The Buried

An Archaeology of the Egyptian Revolution

By: Peter Hessler

Narrated by: Peter Hessler

A National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist

"Extraordinary...Sensitive and perceptive, Mr. Hessler is a superb literary archaeologist, one who handles what he sees with a bit of wonder that he gets to watch the history of this grand city unfold, one day at a time.” —Wall Street Journal

From the acclaimed author of River Town and Oracle Bones, an intimate excavation of life in one of the world's oldest civilizations at a time of convulsive change

Drawn by a fascination with Egypt's rich history and culture, Peter Hessler moved with his wife and twin daughters to Cairo in 2011. He wanted to learn Arabic, explore Cairo's neighborhoods, and visit the legendary archaeological digs of Upper Egypt. After his years of covering China for The New Yorker, friends warned him Egypt would be a much quieter place. But not long before he arrived, the Egyptian Arab Spring had begun, and now the country was in chaos.

In the midst of the revolution, Hessler often traveled to digs at Amarna and Abydos, where locals live beside the tombs of kings and courtiers, a landscape that they call simply al-Madfuna: "the Buried." He and his wife set out to master Arabic, striking up a friendship with their instructor, a cynical political sophisticate. They also befriended Peter's translator, a gay man struggling to find happiness in Egypt's homophobic culture. A different kind of friendship was formed with the neighborhood garbage collector, an illiterate but highly perceptive man named Sayyid, whose access to the trash of Cairo would be its own kind of archaeological excavation. Hessler also met a family of Chinese small-business owners in the lingerie trade; their view of the country proved a bracing counterpoint to the West's conventional wisdom.

Through the lives of these and other ordinary people in a time of tragedy and heartache, and through connections between contemporary Egypt and its ancient past, Hessler creates an astonishing portrait of a country and its people. What emerges is a book of uncompromising intelligence and humanity--the story of a land in which a weak state has collapsed but its underlying society remains in many ways painfully the same. A worthy successor to works like Rebecca West's Black Lamb and Grey Falcon and Bruce Chatwin's The Songlines, The Buried bids fair to be recognized as one of the great books of our time.

Fascinating deep dive into a culture I had no idea existed.

The detail of daily life. The characters so well drawn. What a gift of a story...

Another Excellent Journey With Peter Hessler

Peter Hessler again paints intimate images of new and interesting places. While in someways different from his earlier works in China, “The Buried” explores Egypt and the effects of the 2011 Arab Spring. The book is very well narrated by Hessler himself and the charm and intelligence of his writing draws you in. He surprises you, enchants you and uses the same narrative structure of his older works while exploring Egypt. This book cannot be missed by anyone wanting to see new places with Hessler or by anyone who is a fan of his writing.

Fabulous book!! Inspired me to read all his books!

I loved this book!! I was so impressed by this book and the author that I bought all 5 of his books and have listened to all of them in succession since in the last 6 months. I am so grateful for the thoughtful, personal writing and humanist telling of world events. Blending history current and past is a trademark of all Peter Hessler books and this book exemplifies that quality of his writing. I couldn’t put it down and frequently found myself sitting in my car at the end of my commute to void “putting down” the book!

A treasure of personalized humanity

A personal, interesting, and amazingly thoughtful book about personal experiences of a journalist with egyptians. This book is more "Un-earthing of Egyptians" than about the fact that many people are living a smaller life than a westerner would want. It gives a great glimpse into poor administration where promises and signs lead no-where, male-dominated societies where woman have no power except with each other or foreigners, where leadership is even more blunt than in the west, where personal interaction is more true than hopes, conjecture, and fears, and where its ancient history when un-earthed reveals very different history.

When dusting off the people in this book I feel the sadness of lives that could be more fruitful with more kindness, support, regulation and focus. A book worth reading. The humanity is spell-binding.

A beautiful error. When I bought the book I thought it was going to deal with how archaeology was changing by virtue of the revolution (teaches me a lesson about reading a bit deeper) and I am so pleased with the story line - weaving people and history and current events and cultures.

A great experience

My favorite of all Peter’s books. I think the stories are more catching partly because, ironically, it’s not set in China where the author writes more often and it becomes a cultural context. The book is read by the author himself which ensured all the Arabic phrases were pronounced accurately, which was such an upgrade.