Nile

The Nile, the world's longest river system, has figured prominently in historic events over millennia. This book views the Nile as both the stage on which these events occurred and as an actor in its unfolding history. It explores the intersection of natural forces and human intervention to take readers on a series of historical journeys along the river, from its sources to the Mediterranean Sea. Each chapter focuses on a particular historical period and the cities, events, important figures and the encounters between groups and cultures that shaped it.

“A fascinating historical and geographic tour of the Nile, this book comes on the heels of Cairo: Histories of the City to reconfirm AlSayyad's outstanding storytelling and open-eyed love of his native Egypt. The narrative flows in time along the meandering river from the first settlements on its banks to the capitals of the contemporary states that bicker over its water, stitching together a tale of human ingenuity, discovery, exploitation, and planning.”

A fascinating historical and geographic tour of the Nile, this book comes on the heels of Cairo: Histories of the City to reconfirm AlSayyad's outstanding storytelling and open-eyed love of his native Egypt. The narrative flows in time along the meandering river from the first settlements on its banks to the capitals of the contemporary states that bicker over its water, stitching together a tale of human ingenuity, discovery, exploitation, and planning.

Nezar AlSayyad is an architect, planner and urban historian. He is Professor Emeritus of Architecture and Planning at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was Faculty Director of the Centre for Arab Societies and Environment Studies for two decades. He has published numerous books including, most recently, Cairo: Histories of a City (Harvard University Press, 2011) and Traditions: The Real, the Hyper and the Virtual (Routledge, 2014).

A history of the cities that have appeared and disappeared on the Nile over 5,000 yearsThe Nile, the world's longest river system, has figured prominently in historic events over millennia. This book views the Nile as both the stage on which these events occurred and as an actor in its unfolding history. It examines the intersection of natural forces and human intervention to take readers on a series of historical journeys along the river, from its sources to the Mediterranean Sea. Nezar AlSayyad explores the histories of important individuals who played significant roles in the development of settlements and nation-states along the Nile, and engages with space and built form as the primary units of analysis, anchoring specific events in the cities of the Nile.Key Features? In-depth engagement with 16 cities: Memphis, Thebes, Amarna, Avaris, Napata, Meroe, Alexandria, Fayoum, Cairo, Damietta, Mansoura, Gondar, Rosetta, Khartoum, Omdurman and Aswan? Covers the multiple sources of the Nile and the process of their discovery ? Beautifully illustrated with 85 colour photographs of the sources of the Nile and many of its historic cities, and 15 colour maps of cities along the banks of the NileNezar AlSayyad is an architect, planner, urban historian and public intellectual. He is Professor Emeritus of Architecture and Planning at the University of California at Berkeley where he was Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies for two decades. He is author and editor of numerous books, most recently Traditions: The Real, the Hyper, and the Virtual in the Built Environment (2014) and Cairo: Histories of a City (2011).

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