van Basten - Ancient Egypt: Egyptology

Our fascination with ancient Egypt actually extends back to the dynastic periods itself. Royal family members and key princes during some New Kingdom eras were very interested in the mysterious and storied history of their home land and worked to preserve monuments, stories, temples, etc. When the Arabs finally ended the Egyptian culture, for all intents and purposes, the interest in the history of the nation did not die with the end of dynastic Egypt. The Arabs themselves were highly fascinated with the enduring and rather strange culture they bore witness to.

What most of us would consider to be the academic study of ancient Egypt, Egyptology, is thought to have begun during the invasion of Napoleon and the French. We know that Napoleon had a keen interest in ancient Egypt and after his successful invasion, he wished to learn as much about this mystical land as he could. He sent out a bevy of scholars and researchers to document everything they could about the monuments, culture, and administration of this land.

The lack of ability to understand the written Egyptian language made it difficult to do much more than try to make assumptions about these peoples based on context. We could derive some logical conclusions from grave goods, monuments, art work, etc., but actual details about ancient Egypt was more the stuff of speculation before the discovery and subsequent deciphering of the Rosetta Stone, which allowed us to begin to read the words of the ancient Egyptians themselves.

Napoleon's love for Egypt quickly spread with the publication of The Description of Egypt, which was the culmination of the research done by his men. This allowed the western world its first tantalizing glimpse into the majesty of ancient Egypt and we were immediately hooked. This book is thought to have sparked off the phenomena called Egyptomania, which can really be said to continue to this day.

The 19 th and early 20 th centuries were seen by some as the heyday of Egyptology. It was during this time that massive and sophisticated constructions were excavated from the sands of the desert. We found amazing towns, temples, and other complex structures that still baffle many scholars to this day. With the improvement of archaeological practices, we learned the value of careful and thorough investigation of sites as this would add to the richness and depth of our understanding.

Now, in the 21 st century, much about the ancient Egyptians is still not known. As our technology advances, particularly DNA analysis and non-invasive scanning, we are learning even more about this magical land. These technologies have given us glimpses into the lives and deaths of the Egyptians in a way that simply could not have been imaged a few hundred years ago. Our scans are showing a number of interesting anomalies that beg for further investigation, as well as the tantalizing clues to, perhaps, a previously undiscovered chamber in the tomb of the boy-King Tut, It is certainly an exciting time to be a scholar of ancient Egypt.