نهب آثار وادي النيل ودور لصوص المقابر

by Brian M. Fagan, أحمد زاهر أمين (ترجمة)

This is a thoroughly revised edition of The Rape of the Nile - Brian Fagan's classic account of the cavalcade of archaeologists, thieves, and sightseers who have flocked to the Nile Valley since ancient times. Long considered a benchmark in narrative archaeology, this edition updates the saga with new accounts of stunning recent discoveries - including the Royal Tombs of Tanis, the Valley of Golden Mummies at Bahariya, the Tomb of the Sons of Ramses, and the sunken city of Alexandria (whose lighthouse was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World). Fagan concludes with an assessment of the impact of modern mass tourism on archaeological sites and artifacts.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Egypt, Archaeology, Africa, Art, Ancient History

Mass Market Paperback

First published November 30, 1975

About the author

Brian Murray Fagan was a British author of popular archaeology books and a professor emeritus of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Reviews

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very well written and interesting book about the plunderers of Ancient Egyptian artifacts and ruin sites. Brian starts off with the Ancient Egyptians, moves on to The Great Belzoni and ends the book with stories about a general mix of Victorian adventurers, explorers and archeologists. This is not a dry non-fiction book, Brian really seems to be able to bring these historical characters to life and entertainingly tell the story of plunder, mischief and destruction that was the beginning of Egyptian Archeology.

[Steve Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a superbly account of the history and evolution of Egyptology. Fagan is an outstanding writer, bringing the story to life with characters larger than life. Their adventures were enthralling, thanks to The author’s narrative skill.

I simply have to check out his other books.

[Amr Mahmoud · Rating 4 out of 5]

يمكن اعتبار هذا الكتاب قطعه فنيه، من حيث براعة الكاتب فى الصياغه وطريقة سرده الاستثنائيه ، أما عن مضمون الكتاب فقد تناول قضية على مر العصور ومن خلال تلك القضيه وهى لصوص الاثار ، تري من خلال النوافذ تاريخ وشخصيات وملامح التكوين النفسي لمعاصري الاحداث، وقد اجاب الكتاب على أسئلة ظلت محيرة بالنسبه لى عن كمية الاثار فى متحف اللوفر وكيف أنها الأكثر أهمية وتلك الاثار الموزعه بالالاف فى متاحف العالم.. كيف استطاعوا سرقتها وتهريبها، كما أن الكتاب أضاف لى مفهوما جديدا ، وهو أنه ربما يكون فى الأحداث السيئه شيء جيد، فبالرغم من الأعمال التخريبيه الهائله التى قام بها لصوص المقابرىالفرعونيه فقد ساهموا بشكل كبير فى القاء الضوء على الحضارة المصرية واكنشاف اسرارها ومن ثم الحفاظ على ما تبقى من اثار فيما بعد ...
لكن التخريب كان هائلا بحق .. واصدق وصف ما قاله أحد شخصيات الكتاب تيري حينما وصف الوضع هنا فى ذلك الوقت ( لقد أحسست أن "مصر" مثل البيت المشتعل بالنار، لقد كان التخريب يجري بصوره مذهلة ) .. ويكفى ان نعرف أنهم كانوا يحرقون التوابيت والمومياوات من أجل التدفئه وعمل كوبا من الشاى .. .
المترجم كان دوره رائعا ومتقنا حتى لتشعر ان الكتاب مؤلف باللغه العربيه ..

[Mohamed Daif · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books ever ... I didn't realize the effect of politics on archaeology before. The author mentioned a lot of great names such as Maspero and Belzoni. The writing style was simple and entertaining although I read it translated into Arabic. Reading this book was a really good experience

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ancient civilization of Egypt lasted for thousands of years. Extensive and large statues, monuments and buildings constructed of massive stone fascinated those that traveled to the exotic land. Unfortunately, once modern Europeans 'discovered' Egypt, they felt that the natives were not appreciating the history that lurked beneath the sands so - in order to preserve mementos of this strange culture - they would buy up any and all antiques presented and transfer them home to France, England, Germany, America and more.

At least, that's what they said. What they did was vandalize monuments too large to move - samples being the names and dates either painted or carved into walls and structures. Like the gentleman who traveled up and down the Nile with a pot of tar and brush and marked which sites as he visits them. Tomb robbers were more interested in the best examples of antiques to sell to tourists and even government counsel representatives. Gold and gemstones made the items more valuable and therefore could be sold for more. And if they couldn't find the 'real thing', there was another entire cottage-industry in forgeries.

