American Egyptomania

American Egyptomania is a topic that explores the western fascination with ancient Egyptian culture and history. When Napoleon set up to conquer Egypt in 1797, a sudden burst of popular interest in all things Egyptian spread across Europe, and the term Egyptomania was coined. The earliest tangible evidence of Egyptomania dates to the Greek times, when the Greek historian Herodotus traveled Egypt circa 450BC, writing down his famous histories. The reasons for Herodotus' fascination cannot be pinned down, but since then tourists have flocked to Egypt. As a result of Egypt's popularity as a holiday destination, "Egyptomania" is now all over the globe, in literature, art, architecture, music, and especially film. To this day, we see a lot of impact that the Egyptian culture, architecture, art, and literature has had on our US culture.

Culture

At one time, scholars believed that the civilization of ancient Egypt was the first in the history of the world and the progenitor of all others. We now know this to be untrue, but the ancient Egyptians retain one unique distinction: they were the first people on earth to create a nation-state. This state, embodying the spiritual beliefs and aspirations of the Egyptian race, was in all its major manifestations a theocracy. It served as the framework of a culture of extraordinary strength, assurance and durability which lasted for 3000 years and which retained almost to the end its own unmistakable purity of style. The rationale for "Egyptomania" rests on a similar concept: Westerners looked to ancient Egyptian motifs because ancient Egypt itself was intrinsically so alluring. The Egyptians used to consider their religion and their government somewhat eternal; they were supported in this thought by the enduring aspect of great public monuments which lasted forever and which appeared to resist the effects of time. Their legislators had judged that this moral impression would contribute to the stability of their empire.¹The various publics for "Egyptomania" may choose the oblivion of the darkened gallery or the surface glitter of precious objects. However, the exhibition provokes us to think critically about multicultural relations at the threshold ofmodernity, at the nexus of East-West (and North-South) relations. For Egyptomania is always past and it is always present. In 1978 the Metropolitan Museum grandly resurrected the Temple of Dendur within its own quarters. In 1989 the Louvre raised its own glass pyramid, and in 1993 Las Vegas's Luxor Hotel opened with its replica tomb of Tutankhamen. Everywhere we turn Egypt is offered up as taste, motif and palliative.

Architecture

Western Architecture was also affected by Egyptomania in what is known as the Egyptian Revival. Plush mausoleums in the Egyptian style flourished in European and American cemeteries, influenced by the notion of ancient Egyptian culture as obsessed with the cult of the dead. Numerous obelisks were uprooted from their original context to be replanted on the most unfamiliar places, including the Vatican and New York's Central Park.

A perception that Egyptian monuments, notably the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx, could somehow embody the coded secrets of long forgotten ancient knowledge increased during the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th Century with the Freemasons. The obelisk as a symbol of power in its purest form was employed to commemorate George Washington. ² James Lick, a self-made California millionaire of the 19th Century, wanted for his tomb a huge pyramid built on a whole square of San Francisco. Luckily for him, this project was never carried out.

Film

The primary reason Egyptomania penetrated film the way it did was the celebrated discovery of King Tutankhamun tomb in 1922. This discovery received worldwide coverage, and people read about it almost daily. Within the next 10 years, several members of Lord Carnarvon mission who worked on Tutankhamun's tomb 'mysteriously' died. The public, hungry for mystery, followed the news closely, believing in the "Curse of the Pharaohs" as the cause of these deaths. Though the curse is an urban legend hyped up by the media coverage of the time, interestingly it does have its origins in ancient Egypt. Throughout most of the history of ancient Egypt a warning was often inscribed on the outer walls of tombs, warding off any possible consecrators. Of course, this hype was also helped by the aftermath of World War I which has ended a few years earlier, and people were in search of a distraction from their daily distress. The belief in the curse lead to the recurring moral of almost all Egyptomania movies: those who consecrate the tombs of the ancients will suffer horrific consequences. Egyptomania films were so popular and successful, that even a sub genre of Egyptomania movies was made – Mummy Movies.

References

# Reprinted in Jacques-Joseph Champollion-Figeac, Fourier et Napoleon: l'Egypte et les cent jours: memoires et documents inedits, Paris, Firmin Didot Freres, 1844, p. 170.
# Bakos, Margaret Marchiori. 2003. Egyptianizing motifs in architecture and art in Brazil. In: Imhotep Today: Egyptianizing architecture. Ed. Jean-Marcel Humbert and Clifford Price. London: UCL Press, Institute of Archaeology.
# Bonser, K.J. 1960. Marshall's Mill, Holbeck, Leeds. Architectural Review