Letters from Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Peninsula of Sinai

This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design. This volume presents Richard Lepsius's Letters from Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Peninsula of Sinai, a landmark 19th-century travel and archaeological account translated into English by Joanna and Leonora Horner. Framed by scholarly prefaces, editorial notes, and Lepsius's own revisions, it records the Prussian scientific expedition of 1842 under royal patronage, a mission designed to document ancient monuments, decipher inscriptions, and answer major historical questions such as Egyptian chronology and the possible date of the Exodus. The book blends firsthand adventure with rigorous scholarship, showing how maps, measurements, drawings, casts, and field observations became lasting evidence for scholars. Its letters trace a sweeping journey from Alexandria and Cairo to Gizeh, Saqâra, Daschûr, the Faiûm, Thebes, Nubia, Ethiopia, Sinai, and onward into Syria and the Levant. Along the way, Lepsius reconstructs the Labyrinth and Lake Mœris, studies pyramids and tombs, compares Egyptian and Ethiopian civilizations, and records encounters with rulers, pilgrims, officials, and local communities. The travel narrative is vivid and often dramatic, marked by hardship, discovery, biblical tradition, political tension, and moments of awe, especially in scenes such as the approach to Damascus, whose beauty and sacred resonance culminate the journey.