Trips to Italy, Egypt, Sinai, Jerusalem, and Cyprus

Author's name: Nikos Kazantzakis Publisher: Al-Jamal Publications for Publishing and Distribution Year of publication: 2023 Literary classification: Travel literature Book overview: Travels to Italy, Egypt, Sinai, Jerusalem, and Cyprus by Nikos Kazantzakis... The book, in terms of subject, consists of articles written by Kazantzakis about his visits to Jerusalem, Egypt, Italy, and Palestine between 1926 and 1927, when he was a newspaper correspondent for a Greek newspaper at that time, and it belongs in form and subject matter to travel literature. Nikos Kazantzakis mixes reality with imagination in his book, or more precisely, reality with myth, as he prefers by nature to speak of myths when presenting his ideas about a place, but in an objective sense, he focuses in his observations in Egypt on the Nile and the pyramids, and Sinai. He talks about what he saw in the delta, recording his observations, saying: "The wandering vendors lift their veils from their faces halfway, and they hint at their goods with soft voices: black kohl for the eyes, henna for dyeing nails, fragrant oil from Baghdad, rose water, musk, and incense." In the Nile chapter, he talks about the great river, and how Egyptians rely on it fundamentally as a constant source of life, recording a series of scattered observations he made on the banks of the Nile. He also touches in another part on the Sinai Peninsula, which he sees as the holy land and the land of divine revelations, and this part contains many Jewish myths. In the Palestine section, Nikos Kazantzakis focuses on describing places of worship in Palestine, moving between Christians, Muslims, and Jews, presenting his spiritual and poetic reflections on this part of the world.