"When Napoleon Bonaparte embarked upon a military expedition to Egypt in 1798, he took with him a team of scholars, scientists and artists. Together, they produced the monumental Description de l'Égypte, a massive, multivolume work about Egyptian geography, history and culture. At the time, the United States was a young nation with big aspirations, and Americans often viewed their country as an heir to the great civilizations of the past."
"In the slaveholding South, ancient Egypt and its pharaohs became a way to justify slavery. For abolitionists and African Americans, biblical Egypt served as a symbol of bondage and liberation. As a historian, I study how 19th-century Americans-from Southern intellectuals to Black abolitionists-used ancient Egypt to debate questions of race, civilization and national identity. My research traces how a distorted image of ancient Egypt shaped competing visions of freedom and hierarchy in a deeply divided nation."
Napoleon's 1798 expedition to Egypt brought scholars and artists who produced the monumental Description de l'Égypte, documenting Egyptian geography, history and culture. The tales of ancient Egypt fascinated Americans, who often viewed the young United States as an heir to great past civilizations. In the slaveholding South, ancient Egypt and its pharaohs were invoked to justify slavery and to lend classical prestige to Southern places and projects. By contrast, abolitionists and African Americans adopted biblical Egypt as a powerful symbol of bondage and eventual liberation, producing competing visions of race, civilization and national identity.
Read at Smithsonian Magazine
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