Egypt: A Lonely Planet Guidebook (2010)

 

 

 

The tenth edition of Lonely Planet’s guidebook to Egypt was published in May 2010, just a few weeks after I submitted my feedback regarding the ninth edition to the publisher. Here is my review of the tenth edition:

Some flaws from the ninth edition have been corrected. Erroneous cross references are now correct, and the name of the pharaoh who succeeded Ramses II (Merenptah) is now spelled the same way whenever he is mentioned (pp. 188, 258 and 261). But other flaws remain. Let me explain:

In some cases, it seems, the text is not quite up to date. Here is one example:

On page 202 the authors mention the Serapeum in Saqqara. But when I arrived there, it was closed. Our guide told us it was closed for renovation several years ago. If it was closed in 2005, why is this fact not mentioned in a book that is published in 2010?

In some cases, the text is not quite accurate:

(1) On page 188 the authors say “The Illustrated Guide to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo is written by Zahi Hawass … and published by the excellent American University in Cairo Press.”

This excellent book is not written by Zahi Hawass. It is edited by Alessandro Bongioanni and Maria Croce Sole. The text is written by the editors and other Italian scholars. Zahi Hawass has written the preface.

This book has been published by VMB Publishers, an imprint of White Star Books, with a slightly different title: The Treasures of Ancient Egypt: The Collection of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

(2) On page 326 the authors mention a hotel in Abu Simbel: “Seti Abu Simbel … is Abu Simbel’s only five-star hotel.” In fact, it is a four-star hotel.

In some cases, the information given is incomplete:

(1) On page 288 the authors mention the night train from Luxor to Cairo. They say it departs at 9.40 p.m. and 12.30 a.m. and that the duration is nine hours. But when we took this train, it departed at 10.30 p.m. and the duration was ten hours. The train does not go to the main railway station in Cairo (Ramses). It goes to Giza Station on the west bank. But this fact is only revealed in the chapter about Cairo. Giza Station is mentioned in the text on page 179 and shown on the map on pages 112-113.

(2) On page 519 the authors say you can buy prepaid phone cards from Vodafone. But they do not explain that in order to use a prepaid card you must first buy an Egyptian SIM card from Vodafone, which is quite expensive: 150 Egyptian pounds. The stored value in the SIM card is less than one Egyptian pound, which is just enough to make a call to refill the account with a prepaid card.

In the section about Aswan the authors still complain about the “ugly” tower of the Mővenpick Resort Aswan, and they still report the rumour that the tower is going to be demolished (page 211). But the tower is still there, even after the recent makeover. Perhaps they should just report the facts instead of spreading rumours, especially since this rumour seem to be unfounded.

In the section with 15 Egyptian highlights - in the beginning of the book - they still list Petra as number 14, even though this ancient site is located in Jordan!

I have to mention two more things which bother me:

(1) Imhotep, the architect of the step pyramid in Saqqara, is mentioned on page 198, but the authors do not mention the Imhotep Museum which is located next to the step pyramid. The museum was opened in April 2006, but it was not mentioned in the ninth edition from 2008, and it is not mentioned in the tenth edition from 2010.

(2) Senenmut, a close collaborator of Hatshepsut, was the architect of the Memorial Temple for Hatshepsut, but he is not mentioned in the section about this place (Deir al-Bahri, page 267-268). There is a statue of him (with Hatshepsut’s daughter Neferure on his knee) in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. But he is not mentioned in the section about this place (pp. 183-192).

For more information about Senenmut please turn to Rosanna Pirelli, The Queens of Ancient Egypt, pp. 168-171, and Joyce Tyldesley, Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt, pp. 98-99.

In April 2010 I sent a message to Lonely Planet to tell them about the flaws in the ninth edition. Unfortunately, I was too late. When I wrote to them, the tenth edition was already being printed. I have written again. I hope I am not too late this time. I hope these flaws will not be found in the next edition.

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Matthew Firestone,

Egypt Lonely Planet,

10th edition, 2010, 572 pages

 

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