Egypt Immortalised in World Literature – 5 Major Authors who Loved Egypt

Egypt has long inspired many authors, poets, and filmmakers worldwide, who immortalized its charms in their masterpieces. Authors like Lawrence Durrell, E.M. Forester, and Harry Tzales were among many who were influenced by the ancient land and included it in many of their writings. See Egypt immortalised in world literature with ConnollyCove.

Authors who had Egypt Immortalised in their Works

Lawrence Durrell’s Alexandria Quartet

Set in Alexandria, Egypt, during the 1940s, The Alexandria Quartet is a series of four novels by British novelist Lawrence Durrell, consisting of Justine (1957), Balthazar (1958), Mountolive (1958), that describe a series of events in Alexandria before World War II, while Clea (1960) is set during the war. The events are seen through the eyes of L.G. Darley, who observes the interactions among his close circle of friends, lovers, friends, and acquaintances in the ancient city of Alexandria.

Lawrence Durrell lived in Greece with his wife and daughter in the early 1940s until the country fell in the war when they were evacuated to Egypt. He worked as a press officer at the British consulate in Alexandria until 1945.

He shared his first apartment with author Paul Gotch after his family left. In Alexandria, he became acquainted with a wealthy and influential family called the Ambrons, who often entertained Alexandria’s elite, and through them, he became acquainted with many illustrious friends who might have inspired the characters in his books. The Ambrons rented him space in their villa at 19 Maamoun Street, which is still there today. Built in a neo-classical Italianate style, the elegant villa has two stories and a basement. It was designed by the same Italian architect who designed the Cecil Hotel. The backyard has a garden designed around a massive banyan tree.

There, Durrell met the artist Clea Badaro, who had a minor part in the three novels and became the main character in the final book of the Alexandria Quartet. One of the Amrbrons’ daughters was also mentioned in the second book.

Durrell lived on the second floor of the villa, where he wrote down his notes, which he later turned into the Alexandria Quartet, a series of novels deemed among the most important literary works of 20th-century fiction.

During that time, he met Eve Cohen, who eventually became his second wife. She inspired the character of Justine, the most crucial character in the Quartet.

The U.K. Friends of the Library of Alexandria now manages the villa, saving it from ruin and hopes to restore it eventually. Egypt was immortalised through literature.

C.P. Cavafy

The poet Constantine Cavafy was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1863. His family settled for a time in London before moving to Constantinople and then back to Egypt. Cavafy’s apartment on the second floor of 10 rue Lepsius (now Cavafy Street) became a meeting place for Alexandrian intellectuals. The apartment is now a museum dedicated to his work and displays some of his writings and personal belongings. He was often visited by contemporaries such as E. M. Forster there.

Cavafy draws inspiration from the city of Alexandria, as shown in his poem “The City.” He continually used elements from the city’s history in his works. He mentioned many notable Alexandrian figures, such as Cleopatra, the last pharaoh queen of Egypt, and Hypatia, the famous Alexandrian philosopher and mathematician, who met tragic ends.

Cultural life in Egypt flourished at the beginning of the 20th century, especially among the foreign communities. Cavafy’s poetry began to spread among these communities, even though he was always reluctant to publish his work.

By the 1920s, his writings had attracted the attention of many young readers in Athens who had asked for collections of his printed poems. Since he wrote primarily in Greek, many people began translating Cavafy’s work, the first of which was his brother John Cavafy. Georgios Valassopoulo also translated several of Cavafy’s poems that were included in E. M. Forster’s books about Alexandria and published in T. S. Eliot’s journal The Criterion. These translations continued to increase after World War II and continue growing up until today.

In E. M. Forster’s Alexandria: A History and a Guide, Forster says: “And this brings me to Cavafy. One of the joys of those years was my friendship with the great Greek Alexandrian poet who so poignantly conveys the civilization of his chosen city.”

Cavafy died in 1933 in Alexandria and was buried there.

E.M Forster

British author E.M. Forster is one of the most renowned writers of the 20th century. He focused on setting his plots in foreign locations that he visited throughout his life. His most well-known novels are A Room with a View (1908), Howards End (1910), and A Passage to India (1924).

In 1915, he arrived in Alexandria, Egypt, where he served as the British Red Cross’s chief searcher for missing servicemen during World War I. He spent much of his time exploring “the magic, antiquity, and complexity” of the city, which inspired him to immortalize Alexandria in his work.

Alexandria:  A History and a Guide was one of two books, along with Pharos and Pharillon, in which Forster talks about the city of Alexandria.  He spent his spare time researching and writing about the city, inspired by its long and rich history. His social circle influenced Forster’s account of the city during his time there.

Forster wrote Alexandria: A History and a Guide in two parts. The first is devoted to the city’s history from the Greco-Roman to the Christian period. Then, it moves on to the Arab conquest in 641 CE, followed by the Turkish conquest in the 16th century and the British colonial annexation of Egypt in 1882, delivering an account of the British naval bombardment of Alexandria.

The second part guides Alexandrian neighbourhoods, museums, and other locations outside the city.

His focus on history was because, as he said in his introduction, “[t]he ‘sights’ of Alexandria…fascinate when we approach them through the past”.

Another part of the introduction states, “The best way to experience the city is to walk about quite aimlessly. Once the first sense of estrangement is over, the mind finds its cessation in discovering the dream city Alexandria, which underpins, underlays the rather commonplace little Mediterranean seaport which it seems, to the uninitiated, to be.”