Besides going over the horrors as ancient Egypt civilization was stripped of artifacts without any concern for the actual history being recorded or discovered - it was only later that papyri was being preserved for tourist buyers, Fagan goes into the names of those noted in initially pillaging Egypt to those who worked to preserve it's ancient cultures - initially for sponsors of the expeditions and mementos to be sold and eventually basically for the museums and the future. Tourists flocked to Egypt for the exotic but if all of the artifacts went home as souvenirs, then future visitors would only have the broken discards to see. Regulations in order to protect their heritage became more stringent with the idea of future tourist money in mind.

From Herodotus and the Roman emperors through the Medici princes and French Kings who sent representatives to bring back illustrations of frescoes, hieroglyphics and the marvels in the sand. Many names have made their 'mark ' in the archaeological history of Pharaonic Egypt. Napoleon's savants included Dominique Vivant Denon and Gaspard Monge. The greed and one-upsmanship between English consul, Henry Salt and French consul, Bernardino Drovetti. Giovanni Belzoni and Ludwig Burckhardt. August Mariette. Richard Lepsius. Wallace Budge. Amelia Edwards who wrote a prolific amount of articles, lectures, books, included the noted travel book A Thousand Miles up the Nile. Flinders Petri who sponsored a young Howard Carter at one of his last digs in Egypt.

Lavishly illustrated with black-and-white photos and drawings.

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[Michelle Boyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not entirely what I expected -- but still quite an interesting discussion about how tombs in Egypt were looted during the early years of excavations. This book did a really great job of naming a lot of the original people involved in some of these rapes and thefts. The only thing I need now is a book on what materials have been repatriated over the years and how that process was tackled!

[James F · Rating 3 out of 5]

A popular history of the "dark side" of Egyptian exploration; the looting of antiquities. I had read most of this material in bits and pieces in other books, but not as a continuous book. Fagan is a good writer but this is not his best book; it was a little superficial, but worth reading.

[Maher Battuti · Rating 3 out of 5]

A long research work detailing the volume of antiquities and artifacts that have been removed from Egypt right from the era of the Ancient Egyptians up to our time.

[ابراهيم المُطُولي · Rating 5 out of 5]

بلغة قصصية شيقة يتتبع مؤلف الكتاب سرقة الآثار المصرية على مدى تاريخها
بادئا بالفترة القديقة ذاتها، حيث شارك المهندسين الملكيين في تعريف اللصوص بكيفة دخول المقابر ونهبها، كما جاءت فترة الثورات وضعف الدولة المركزية، ثم جاء العهد الروماني والذي كانت فيه مصر مباحة ليس فقط للامبراطور بل لأي سائح يرى فيها شيء يصلح لتزيين حديقته الخاصة، ثم تحولت مصر إلى المسيحية فنظر أتباع الدين الجديد إلى كل هذه الصروح باغتبارها رموز وثنية، فجرى تخريب واسع لطمس الصور وتكسير التماثيل، ثم جاء العرب ونظروا إلى بقايا المعابد المتهدمة كمصدر سهلة للحجر اللازم لابنيتهم، والمقابر المتهدمة كمصدر للكنوز.
وفي العصور الوسطى تم النظر في اوروبا للمميوات باعتبارها مصدر للشفاء من الامراض المستعصية، لتصير بذلك تجارة رائجة ورايحة، حيث يبحث الأهالي بين المقابر عن المميوات التي يتم شحنها إلى أوروبا، وهناك يتم طحنها وبيعها في شكل مسحوق للاثرياء.
وفي عصر النهضة تم إعتبار مصر مصدرا للعجائب والغرائب، وتهافت أمراء إيطاليا على شراء ما يبهرون به زوارهم، عن طريق مغامرين يجوبون البلاد بحثا عن الحلي والتماثيل.
في الفترة العثمانية تكثف الوجود الدبلوماسي في مصر، وصار جمع التحف والآثار هواية جانبية لمعظم سفراء دول أوربا في مصر، لتحقيق مزيداً من الربح، وكان اي غربي عن طريق علاقاته الشخصية بالحكام الأتراك يستطيع الحصول على تصريح بإخراج عشرات الصناديق المملؤة بالالهة المصرية والبرديات التي شغف بها ملوك أوروبا في هذه الفترة، فجاب المنقبين الجنوب في دهبيات في النيل.
ومن كثرة عمل القرويين في الحفر واستخراج المميوات صارت متوفرة لدرجة بيعها في الأسواق الشعبية في القاهرة، حيث يستطيع اي زائر شراء ما يمكنه حمله في رحلة العودة إلى اوربا، بدون تأنيب للضمير حيث لم يكن المصريين في نظرهم سوى أعداء بني اسرائيل.
يمضي المؤلف بنا إلى القرن ال١٨ حيث حملة نابيلون والتي كانت في جانب منها وبالا على مصر، ليس فقط عرض ما جلبوه معهم كنواة لمتحف اللوفر ولكن أيضاً كتابهم وصف مصر الذي شغل أوروبا وإعاد مصر لبؤرة الإهتمام كمصدر لجمع الآثار.
ويات المؤلف لمرحلة محمد على باشا ورغم الحمى التي أصابت أوروبا في محاولة لفك رموز اللغة المصرية لم يرى الباشا في الآثار إلا أدوات للتودد للدول الكبرى، والتماثيل هدايا لزواره المهمين.
وفي عهده اشتد صراع على من يجمع أكثر بين سفير فرنسا وسفير بريطانيا واللذان جمعا الكثير والكثير وكان اوفرهم حظا هو الإنجليزي الذي استعان بلاعب سرك عملاق يدعى بلزوني، والذي احدث في مجال السرقة نقلة نوعية من حيث كيف يحصل الاوربي من مصر على ما يريد.
لدرجة أن ملك بروسيا جهز حملة للسطو على اثار مصر وبالفعل رجعت ب١٥ ألف قطعة آثار كانت نواة متحف برلين.
ويمضي الكتاب في التاريخ بروح المنقب عن اللصوص والملوك الذين اغترفوا من مصر الكثير والكثير من قطع تمثل تاريخها في مرحلة المختلفة
كتاب يورث الحيرة والحزن على مصر التي تسرق منذ فجر تاريخها حتى الآن

