ABSTRACT
Unlike ‘ancient Greece’, which, culturally, embraced a region far wider than the narrow geographical limits of its modern namesake, or ‘Rome’, which was culturally diverse within its broad political boundaries, Egypt, ancient, medieval, and modern, is closely defined in geographical terms. Yet ‘placing’ Egypt in the world is actually fraught with difficulties: Egypt belongs in different places according to historical and political episodes, cultural changes, and individual viewpoints. The question ‘Where is Egypt?’ can elicit a wide range of responses, most of them ‘correct’ in some senses, but all of them requiring some qualification.
