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One major difference between Libya and Egypt was (and no doubt still is) that nobody in Libya ever went hungry, while most Egyptians lived in desperate poverty. As a result, visitors to Egypt were constantly asked for money by beggars and by children.
As you will have guessed, this leads me to an anecdote about one of my trips to Egypt.
In December 1970, Sue and I flew from Beirut to Cairo for our Christmas holidays. The highlight was a visit to Luxor, in Upper Egypt, to see the Valley of the Kings and other archaeological sites.
On our way to see Hatshepsut’s Temple, we stopped to admire the Colossi of Memnon, two absolutely gigantic ancient statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III.
While we were looking at the Colossi, a young girl carrying a baby goat approached us and asked for money. “Baksheesh. Baksheesh.”
I took a photo.
“Baksheesh,” she repeated. I found a two cent (“gershain”) coin in my pocket and handed it to her. It wasn’t much but was probably equal to about 30 minutes' pay for a manual worker.
She looked at me with utter disdain. “Gershain!” she said scornfully. She flung the coin onto the ground and walked proudly away.
You often see this kind of pride in Egypt. It's impressive and it may be one reason why the country's people have survived a long and tumultuous history. However, it may also be why most Egyptians are no better off now than they were 2,000 or 3,000 years ago.
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