Bargaining is a crucial skill to possess in Egypt if you are intent on maintaining a positive balance in your bank account.

Because merchants try to sell their products to foreigners at outrageously high prices by Egyptian standards, tourists will be forced inevitably to suggest a lower figure, succumb to the original price, or not buy the product at all.

I encountered this situation when American University in Cairo students traveled to the pyramids of Giza and Saqqara, the world-famous mausoleums honoring pharaohs that were built thousands of years ago. These highly-frequented tourist destinations are an oasis for Egyptian merchants, camel drivers and craftsmen to hound Americans and Europeans for cash, cash and more cash by attempting to sell what they claim are “authentic” Egyptian artifacts.

At the Saqqara pyramids, I considered buying a foot-long figure of an Egyptian mummy from a local craftsman. He first told me the mummy cost