The informal colonialism of Egyptology: from the French expedition to the Security State
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2177-4218.v12i1p243-268Keywords:
History of Egyptology, Coloniality, EurocentrismAbstract
This contribution is a critical review of the colonial history of the academic discipline of Egyptology. It traces the development of the field from its early days under European colonialism and intra-European geopolitical competition to the advent of Egyptian control in recent times. A vehicle for western interests in Northeast Africa, the exploration of Egypt’s ancient past was framed as part of a civilizing mission where Europe would wrest Egypt from the claws of Ottoman domination and restore the land to its former greatness. Through the Christian Bible and the former Greek and Roman rule, Egypt was positioned as an early form of western civilization, therefore bolstering European claims over the area and enabling the appropriation of Egyptian history. European scholars, fostering the idea of ancient Egypt as a paternalist paradise lost, created a westernized and western-central framework for its study, which still inspires the standards of knowledge production today and shows in the geographic centers and primary languages of scholarly output. Egyptians, increasingly autonomous since the formal decolonization in the 1950s, subsequently adopted and retained the established practices when formal control over the Egyptian past went over to them. The colonial narratives of old were used to bolster tourism as a vital economy and went on to serve Egyptian nationalism and the legitimization of the existing power relations, framing Egyptian history as one of continuous strongman rule. The paper traces this transition from formal to informal colonialism while discussing it against decolonial concepts like the colonial matrix of power.
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