Agatha Christie

One of the most renowned mystery writers in the world, Agatha Christie’s name remains synonymous with many well-known detective novels that are still quite popular today and are constantly adapted into films and TV series. The English writer wrote sixty-six detective novels and fourteen short story collections, mostly revolving around the fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.

In 1907, when Christie’s mother’s health deteriorated, they decided to spend the winter in the warm climate of Egypt, which was then a regular tourist destination for wealthy Britons. They stayed for three months at the Gezirah Palace Hotel in Cairo. Christie had quite an active social life there, attending dances and polo matches. She also enjoyed visiting the Great Pyramid of Giza.

During that time, she drew inspiration for her first unpublished novel, Snow Upon the Desert (1910), set in Cairo.

Her interest in antiquities developed after her marriage to archaeologist Max Mallowan in 1930, when she accompanied him on annual expeditions to several countries, including Egypt. Their experiences travelling and living abroad are reflected in her writings and novels, such as Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, and Appointment with Death, and in a short story titled The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb.

Death on the Nile, the 1978 film based on her novel, features many locations in Egypt, such as the Winter Palace Hotel in Luxor and the Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan, which were the same hotels where Christie stayed and wrote her novels.

The characters in this film visit the Pyramids of Giza before their cruise ship departs from the Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan. They pass the temple of Karnak in Luxor and the Temple of Abu Simbel near Aswan.

The story was adapted again in a 2004 TV episode, featuring different locations than its predecessor, such as the temples of Luxor, Dendera, and the Valley of the Kings.

Her other novel, Death Comes as the End, is another fascinating mix of archaeology, Egyptology, and fiction writing, which also inspired many writers who came after her. The novel revolves around ancient Egypt, where a priest’s daughter attempts to investigate the death of a concubine. The story is based on a series of letters from the Middle Kingdom written by a man called Heqanakhte to his family, complaining about their behaviour and treatment of his concubine.

It was quite unusual at the time for a foreign author to base a story on ancient Egypt. Still, Christie got the idea after a noted Egyptologist and her family friend, Stephen Glanville, suggested it. He also helped her retain the accuracy of the details of daily household life in Egypt 4000 years ago.

All of the locations that Agatha Christie visited or mentioned in her work are still there today, and you can trace her steps from the Pyramids of Giza southward to the rich and historical land of Luxor, where you can visit the temples and stay at the Winter Palace Hotel. Then, head southward again to Aswan to visit Abu Simbel and the Old Cataract Hotel, one of the best hotels in Egypt to this day.

Harry Tzalas

Harry Tzalas was born in Alexandria in 1936 and attended one of the French schools in the city. In 1959, he left for Greece and settled in Athens as a marine consultant. He has been working in marine archaeology and the topography of ancient and medieval Alexandria. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Alexandria Center for Hellenistic Studies and President of the Hellenic Institute of Ancient and Mediaeval Alexandrian Studies.

He founded the Hellenic Institute for Ancient and Mediaeval Alexandrian Studies in 1997 and has since led periodic underwater archaeological surveys off the Alexandrian coast.

His first two books, Farewell to Alexandria and Seven Days at the Cecil, were both set in Alexandria and recounted the tales of its people, both locals and foreigners. Both books were translated into English from Greek.

Farewell to Alexandria comprises eleven short stories set during and following the Second World War to the 1952 Revolution and the departure of many foreign community members from Egypt. Tzalas draws inspiration for these stories from people he met in his youth, from different nationalities and faiths, all living in cosmopolitan Alexandria.

In Seven Days at the Cecil, Harry Tzalas recounts his seven days in Alexandria at the Cecil Hotel in 1990. He talks about all the places and personalities he encountered during those few days, including the close relationships and memorable moments he had with them on the shores of this great Mediterranean city.

The Cecil Hotel in Alexandria is known to have hosted many celebrities and renowned figures throughout its history; Tzalas also recounts in his book that every room is named after a famous figure who stayed there at one time or another, including international Egyptian actor Omar Sherif, British PM Winston Churchill, and British mystery novelist Agatha Christie, Somerset Maugham,  Josephine Baker, Henry Moore, Sir Montgomery, and even Al Capone.

The colonial-style hotel, built in 1929 by the French-Egyptian Jewish Metzger family, overlooks the Mediterranean Sea in the heart of Alexandria, within Saad Zaghloul Square.

During World War II, the hotel was used as the headquarters of British Intelligence.

After the 1952 revolution, which overthrew the monarchy in Egypt, the Egyptian government took over the Cecil. The Sofitel hotel chain now manages the Cecil and offers 85 rooms.

You can stay in one of the rooms where famous historical and international figures once stayed. It’s no wonder that Tzalas found great inspiration at this historic location.

Egyptian cities, from Alexandria to Cairo, Luxor, and Aswan, have long been an inspiration for authors and artists from all over the world. Egypt’s rich history and warm and welcoming people have served as a fantastic breeding ground for some of the best novels and stories of the 20th century. Egypt being immortalised in popular culture is easy when you have such fantastic film locations. If you’re ever in Egypt, visit some of these locations to see why these authors felt inspired to create their masterpieces.

We would love to know your thoughts on our article on Egypt Immortalised. If you enjoyed this, why not consider the History of Alexandria, the Aquarium Museum of Alexandria, or the Qaitbay Citadel in Alexandria?