LIGHT, Sir Henry. Travels in Egypt, Nubia, Holy Land, Mount Libanon, and Cyprus, in the Year 1814, London, for Rodwell and Martin, 1818.

The British officer Sir Henry Light was serving in the Malta Garrison in 1814, when he obtained a permit to travel to the regions described in his chronicle; Egypt, Nubia, the Holy Land, the Mountains of Lebanon and Cyprus. Curiosity and recreation were his motives, and his descriptions are embellished by picturesque snapshots and observations on the native peoples. Light kept notes and made sketches in order to remember the places that impressed him most. In the last chapter of his work he presents Hellenistic and Roman inscriptions that he recorded in Abyssinia. He visited Alexandria and Cairo, descended the Nile down to Aswan, and was one of the first Europeans to reach Nubia. There he made drawings of ancient ruins and located remains of Christian churches. He then made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, visited Lebanon – he writes about the Maronites – and following the "more travelled by" sea route, that is, via the most important ports of Cyprus, he returned to Malta.

Written by Ioli Vingopoulou