John Mandeville begins his account of Egypt by taking a page from Caesar’s book. But rather than saying, “Gallia est omnes divisa in partes tres,” Mandeville asserts, “Egypt is divided into two parts.” By marking these distinct regions, Mandeville associates them with specific ethnographic details, leaving behind his previous custom of merely listing place after place.

Most of Mandeville’s geographical knowledge of Egypt is based on the Nile River. Mandeville describes that Egypt is home to both fertile and barren lands based on proximity to the river. He expresses his own concerns about the region’s climate, noting that though Egypt is a desert, the land is inundated by the river several times a year. By his description, it is apparent that such a contrast of desert and flooding, in the same country, is unfamiliar to Mandeville.

On the same note of the unfamiliar, Egypt is the first instance in which Mandeville explicitly recounts meeting people with dark skin: the Nubians. He details them as being black in color while also being Christian, and that they believe a darker complexion to signify beauty. Mandeville believes that the Nubians’ skin color is directly tethered to the heat of the region in which they live. Mandeville says that if the Nubians could, they would paint an angel in black and a devil in white. Additionally, Mandeville states that if people are not dark enough when they are born that they are essentially doctored to become darker. The choice to include a racial description of the Nubians within Mandeville’s fictionalized journey reflects the author’s intention to highlight ‘the other.’ Although there is no indication that the Nubians are practicing Christianity incorrectly, by describing their cultural values in opposition to Mandeville’s, their status as Christians is negated.

Similar to other places he travels, Mandeville incorporates local myth within his account of Egypt. He highlights the city of Heliopolis, ‘the city of the sun.’ He tells his reader that Heliopolis is home to a round temple–similar to the Temple at Jerusalem–with a sacred book harboring the details of the Phoenix. Mandeville details the role of the priest in the arrival of the Phoenix and the preparation of the temple’s altar with various spices and twigs. The intention of the ceremony is for the Phoenix to burn itself upon the altar, before recuperating and flying back to its home on the third day. Mandeville acknowledges the similarity between the Phoenix and Jesus Christ, being that there is only one of each, and both rise from the dead on the third day.

Although this myth is not categorically Christian, it is included to echo Christian ideology while drawing on pagan customs. Mandeville goes on to describe the Phoenix as bird-like, remarking that if a man sees it fly overhead that he will have good fortune. This idea draws upon earlier, Greek conventions of eagles flying over one’s shoulder to signify a good omen.

Mandeville’s account of Egypt reflects both the author’s bias and ability to connect unexpected locations to the text’s Christian purpose.