Movies

Death on the Nile (1978)

When Linnet Ridgeway, a rich heiress, is murdered on the Nile aboard the S.S. Karnak, Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot must solve the mystery before the ship reaches port. Agatha Christie wrote this classic whodunit while staying in Cairo's Victorian-era Old Cataract Hotel.

Sphinx (1981)

Archaeologist Erica Baron (Lesley-Anne Down) finally arrives in Cairo for a long-planned trip to search for the lost tomb of an Egyptian king. She witnesses the murder of a local expert and suddenly discovers she has become the target of assassins. With Cairo and the Valley of the Kings as a majestic backdrop, Baron finds herself smack dab in the center of a thrilling adventure.

Prince of Egypt (1998)

DreamWorks interprets the biblical story of Moses leading God's people out of Egypt and to the Promised Land in this animated musical. Opening with Moses and Ramses (the future Pharaoh) racing each other playfully through the streets of Cairo on chariots, the animations present a gorgeous, albeit idealized, sense of ancient Egypt.

The English Patient (1996)

The star-crossed affair between a Hungarian explorer and a married English woman plays out against lush Cairo settings (though not actually filmed in Cairo)—the legendary Shepheard's Hotel, the twisty alleyways of a suq—in Anthony Minghella's swoony adaptation of Michael Ondaatje's novel.