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Travels in Upper and Lower Egypt (The Middle East Collection)
Voyages dans la basse et la haute Egypte; pendant les campagnes de Bonaparte en 1798 et 1799, un livre classique, a été considéré comme important tout au long de l'histoire humaine, et pour que cet ouvrage ne soit jamais oublié, nous, aux éditions Alpha, nous sommes efforcés de le préserver en republiant ce livre dans un format moderne pour les générations présentes et futures. Tout ce livre a été reformaté, retapé et conçu. Ces livres ne sont pas constitués de copies numérisées de leur travail original et, par conséquent, le texte est clair et lisible.
312 pages, Hardcover
Published December 31, 1973
About the author
Vivant Denon
82 books14 followersDominique Vivant, Baron Denon was a French artist, writer, diplomat, author, and archaeologist. He was appointed as the first Director of the Louvre Museum by Napoleon after the Egyptian campaign of 1798-1801, and is commemorated in the Denon Wing of the modern museum. His two-volume Voyage dans la basse et la haute Egypte ("Journey in Lower and Upper Egypt", 1802), was the foundation of modern Egyptology.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 15, 2022
If you are expecting a history of Napoleon's campaign in Egypt, you will most likely be disappointed by this book. This is more of a travelogue or a diary, and I found it fascinating.
Vivant Denon was a French diplomat and artist who took part in Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in 1798 as part of the arts and literature section of the Institut d'Égypte. He spent about a year in Egypt going up and down the Nile, frantically making sketches of just about everything he saw. He published this book in 1802.
In order to really appreciate Denon's book you will probably need at least some cursory knowledge about Napoleon's invasion. I would recommend parts of The Keys of Egypt: The Race to Crack the Hieroglyph Code by Lesley and Roy Adkins. Chapter one in particular is an efficient summary of Napoleon's campaign and also gives you quite a bit of detail on Denon's role. It's very interesting to compare Denon's writings, filled with wild speculation about the mysterious temples and hieroglyphics, with later research. Having been to a lot of these places myself, it’s interesting to read the impressions of a traveller from a time when very little was known about the purpose and meaning of all these monuments and hieroglyphics.
Denon's book is of course a product of its time. It serves as a prime example of Orientalism and the colonial mindset. He is in awe of (and jealous of) the ancient Egyptian civilization, not so much with (then) contemporary Egypt. His writings about Arabs in general and Egyptians and particular would belong in any racist right wing publication today.
He loots everything with impunity, from little clay figurines to a mummy's foot and "an old woman's head as beautiful as Michelangelo's heads of the Sibyls". For the life of him he can't understand why people oppose the French invasion. The following is an excerpt (my translation):
Denon describes how the population sometimes would show up in droves to pay their miri after having been threatened by the French that they would otherwise be regarded as rebels:
Memories of Iraq and Afghanistan abound, although those colonial excursions were even bloodier than the one described in this book. Sadly, not much has changed in the 200 years since this book was written.
Vivant Denon was a French diplomat and artist who took part in Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in 1798 as part of the arts and literature section of the Institut d'Égypte. He spent about a year in Egypt going up and down the Nile, frantically making sketches of just about everything he saw. He published this book in 1802.
In order to really appreciate Denon's book you will probably need at least some cursory knowledge about Napoleon's invasion. I would recommend parts of The Keys of Egypt: The Race to Crack the Hieroglyph Code by Lesley and Roy Adkins. Chapter one in particular is an efficient summary of Napoleon's campaign and also gives you quite a bit of detail on Denon's role. It's very interesting to compare Denon's writings, filled with wild speculation about the mysterious temples and hieroglyphics, with later research. Having been to a lot of these places myself, it’s interesting to read the impressions of a traveller from a time when very little was known about the purpose and meaning of all these monuments and hieroglyphics.
Denon's book is of course a product of its time. It serves as a prime example of Orientalism and the colonial mindset. He is in awe of (and jealous of) the ancient Egyptian civilization, not so much with (then) contemporary Egypt. His writings about Arabs in general and Egyptians and particular would belong in any racist right wing publication today.
He loots everything with impunity, from little clay figurines to a mummy's foot and "an old woman's head as beautiful as Michelangelo's heads of the Sibyls". For the life of him he can't understand why people oppose the French invasion. The following is an excerpt (my translation):
We, who took pride in being more just than the Mamluks, committed daily, and almost by necessity, many unjust acts. The difficulty in recognizing our enemies by shape and color had us killing innocent farmers on a daily basis. [...]
One of the goals of our Egypt expedition had no doubt been to improve the situation of the poor natives. [...] If they, driven by fear, fled their homes upon our arrival, they could be sure of the mud walls of their homes being the only thing left when they returned. Tools, carts, doors, roofs, everything had been used as firewood to cook soup for the soldiers. The clay pots smashed, the grain consumed, the chickens and doves cooked. The only thing remaining were the corpses of the dogs who tried to defend the property of their masters.
Denon describes how the population sometimes would show up in droves to pay their miri after having been threatened by the French that they would otherwise be regarded as rebels:
... Sometimes, due to their large numbers, we thought their intentions were hostile, and we mistook their cudgels for weapons. This generally resulted in salvoes being launched by our troops before the people had a chance to explain themselves. The dead were buried and friendship was restored, at least until they found an opportunity to exact a bloody vengeance.
Memories of Iraq and Afghanistan abound, although those colonial excursions were even bloodier than the one described in this book. Sadly, not much has changed in the 200 years since this book was written.
March 24, 2014
Interesting read. The author's curiosity is not 100% contagious, but I liked how he covered several grounds, describing the architecture of centuries-old monuments as well as military maneuvers. It would be a great book for anyone interested in or researching these campaigns... it's just that, personally, I got a bit bored.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews