A white knitted kitty in front of a row of Egyptology books (I think she was looking at the “The Animal World of the Pharaohs”…

Books have always been my friends. On the pages of a good book I can travel to distant realms and times, experience deep emotions, learn about amazing things. They open the world in a way you cannot compare with anything else. You can travel with the written word at your own pace, return to what you have read, peek into the future.

The words of a book tell about the times and values of its author, and in reading them you can feel sudden connection to someone – even if they lived centuries ago. When I have been studying ancient Egyptian literature, I have had these fleeting glimpses of the ancient human mind.

And what have I found? The same humanness we all share; the seeking of love, friendship and safety. The yearning for acceptance, adventure, connecting with the divine. Like an unknown scribe, who lived millenia ago, extended their hand through times to me in their written word. When I connect to them by reading their words, I realize our essence has remained the same.

This use of the written word is the epitome of humanness to me. I would love everyone in this world to know how to read, so they could own the world in a way an illiterate person never can.  It is a marvel to be able to read and write, and to share one’s thoughts using these skills. To me this is the most valuable of all the riches of the world.