Egypt - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture

Culture Smart / Cultuur Bewust

by Jailan Zayan

This revised and updated edition of Culture Smart! Egypt reveals a country in the throes of change. The largely secular revolution that started in Cairo’s Tahrir Square in January 2011 became the flagship of the Arab Spring revolts. The uprising resulted in a political effervescence, with new parties, movements, and groups all jostling for space in the new political landscape. But the situation remains fluid. Free elections produced a parliament dominated by Islamists and the country’s political and social identity has yet to be defined. Egypt’s heady spirit of change is both rooted in and challenged by traditional and deeply conservative values. The timeless Egypt that has inspired conquerors, academics, and artists for millennia is home to 82 million people who call it Omm Eddunia, Mother of the World. It is the people who are Egypt’s true wealth. They are friendly, cheerful, proud, and renowned for their sense of humor. In bringing the narrative up to date, this new edition of Culture Smart! Egypt explores the codes and paradoxes of Egyptian life. It outlines the country’s history and shows the forces that have shaped its sensibility. It explains values and attitudes, and guides you through local customs and traditions. It opens a window into the private lives of Egyptians, how they behave at home, and how they interact with foreign visitors. It offers practical advice, from how to make friends to avoiding faux pas. It sets out to make your encounter as rich as possible by taking you beyond the clichés to the real people.

Genres: Nonfiction, Cultural, Egypt

168 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2006

Reviews

[Britt O'Duffy · Rating 3 out of 5]

While these guides are built on broad strokes of cultural generalizations (this one was a bit dated - capturing the end of Mubarak’s regime but nothing beyond Arab Spring), they provide a helpful primer for tourists on quick trips.

As someone who clumsily commits regular social gaffes in both America and the UK, it’ll be an uphill battle. So long as I don’t offend anyone, it’s a win. But yeah, very much looking forward to exploring over the next two days!

(Shout out to Mythili for the tips - we’ll be meeting Marwa tomorrow!)

[Miquela · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, quick guide to Eypt's past and present, though this edition is a bit outdated since it was published pre-revolution. However, I really wish I had read it before coming. It could have helped me from making some false assumptions and possibly kept me from appearing rude.

An example:

Whenever my husband and I meet an Egyptian man, the Egyptian will shake hands with my husband but not offer me his hand. I chalked this up to some idea that perhaps it frowned upon for women to greet others/touch the opposite sex this way. I was incorrect. The Egyptian men were waiting for me to extend my hand first (which I wasn't doing, not knowing how they felt about a "woman's place"), and would not presume to make the gesture first. So, there was nothing about "keeping me in my place" and everything about respecting an unknown woman.

[Jeff · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read up beforehand on every country I intend to visit and have been including books from the Culture Smart series. But, after having read about a half dozen of these books, I would say the series is pretty useless. Usually a little anti-American bias pops up in almost every one, usually with a dos of "though our country is poor, we're rich in history, culture and family life." On top of all that, this book has a lot of anti-Israel bias.

There was almost noting here on the pitfalls of dealing with Muslims and the myriad ways of offending them. Nor was there anything about the millions of dollars the country has gotten in aid from the U.S. and the hundreds of projects over the last half-century that the U.S. has funded, though the books are clearly aimed at American readers.

You can get a lot better information from the State Department website, so don't waste you money on these.

[Rob&Maria Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb Primer on the Uniqueness of Egypt!

Well worth the time to read. Provides good rules of thumb for living, traveling a/o visiting Egypt. Short and concise points and outline of the material facilitate its use as a reference as well.

[Sherry Howard · Rating 1 out of 5]

Skimming the Surface

Not worth the price. Contains a general history, ancient and modern, cursory discourse of customs and mores, slight travelogue. Wikipedia and any general guide book will give as much as this brief treatment.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful for my upcoming trip to Egypt.

[Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so interesting and will helpful on my upcoming trip!

[Daniel Burke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am heading to Egypt in April and found the information useful.

[Kimmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty high level but good overview of Egypt and it’s people.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish it had been updated before my trip. Oh well!

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book number 15 of 2007 is the Culture Smart Egypt: A Quick Guide to Customs and Etiquette. A pleasant read, this guide gives what seems to be an excellent overview of the customs, traditions and history of Egypt. It was useful reading; must read again before the trip in March (2008).

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title is an apt description - good into for the traveler.

[Pelita Hayati · Rating 5 out of 5]

nice resume. i am traveler :)

[Crystal]

something educational

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

Useless

Less information than I could have found with 5 minutes of websurfing. This book is ertainly not worth wasting money on.