians, Herodotus wrote at length about Egypt in his famous travelogue. According to Herodotus, everything from the strange counter-flow of the Nile River to the Egyptian propensity for cleanliness was extraordinary and quite outside the realm of the normal. “[Egypt] has more wonders than any other land,” said Herodotus, “and as much as any land, [it has works] of unspeakable greatness.”

Egypt’s history is one of the oldest but also one of the richest and most varied of any country in the world. In 332 BC, invasion by Alexander the Great brought the Pharaonic era to an end. Greek law and literature was carried to Alexandria during the Hellenic and Augustan Roman, and from the mid 4th century, Egypt became part of the Eastern Empire. In 642, however, the Arabs came to conquer and were welcomed by the Coptic Christians, who preferred the tolerant rule of the Muslims to the condescension of the Greeks, even if the great Alexander himself was well-remembered. The noble Saladin, renowned in both the Muslim and Christian worlds for military prowess and his chivalric character, would in the 12th century take hold of Egypt and from there reawaken the spirit of conquest in the Arab world. Centuries later Egypt did not escape the eye of the Ottomans or that of Napoleon for that matter. But by the time the French arrived independence was on the Egyptian mind.

Egypt has in the past produced a number of influential thinkers as well as a few leaders whose shrewd economic and political policies became a positive force for altering the sway of the country’s destiny. Even so, living in a perpetually “developing” country that sustains itself largely by US aid, the majority of Egyptians are much too preoccupied with making a living to think about building a country that is in actuality independent. As Egypt’s largest city and microcosm of the country as a whole, Cairo reflects Egypt’s growing poverty. And yet Cairo, like Egypt itself, continues to pulse with life. The streets bustle - even overflow - and somehow things get done and people get by. In this unique land, all are Egyptian who take pride in thier Egyptian identity – Arab, Bedouin, Nubian, Muslim, and Christian - and the Nile's gift is harmoniouslyand heartily shared. Despite the difficulties of living, the Egyptians remain a good-natured people whose genuine love of their homeland is rivaled perhaps only by the Italians’ love of their Italy.