Ancient Egypt - what is the fascination?
What is it about Ancient Egypt that has fascinated us down through the years and continues to do so today? You don’t need to be a history buff or a student of ancient world to be intrigued and captivated by this ancient civilisation. Since the discovery of the tomb of Tutankamun by Howard Carter in 1927 the world has been griped by the power of Egyptomania ever since. Little did Carter know at the time how profound an effect his discovery would have on everyone during the subsequent years! Ancient Egypt would not longer be just the domain of academics and interested scholars but thanks to the mass media circus that followed the discovery everyone now wanted a piece of the action and were drawn in by the sheer magic and mystery of this ancient world.
Sure enough, everyone is intrigued by the discovery of ancient treasures and this was the first time such tomb found in tact. Tombs and burial chambers had been discovered before but all too frequently tomb robbers had made the initial discovery and had cleaned out all the valuables in advance. But it was not just the fascination with the treasures and works of art, important though it is, that is the fascination here but the whole range of questions that also began to be unearthed. Who were these people? What did they believe in and why was this civilisation so advanced at the time?
These are the questions that many explorers and academics had been wrestling with pre Howard Carter. Herodotus the Greek historian as far back as circa 450 BC was fascinated by the monuments he saw there when he visited this land. In more recent times during the great empire building period of the 18th and 19th centuries, explorers and adventurers from Britain, France and Italy plundered Egyptian sites to be the first to exhibit these newly discovered marvels in places like London and Paris. The race to claim these monuments by the major powers in many ways reflected the colonial race to claim new territories at the time. Irrespective of the ethical arguments in relation to this period, the net result was that vast collections of Egyptian artefacts now found there way to Western Europe and one has only to visit such institutions as the British Museum or the Louvre to view these collections first hand. Carter’s discovery therefore culminated in an ever increasing interest, built up over time. However a major factor in projecting Egypt to centre stage was the growing importance and power of the media. Newspapers and newsreel carried news of the latest discoveries and excavations to an ever eager public and soon this was not lost on the advertisers who wasted no opportunity of using Egyptian imagery on everything from chocolate to soap. Brand “Egypt” was suddenly flavour of the month and would remain so for a long time to come. Hollywood also played its part with many epic movies which helped fuel the passion.
Finally as air travel became more accessible many of us wanted to view these wonders first hand for ourselves and needless to say, many including myself, got totally hooked and Ancient Egypt has become a major interest since then. And what of today? Well recent discoveries are again in the headlines – the opening up of tomb KV5 in the Valley of the Kings, the largest tomb ever discovered there and the discovery of Queen Hatshepsut’s mummy earlier this year has again fascinated the world. Hatshepsut ruled Egypt as Pharaoh in her own right prior to Tutankhamen’s reign but for reasons unknown all monuments related to her were destroyed following her death. We await further developments as Egyptologists carry out various tests to learn more information.
You may be surprised to know that Ireland has its own society devoted to Ancient Egypt founded in 1987. David Breslin who founded the ESI is still involved in running “the Egyptological Society of Ireland” today. You can visit my website to find out more about the ESI and read some of the articles published there if you get a chance.
http://homepage.eircom.net/~ancientegyptfan/index.html
What is it about Ancient Egypt that has fascinated us down through the years and continues to do so today? You don’t need to be a history buff or a student of ancient world to be intrigued and captivated by this ancient civilisation. Since the discovery of the tomb of Tutankamun by Howard Carter in 1927 the world has been griped by the power of Egyptomania ever since. Little did Carter know at the time how profound an effect his discovery would have on everyone during the subsequent years! Ancient Egypt would not longer be just the domain of academics and interested scholars but thanks to the mass media circus that followed the discovery everyone now wanted a piece of the action and were drawn in by the sheer magic and mystery of this ancient world.
Sure enough, everyone is intrigued by the discovery of ancient treasures and this was the first time such tomb found in tact. Tombs and burial chambers had been discovered before but all too frequently tomb robbers had made the initial discovery and had cleaned out all the valuables in advance. But it was not just the fascination with the treasures and works of art, important though it is, that is the fascination here but the whole range of questions that also began to be unearthed. Who were these people? What did they believe in and why was this civilisation so advanced at the time?
These are the questions that many explorers and academics had been wrestling with pre Howard Carter. Herodotus the Greek historian as far back as circa 450 BC was fascinated by the monuments he saw there when he visited this land. In more recent times during the great empire building period of the 18th and 19th centuries, explorers and adventurers from Britain, France and Italy plundered Egyptian sites to be the first to exhibit these newly discovered marvels in places like London and Paris. The race to claim these monuments by the major powers in many ways reflected the colonial race to claim new territories at the time. Irrespective of the ethical arguments in relation to this period, the net result was that vast collections of Egyptian artefacts now found there way to Western Europe and one has only to visit such institutions as the British Museum or the Louvre to view these collections first hand. Carter’s discovery therefore culminated in an ever increasing interest, built up over time. However a major factor in projecting Egypt to centre stage was the growing importance and power of the media. Newspapers and newsreel carried news of the latest discoveries and excavations to an ever eager public and soon this was not lost on the advertisers who wasted no opportunity of using Egyptian imagery on everything from chocolate to soap. Brand “Egypt” was suddenly flavour of the month and would remain so for a long time to come. Hollywood also played its part with many epic movies which helped fuel the passion.
Finally as air travel became more accessible many of us wanted to view these wonders first hand for ourselves and needless to say, many including myself, got totally hooked and Ancient Egypt has become a major interest since then. And what of today? Well recent discoveries are again in the headlines – the opening up of tomb KV5 in the Valley of the Kings, the largest tomb ever discovered there and the discovery of Queen Hatshepsut’s mummy earlier this year has again fascinated the world. Hatshepsut ruled Egypt as Pharaoh in her own right prior to Tutankhamen’s reign but for reasons unknown all monuments related to her were destroyed following her death. We await further developments as Egyptologists carry out various tests to learn more information.
You may be surprised to know that Ireland has its own society devoted to Ancient Egypt founded in 1987. David Breslin who founded the ESI is still involved in running “the Egyptological Society of Ireland” today. You can visit my website to find out more about the ESI and read some of the articles published there if you get a chance.
http://homepage.eircom.net/~ancientegyptfan/index.html
posted by VarneyTheVampire at
9:46 PM
0 Comments
