Egypt: Lost Civilizations

217 Pages·2017·13.9 MB·English

by  Christina Riggs

egypt
lost civilizations
The books in this series explore the rise and fall of the great civilizations
and peoples of the ancient world. Each book considers not only their
history but their art, culture and lasting legacy and asks why they remain
important and relevant in our world today.
Already published:
The Barbarians Peter Bogucki
Egypt Christina Riggs
The Indus Andrew Robinson
The Persians Geoffrey Parker and Brenda Parker
E GYPT
LOST CIVILIZATIONS
christina riggs
reaktion books
In memory of my beloved Behemoth:
Under the lotus plants he lies,
in the shelter of the reeds and in the marsh.
For his shade the lotus plants cover him;
the willows of the brook surround him. (Job 40:21–2)
Published by Reaktion Books Ltd
Unit 32, Waterside
44–48 Wharf Road
London n1 7ux, uk
www.reaktionbooks.co.uk
First published 2017
Copyright © Christina Riggs 2017
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the
prior permission of the publishers
Printed and bound in China
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
isbn 978 1 78023 726 8
Contents
Chronology 6
1 Looking for Ancient Egypt 13
2 Forty Centuries 33
3 Sacred Signs 58
4 Taken in the Flood 79
5 Walking Like an Egyptian 96
6 Vipers, Vixens and the Vengeful Dead
117
7 Out of Africa 141
8 Counting the Years 163
9 Still Looking 184
References 190
Bibliography 200
Acknowledgements 207
Photo Acknowledgements 208
Index 210
Chronology
c. 4500–3000 bc Predynastic era
c. 3000–2600 bc Early Dynastic Period, Dynasties 1–3
Step Pyramid of Saqqara
c. 2600–2180 bc Old Kingdom, Dynasties 4–6
Pyramids of Giza; Tomb of Ti
c. 2180–2050 bc First Intermediate Period
c. 2050–1650 bc Middle Kingdom, Dynasties 11–13
c. 1650–1550 bc Second Intermediate Period
c. 1550–1070 bc New Kingdom, Dynasties 18–20
A list of kings in the temple of Seti i at Abydos
stretches back to the earliest days of Egyptian
history;
craftsmen working on tombs in the Valley of
the Kings live – and die – in the village of Deir
el-Medina
c. 1070–712 bc Third Intermediate Period, Dynasties 21–24
The Greenfield Papyrus of Nestanebtasheru
6
chronology
712–332 bc Late Period, Dynasties 25–30 and Persian
occupation
332–30 bc Ptolemaic Period, ending with reign of
Cleopatra vii – contemporary with the
Republican era in Roman Italy, when the
Palestrina mosaic was created
30 bc–ad 395 Roman Period, when Egypt was part of the
Roman Empire;
Sigmund Freud’s baboon, Herculaneum wall
painting
395–640s Byzantine Period, when Egypt was part of the
Byzantine Empire, governed from Byzantium
(modern-day Istanbul);
Horapollo writes his guide to hieroglyphs
640s–969 Umayyad, Abassid and Tulunid Caliphates
include Egypt
969–1171 Fatimid dynasty rules Egypt
1171–1250 Ayyubid dynasty, founded by Salah ad-Din
(Saladin) rules Egypt

c. 1300 A Mappa Mundi made in England represents
Egypt with the Old Testament granaries of
Joseph
1250–1517 Mamluk rulers govern Egypt
1517 Conquest of Egypt by Ottoman sultan, Selim i
7
Egypt
15th century Renaissance Italy sees a rediscovery of ancient
Greek and Latin texts, including several that
discuss Egypt or originated there;
Pavement of Siena Cathedral
16th century Egyptian obelisk imported during Roman
times is re-erected as part of Bernini’s Four
Rivers fountain in Rome
18th century Freemasonry becomes popular among
well-educated or aristocratic men in Europe
and the new nation of America, which puts
the Freemasonic symbol of an eye and a
pyramid on the reverse of its Great Seal
1798–1801 Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt, ending in defeat
– and turning over to the British the Rosetta
Stone and other antiquities;
Vivant Denon leads a groups of French scientists,
engineers and artists seeking to map and record
both modern and ancient Egypt
1805 Muhamed Ali becomes wali (governor) of
Egypt, under Ottoman rule, and encourages
European-style industrialization to help cement
his own power
1809 Publication of the first volume of the Description
de l’E´gypte; during a vogue for Egyptian-style
design in Europe
1822 Jean-François Champollion announces his
decipherment of hieroglyphs, based in part
on the Rosetta Stone
8
chronology
1849 Death of Muhamed Ali, who is succeeded by his
son and grandsons
1849–51 Maxime du Camp undertakes a photographic
mission to Egypt on behalf of the French
ministry of education
1851 The Crystal Palace (Great) Exhibition in Hyde
Park, London, includes an Egyptian Court
designed by Owen Jones, based on the colourful
temples and statues he had seen in Egypt
1858 Said pasha, son of Mohamed Ali, appoints the
French scholar Auguste Mariette to oversee
the con servation of antiquities and monuments
in Egypt
1860s onwards Increasing European and American investment
in the Egyptian cotton and sugar cane industries
– and corresponding increase in travel and tour-
ism. From the 1870s, steamboats in use for the
first ‘package tours’ to Egypt;
Victorian scientists develop schemes of racial
classification which are exploited by some to
justify colonization and slavery;
novels, paintings and popular culture depict
a fantasy of ‘ancient Egypt’, with moonlit Nile
views and barely clad Cleopatras
1867 The Ottoman sultan recognizes the title khedive
(viceroy) for the rulers of Egypt, beginning with
Said’s successor Ismail
9