Review by Choice Review
Many people find both ancient Egypt and the exploits of archaeologists to be fascinating. Here, Wilkinson (Univ. of Lincoln, UK) wonderfully combines both subjects. According to him, the golden age of Egyptology was from 1822, when Jean-François Champollion deciphered hieroglyphic writing, until the renowned discovery of King Tut's tomb in 1922. The book, however, begins with Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in 1798, which saw the birth of Egyptology as a discipline. From there, Wilkinson recounts the stories of various figures of Egyptology, both great and not-so-great, such as John Gardner Wilkinson and Edward William Lane--Englishmen who fell in love with Egypt. The achievements and significance of the German Egyptologist Karl Richard Lepsius and the Frenchman Auguste Mariette are also described, and novelist Amelia Edwards's contributions to the academic foundations of British Egyptology are presented, along with those of the meticulous and somewhat eccentric Flinders Petrie. Some might consider Wilkinson's portrayal of Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge and Howard Carter a bit too kind. Finally, Wilkinson describes the nationalistic rivalries that disturbed Egyptology, and the slow process Egyptians undertook to reclaim control of their cultural heritage in the wake of the Tut discovery. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers and advanced undergraduates through faculty. --Ronald Harold Fritze, Athens State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Historian Wilkinson (The Nile) revisits the whirlwind of archaeological discoveries made in the Nile Valley between the 1822 decoding of the Rosetta Stone and the 1922 unearthing of King Tutankhamun's tomb, in this meticulous and vibrant account. He sketches how Napoleon's 1798 expedition into Egypt inaugurated an "intense Anglo-French rivalry" over the country and its artifacts, and documents the competition between British polymath Thomas Young and French scholar Jean-François Champollion to decipher ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. Champollion won out, though the Rosetta Stone ended up in British hands--a foreshadowing of the British takeover of the French-built Suez Canal, and the country itself, in the 1880s. In between, Wilkinson highlights the achievements of Prussian explorer Karl Richard Lepsius, who made the first "systematic exploration" of the Great Pyramid of Giza, and Auguste Mariette, who discovered the Serapeum at Saqqara in 1851, among other Egyptologists. He also notes the devastating impact of "treasure-hunting," "slapdash excavation," and Egyptian ruler Muhammad Ali's modernization efforts on archaeological sites, and details novelist Amelia Blandford Edwards's campaign to "save Egypt's patrimony for future generations." Wilkinson marshals a wealth of detail into a cohesive and entertaining narrative. The result is an essential portrait of how the rediscovery of " ancient past paved the way for its modern rebirth." Agent: Jon Wood, RCW Literary. (Oct.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A history of the relatively short period during which Egyptology "emerged from its antiquarian origins to emerge as a proper scientific discipline." More compressed than Jason Thompson's recent multivolume history on the subject, Wilkinson's latest spotlights the great French, English, and German scientists and adventurers who managed to crack many of the mysteries of ancient Egypt--notably, Jean-François Champollion's "decipherment" of hieroglyphics in 1822. His achievement, writes the author, "allowed ancient Egyptian culture to emerge out of the fog of Classical myth and esoteric legend into the spotlight of serious scientific enquiry." After Napoleon's campaign in Egypt (1798-1801) and the ensuing era of Muhammad Ali's brutal modernization of the country (until 1848), an "orgy of destruction" followed, as treasure seekers and some archaeologists were driven by "a desire to record and preserve Egypt's ancient patrimony before it was lost forever." In the 1830s, Prussian archaeologist Karl Richard Lepsius "took Egyptian philology to the next level, enabling, for the first time, the translation of running hieroglyphic texts as opposed to mere names and epithets." In 1850, French scholar Auguste Mariette discovered the Serapeum monument under the sands of Saqqara, the most celebrated discovery since the Rosetta Stone; in 1858, Mariette was appointed director of the newly formed Egyptian Department of Antiquities. The momentous early 1880s, writes Wilkinson, saw the convergence of European discovery of Egypt and "Egypt's discovery of itself." Earlier, in 1874, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York "acquired its first Egyptian objects." When Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon started their excavation of the Valley of the Kings, ancient Egypt had assumed the status of "a complex and vibrant civilization." Refreshingly, Wilkinson dedicates a chapter to two women: Lucie Duff Gordon and Amelia Edwards, whose A Thousand Miles Up the Nile (1877) was published to great acclaim. The author also includes images, maps, and a timeline. A lively survey by an eminence in the field. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