[Lucy Cummin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read mainly for research purposes but the story is one that still resonates as this plundering of the Nile treasures began in earnest with Napoleon and continued pretty much unabated until after World War I. The Great Powers (England, France and gradually through the 19th century, Germany and the US) were motivated by a complex mix of greed and true fascination with and desire to understand the pharaonic period. Trying to understand the intersection of proving national superiority by increasing understanding of history while also collecting priceless loot is a little hard to wrap one's mind around, but nonetheless. England and France were engaged to a greater or lesser degree in competition with one another throughout this entire period. Fagan, in this updated version, focusses on the gradual shift from almost pure acquisition of the biggest and most fascinating treasures, to a gradual shift to respecting the sites,studying the smallest finds, digging with obsessive care, while honoring the people of the cultures you disturb and unearth in the name of increasing knowledgle. The men themselves, from 'the Great Belzoni' in the early 19th century to Howard Carter in the 20th are the giants of archaeology and one can watch the developments through their ever-evolving methods and approaches and purpose. Fagan does a solid job in outlining this evolution and giving us the characters, the details of each period, what was happening politically in Egypt itself. Informative and entertaining. This was a listen and the reader had some odd quirks and occasional bizarre pronunciations that I am fairly sure were neither standard English nor American (alas, this is the downside of listening, not easy to go back to remind oneself . . .) but he was bearable. ****

[Keely · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

I never read the original version of this book, but I'm glad it has been updated with more current things that have been happening as when it was published 50 years ago was quite along time ago, especially when you're writing non fiction. So I'm glad this version is more current and updated. Though even this current version is 20 years old, which is a bit of a shame. I'm surprised I hadn't already read it, I read every single book in the library of Ancient Egypt. Ancient Egypt has always fascinated me since I was a child so I found this to be very interesting. I didn't realise how much politics can effect archaeology before. It is written excellently and the author really brings the people involved back to life. You can tell that he has done his research. It makes me so sad about how certain people treated these precious things like vultures, they stole, destroyed and if they couldn't have it, no one could. A lot of the people in this book didn't give these relics the respect they deserved and so much was lost due to people being greedy e.g. unwrapping parties, ground up mummy in medicine. None of that should've happened. It is an utterly fascinating book and I reccomend it if the subject matter interests you.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating account of how the historical treasures of Egypt have been plundered not only by her own people but by the world at large. Fagan gives a thorough and impressively objective account of how the tombs, temples, and treasures of Ancient Egypt have been used and abused through the decades and centuries during and since the end of that great civilisation, used not only for personal gain but for political power, prestige, and even protection. It is a sad tale but Fagan also shows how there were those who tried to protect this incredible heritage, often contributing to its destruction but also adding to the swell of academic and public opinion that things must be done better. This shows what a double edged sword public and private interest can be and how it can be used to protected if the right people with the right knowledge and tools are involved. And it's a surprisingly easy read given how much information is packed in, although the names were a little hard to keep track of at times (I am not good with names!).

