Beyond Egyptology: Egypt in 19th and 20th Century Archaeology and Anthropology

Abstract

From the earliest times, Egypt and its past has been known to other peoples in Europe and the Near East; it was well known in the Greek and Roman worlds, which frequently expressed a sense of amazement at the culture and wisdom of pharaonic Egypt. Their approach could vary from emphasising the strangeness or perversity of Egypt to seeing Egypt as the natural precursor of all later human developments and achievements. Ancient Egypt also played a major role in the Judaeo-Christian biblical tradition. Though to some a place of oppression, it was again mostly seen as a source of civilization. But before the growth of travel to Egypt and the rise of Egyptology in the 18th and 19th centuries, detailed knowledge of Egypt was very limited. The Wisdom of Egypt examines the sources of evidence about Ancient Egypt available to scholars, and the changing visions of Egypt and of Egypt's role in human history that they produced. Its scope extends from the Classical world, through Europe and the Arabic worlds in the Middle Ages, to writers of the Renaissance, and to the work of scholars and scientists of Early Modern Europe. It also assesses whether the awe inspired by Egypt (which clearly again and again changed in character over time) belonged to a sustained tradition, or represented a series of fresh and independent encounters with an impenetrable culture. Contents include: 1.Egypt as Wisdom: The Classical View; 2.Ancient Egypt in Medieval Arabic Writings; 3.The Image of Egypt in the Middle Ages (until ca. 1400); 4.The Renaissance Afterlife of Ancient Egypt; 5.Ancient Egypt in 18th century English Science, Religion and 'Archaeology': An Overview; 6.Beyond Egyptology: Egypt in 19th and 20th Century Archaeology and Anthropology.