Having already successfully invaded Italy in 1796 and itching for a new imperialist campaign, French General Napoleon Bonaparte got permission from the Directory (France's ruling, dueling party bosses) to dip on down and grab some Egypt.
His reasoning was that seizing Egypt, then part of the Ottoman Empire, would help secure French commerce in the area, while foiling relations between England and India.
With Directory approval, Napoleon showed up on the Egyptian coast July 1, 1798 with 400 ships and 54,000 men, ready to have fun storming the desert.
To give the expedition more of a scientific cachet, he even brought along 150 savants (French wise guys) to record what they found in Egypt in a scholarly way. Even though his military mission eventually failed, the savants did their job spectacularly well, and used the latest engraving technology to publish their findings in the famous Description de l'Egypte, which was issued in 23 volumes between 1809 and 1823.
Many of these young scientists and engineers went on to their own distinguished careers, but their original landmark surveys of Egypt's wonders, bound in red rectangles about a yard wide and 30" top to bottom, are still considered monumental works of encyclopedic knowledge.
A choice selection of Description de l'Egyptvolumes is on display at the Linda Hall Library, 5109 Cherry Street (on the campus of UMKC), until the end of this month.
When Napoleon blew into Cairo, he established the Institute of Egypt, which he set up in a network of palaces on the ritzy Nile side of town. Being one of the founding members, he suggested some visionary projects, such as making better ovens to bake bread for the soldiers and brewing beer without hops.
But somehow the scientists found other interests, and many of their papers, illustrations and measurements found their way into the Description de l'Egyptas well.
Napoleon himself set out on an expedition in December of 1798 with a group of engineers, trying to find the ancient canal that had connected the Nile with the Gulf of Suez. Although it had been filled in with sand over the centuries, Napoleon hoped to reconstruct a new Suez Canal and thereby open a trunk line between France and India. Eventually his team found the old route, but work took awhile; the modern Suez Canal wasn't completed until 1869.
Other interesting "snapshots" show Napoleon and scientist companions on a daytrip out to the Giza complex, clambering up the Great Pyramids, and walking on the head of the Great Sphinx. It was easier to do back then, since the sand was still as high as the Sphinx's neck. Took twenty years to sweep the sand down to paw-level.
Many new plant and animal curiosities were discovered, including the ichneumon, or Egyptian mongoose, and the ibis, a bird considered sacred - and vital for controlling the mythical annual invasion of ancient Egypt by flying snakes.
In pursuit of the wily Muhad Bey, Napoleon and his armies found ancient monuments at Vendura, Thebes, Edfu and Philae. Along the way they carefully cataloged the minerals of the localities, especially those used to sculpt and form the monuments. Rocks of all sorts appear in specially colored pages of the Description.
In 1799 the Rosetta Stone was discovered by the French in Rosetta, on Egypt's Mediterranean coast. It wasn't deciphered until 1822, but it became the key to translating many other previously inscrutable hieroglyphic writings.
Another intriguing artifact turned up at the Temple of Hathor in Dendron. One of the scientists was bumbling around on the roof when he walked into a little chapel with an extraordinary zodiac on the ceiling. The position of the constellations on the zodiac allowed scientists to estimate the date of its construction at around the time of Cleopatra.
The volumes are on display in rooms surrounding the main library, which is well worth exploring on its own. You can even order prints and unusual t-shirts with selected exhibit images directly from the website, http://www.lindahall.org
Library hours are Monday, 9am to 8:30pm; Tuesday through Friday 9am to 5pm, and Saturday 10am to 4pm.
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