[Cheryl Jensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. Fagan gives an excellent in-depth account of some of the major players in 19th century Egyptologists, as well as honourable mentions of less prominent figures, and the morality of what they did in that land. There are an abundance of detailed drawings from explorers from that era, as well as some of their finds. Although the book is not a difficult read, I wish that he had explained some of the unfamiliar Arabic terms and titles the first time they appeared in the text. I also felt there were some important gaps in the detailed biographies (aside from Giovanni Belzoni's) regarding their family life. For example, the author mentions one archaeologist was very depressed after his wife died in childbirth, this being the first mention that he had a wife. At the least, it would have been simple to just insert the names of the spouses, as in "his wife, Sarah." But this is 1975. Still, an excellent and fascinating account.

[Degenerate Chemist · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pop history of the illegal antiquities trade in Egypt and how that slowly morphed into respectable archeology. It is an okay book, not particularly well written. The best part of the book were the details of what was going on before the 19th century. I'd say about half this book was the story of Giovanni Belzoni and I just had very little interest in reading the details. Very much personal bias speaking here, but once we hit the age of imperialism part of history I just stop caring.

[Lisa]

Incredibly readable Orientalism. Lively description of the heyday of archeological looting with no thought to the Egyptians themselves or anything about how it impacted them. Based on original sources with lots of drawings and pictures, this is definitely a criticism of how it all went down, while still not taking the people themselves seriously.

[Kait · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had to read for school

[Marilyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

This might be a good book, but the narrator was utterly dull, boring and unenthusiastic and prevented me from listening to more than two minutes

[Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty solid history of how people through all of time have come to Egypt and taken artifacts away.

[Song · Rating 5 out of 5]

本书主旨是讲述世界对埃及文物的认识、偷盗、发掘和保护，进而带入对埃及文明的认识和考古。作者是用学术写作的标准，写出了非专业读者喜闻乐见的作品。全书有参考文献，有编目，有严格引用标注，但叙述流畅，品评人物严谨，若干段落还风趣幽默，读来令人忍俊不禁，是一部有较高学术水准，严谨可信，但又流畅易读的学术史普及作品。我个人认为这是西方学术写作最佳面相——大学者写给普通人读的作品，对提高普通人的认知，向社会普及学术知识，具有无量功德。另外，值得一提的是，译者也相当有水准，本身也是中国学术界人士，认真负责，看得出来花费了很大的精力来翻译本书，译文相当可靠。

一个小收获是，罗赛塔石碑虽然帮助了埃及学家解读古埃及文字，但只是个象征性的文物，实际上古埃及文字的破译并不是仅仅依靠一个罗赛塔石碑的发现。这破解了一个我习以为常的迷信。

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe because it is the oldest of civilisations; maybe because its climate has meant so much has been preserved; maybe because of the exoticism and strangeness of its hieroglyphs; maybe because of the visible splendour and majesty of its relics; maybe because of the wealth and luxury of its pharaohs; for all these reasons and many more, Egypt has always drawn the attention of the curious and the greedy. The history of tomb-robbing in Egypt goes back a very very long way, after all, all the way back to the days of the pharaohs themselves. Even in the earliest days of archaeology (and in the case of the 18th and 19th centuries, the term must be used very loosely) it was rare to find an un-ransacked tomb - hence the remarkableness of the find of Tutankhamen's tomb.

For centuries Egypt's temples and tombs have been plundered - for their stone for building materials, to eliminate evidence of a pagan past, because they were inconvenient and in the way, because they were beautiful, valuable, exotic. There was scarcely a thought of preservation, cultural heritage or ownership. Westerners were free to take obelisks, tombs, sarcophagi and mummies at will. No trip to Egypt was complete without a trunkful of statues and relics. There was even a thriving market in powdered mummy for medicinal purposes! Museums competed with one another to enhance their collections, Britain and France at the vanguard of the movement - and the British Museum and the Louvre are still the beneficiaries of this pillaging.

