Egypt: the favoured itinerary, from the times of the Greek and Roman travellers that sought the fountain of wisdom; then the pilgrims and merchants from the times of the Crusades who stopped on the way to the Holy Lands to trace the steps of either the Holy Family or the early Christian saints and ascetics. From the beginning, Egypt has always evoked a fabled image, whether the journey to Egypt was real or a voyage of the mind and spirit. The fame of the pyramids, essentially the "granaries of Joseph" and other known sites, continually echoes in art and literature, generating the continuous recreation of legend. "Modern Egypt has been built over ancient Egypt, whose monuments disappeared beneath the sand and whose writings remained impenetrable" commented Ben-Baltrusaitis in regards to the limits of time and space that cut off the modern world from the ancient world. In the following centuries, during the ages of Humanism and the Renaissance, through the recovery of documents and sites, the knowledge of antique civilisation, including Egyptian civilisation, took on a more rational approach, that went beyond the almost mystical veneration for Egypt that was pervasive in Medieval Europe. Travel took on a more precise interest in antiquities, archaeology and also ethnography, which renewed the vision of Egypt increasingly on one hand in the area of collecting and on the other a more accurate publication of antique sites. In parallel terms, the European travel reports of the East, which increased in the 18th century, provided a priceless and immediate contribution to the knowledge of the civilisation of the Pharaohs. Egyptian civilisation became more systematically explored: the Temple of Karnak and other great temples of High Egypt, from Esna to Edfu to Kom Ombo to File; the regal underground temples, some of which were highly inaccessible; the number of known sites increased.

But the authentic rediscovery of Egypt began only at the beginning of the 19th century, as a consequence of the Napoleonic Expedition (1798-1801) that combined military projects with scientific research. This resulted in not just direct knowledge of the sites, but knowledge of all aspects of antique and contemporary Egyptian culture. Thanks to the efforts of a consortium of experts, scientists, artists and literary specialists linked with Bonaparte, eighteen volumes (8 texts and 10 tables) were written on the "Description de l'Egypte" (1809-1826). The unexpected find of the Rosetta Stone allowed the deciphering of the hieroglyphic writings achieved in the work of Jean François Champollion (1822) and led to the birth of the discipline of Egyptology. Other expeditions followed in the first half of the nineteenth century, such as that of Franco Toscana (1828-29) guided by Champollion, and that of Pisan Ippolito Rosellini, founder of Egyptology in Italy, and also a Prussian expedition conducted by Richard Lepsius of the Imperial Academy of Berlin (1842-1845).

Scientific expeditions began to combine with adventure expeditions, led by intent archaeologists, like the undertakings of Paduan Gian Battista Belzoni (1815-1818), or else with the expedition dictated by the Romantic spirit, like that of Gustave Flaubert, who saw in the East a land of mystery and magic, ideal for escape and evasion, be it physical or above all, intellectual and spiritual. In the middle of the 19th Century, with the French archaeologist Auguste Mariete, the archeological research in Egypt assumed a systematic character and followed more precise methodologies. And from then on the country became a travel destination increasingly more sought after because of the fame of unearthed "treasures". Around the end of the century archaeological Egypt appeared in all of its monumentalise: now it had much to reveal, but the route of travellers at that time encompassed almost all of the tourist stops: From Cairo a traveller had to go on an excursion to the pyramids of Saqqara and Giza and to the Sphinx; then one proceeded to Luxor and Karnak (the ancient Thebes), at best in the moonlight, to fully enjoy the fascination of the ruins; and the tour continued on to Esna, Edfu, Kom Ombo until Aswan, to the Doors of Nubia, with its temples, File and Abu Simbel among the first, that still occupied their spot by that stretch of river destined to become a lake after the construction of the great Aswan dam. The epoch of the adventurous travellers can be considered concluded at that time, but the sites and ambience continued to imprint themselves in the spirit evoking ancient scenes.

Written by Dott.ssa Enrichetta Leospo (Museo Egizio of Turin).
From the book "Uno sguardo sull'Egitto" Sagep Publisher.