Scandinavian Literary Tours to Egypt
Following Scandinavian footsteps along the Nile. Three journeys through Egypt, each shaped around a writer and the book that drew them here: read closely, and travelled slowly.
The Sinuhe Experience
Exploring ancient Egypt through Waltari's eyes.
Finland's Mika Waltari created one of the most beloved historical novels about ancient Egypt with "Sinuhe egyptiläinen" (The Egyptian), a book that gained international fame and remains the only Finnish novel adapted into a Hollywood film. This journey follows the world of Sinuhe, the royal physician, through the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten.
Lintel of Amenemhat I and deities.
Cairo. The Egyptian Museum and the artefacts of the 18th Dynasty, when Akhenaten ruled; then Giza and the Sphinx, to set Sinuhe's world in place.
Amarna. The ruins of Akhenaten's capital city, central to the novel's setting.
Luxor. Ancient Thebes through Karnak and Luxor temples, crucial settings in the novel, and the Valley of the Kings, where many pharaohs of Sinuhe's era were buried.
Aswan. The southern frontier of ancient Egypt, and a felucca on the Nile, discussing the novel's historical accuracy with an Egyptologist.
Strindberg's Egypt
The Egypt that captivated Sweden's restless imagination.
August Strindberg, one of Sweden's most acclaimed authors, wrote about Egypt in works such as "Egyptiska träldomen" (The Egyptian Bondage). This literary journey explores the Egypt that captivated his imagination.
August Strindberg, 1874.
Cairo. The Coptic Museum and Old Cairo, to understand the religious context of Strindberg's work.
The Nile Delta. The region where the Israelites are said to have lived during their time in Egypt, a central theme in Strindberg's text.
The Sinai Peninsula. Following the route that inspired parts of Strindberg's writing.
Alexandria. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina, and how ancient knowledge shaped Strindberg's thinking.
Alexandria Memories
In the footsteps of Niels Fredrik Dahl.
This quietly moving tour is based on Norwegian author Niels Fredrik Dahl's novel "Fars rygg," partly set in Alexandria. The novel traces a father-son relationship across three generations, the father having grown up in 1920s Alexandria, where his own father served as a judge in the mixed courts.
Alexandria, on the Mediterranean.
Alexandria. The colonial architecture and Mediterranean coastline; the mixed courts where international judges once worked alongside Egyptians.
Montaza Palace. The royal residence and gardens that hold Alexandria's cosmopolitan past.
Bibliotheca Alexandrina. The modern tribute to the ancient library, with attention to Norwegian-Egyptian cultural ties.
The Corniche & Cecil Hotel. The famous seafront, and the historic hotels where European expatriates once gathered.
Which writer draws you?
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