It may seem strange to lump archaeologists in such inauspicious company as tomb-robbers and tourists, but when it comes to the history of Egypt and its ancient monuments it is all but impossible to separate them out. The three have much in common - theft, destruction, avarice and greed. In archaeology's infancy in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries there was very little to distinguish the archaeologist from the tomb-robber - searching for treasure was the goal, there was no thought of the importance of context or placement, of careful investigation, of surveys and notes, of preservation. One can only wonder just how much the understanding of ancient Egypt was set back by this behaviour, how much may have been lost or destroyed in the hunt for 'buried treasure'.

Brian Fagan himself is no archaeologist or Egyptologist, but this history needs a background in neither to be thoroughly readable and enjoyable. If nothing else he casts a weary and cynical eye on the impact of tourism on the world's historical and cultural treasures and recognises that the perennial human need to experience and possess something for one's self will only ever result in the ultimate destruction of that desired object.

[Morgan Dhu · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Rape of the Nile, Brian Fagan tells the story of centuries of theft and destruction of priceless artefacts and archeological sites, largely by foreign invaders and adventurers, but also by Egyptians themselves. The catalogue of loss is a long one, and includes Roman conquerers, medieval adventurers, Napoleonic soldiers and historians, British entrepreneurs and archeologists - all of whom felt that the treasures of the ancient land of Egypt were theirs for the taking.

"During the past two thousand years Ancient Egypt has effectively been destroyed, both by the Egyptians themselves and by a host of foreigners, many of them arriving in the Nile Valley in the name of science and nationalism. The loss to archaeology is incalculable, that to Egyptian history even more staggering. As a result of the looting and pillage of generations of irresponsible visitors, the artifacts and artistic achievements of the Ancient Egyptians are scattered all over the globe, some of the most beautiful and spectacular of them stored or displayed thousands of miles from the Nile."

Fagan's detailed accounting of the discoveries and wholesale removals of the cultural wealth of an entire civilisation - often in more recent times under the paternalistic colonial argument that Western institutions can take better care of Egypt's heritage than Egyptians can - is valuable both as a record of the development of Egyptology and as a testament to the necessity of cultural sensitivity on the part of archeologists, and cultural preservation on the part of countries such as Egypt whose history has been turned into a tourist bazaar.

[Robert Muller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fagan's overview of the history of the pillage of Egypt, in the architectural sense, is excellent as far as it goes. I like what I learned, but I'd have liked to learn more about the local Egyptian government role in all this, the history of how Egypt moved toward a preservation ethic, and I'd like to see a lot more real history on the collectors--the people who wound up with the loot and what they did with it and why. But it's still a great read!

[Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Real Tomb Raiders. Not so much shooting and saving the world kind of stuff, more bureaucratic infighting and European nobility hissy-fits. Some fascinating characters and the research seems solid. It's too bad humans have to destroy so much before we think to learn from it or preserve it.

An OK book, but not exactly a page turner.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author, Brian Fagan, is one of the world's leading archaeological writers. This book is an update of his first one to include new accounts of recent discoveries. I did not know much about Egyptian history in regards to its antiquities. This book enlightened me in a well written and very readable way with fascinating and interesting information. I recommend this highly.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt this focused too much on the personalities of certain key figures and not enough on the historical forces and social attitudes that led to their behavior. I probably would have liked this much more if the material had been less familiar to me, as I've liked Fagan's other books.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A clear and relatively impartial account of early archaeology, or the earlier plundering of the Nile by variously motivated Europeans. Pretty good, though not of the livliest style.

[Lily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave up on this halfway through. You can tell there are some great stories there, but this author is not much of a story teller.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well researched and chock full of information about the plundering of Egypt's artifacts, but it is a hard read that is about as wearying as a caravan trip across the desert.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Filled with stories about how Archaeology has damaged and shaped the cultural landscape of Egypt.

[Ahmed · Rating 5 out of 5]

كتاب رائع يكشف النقاب عن سرقة اثار مصر في العصر القديم و يكشف النقاب عن اكبر مهرب و سارق للاثار المصرية الايطالي جيوفاني بلزوني - النسخة العربية مكتبة الاسرة ترجمة د/ احمد زهير امين