Conflicted Antiquities: Egyptology, Egyptomania, Egyptian Modernity

by Elliott Colla

Conflicted Antiquities is a rich cultural history of European and Egyptian interest in ancient Egypt and its material culture, from the early nineteenth century until the mid-twentieth. Consulting the relevant Arabic archives, Elliott Colla demonstrates that the emergence of Egyptology—the study of ancient Egypt and its material legacy—was as consequential for modern Egyptians as it was for Europeans. The values and practices introduced by the new science of archaeology played a key role in the formation of a new colonial regime in Egypt. This fact was not lost on Egyptian nationalists, who challenged colonial archaeologists with the claim that they were the direct heirs of the Pharaohs, and therefore the rightful owners and administrators of ancient Egypt’s historical sites and artifacts. As this dispute developed, nationalists invented the political and expressive culture of “Pharaonism”—Egypt’s response to Europe’s Egyptomania. In the process, a significant body of modern, Pharaonist poetry, sculpture, architecture, and film was created by artists and authors who looked to the ancient past for inspiration. Colla draws on medieval and modern Arabic poetry, novels, and travel accounts; British and French travel writing; the history of archaeology; and the history of European and Egyptian museums and exhibits. The struggle over the ownership of Pharaonic Egypt did not simply pit Egyptian nationalists against European colonial administrators. Egyptian elites found arguments about the appreciation and preservation of ancient objects useful for exerting new forms of control over rural populations and for mobilizing new political parties. Finally, just as the political and expressive culture of Pharaonism proved critical to the formation of new concepts of nationalist identity, it also fueled Islamist opposition to the Egyptian state.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Egypt

360 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Elliott Colla is author of We Are All Things (with Ganzeer), Baghdad Central, and Conflicted Antiquities. He translates and teaches Arabic literature at Georgetown University.

Check out Euston Film/Channel 4's adaptation of Baghdad Central! (Also available on Hulu and Starzplay.)

Reviews

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. Colla shows us how ancient Egyptian objects became imbued with all sorts of meanings by Europeans and Egyptians throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I suppose his big intervention in the historiography of Egyptology was incorporating the voices and experiences of Egyptians, not just British or French archeologists.

From the British perspective, Colla shows us how the British started collecting ancient Egyptian objects to compete with France, but since they could not understand hieroglyphics, these objects were seen as "curious" artifacts, not works of art or meaning. That all changed once Champollion demonstrated how to translate the hieroglyphics. After that, Egyptomania in Britain exploded, Egyptology became a "science," the artifacts became more valued, and ancient Egypt itself became incorporated in the European historical narrative (as the precursor to Greece).

The explosion of Egyptology also coincided with British colonial efforts in Egypt, especially after 1882. Egyptology seemingly became incorporated within the colonial administration after this point, especially since they viewed the Egyptians as incapable of sufficiently protecting the ancient artifacts. The British viewed themselves as the rightful custodians of these objects since they had the preservation infrastructure, academic infrastructure, and colonial control over Egypt. I suppose a lot of other narratives end here, but Colla goes on to incorporate the modern Egyptian take on Egyptology.

Colla shows how Egyptology (and Pharonism) was interpreted in several different ways by modern Egyptians: as a guide to national liberation, as integral to the modern Egyptian consciousness, as a distraction from Islam, etc. Anticolonial politics of the secular and Islamist varieties had diverging takes on the place of ancient Egypt in the modern Egyptian consciousness. These discussions were fascinating. Some nationalists viewed modern Egyptians as direct descendants from the ancient dynasties, so the ancient Egyptian imagery became incorporated in the modern nationalist project. Some Islamists on the other hand, notable Qutb, believed that modern Egypt should avoid idolizing such a pagan society as it goes against the core teachings of Islam. Although Colla ends the narrative around 1940, I'm sure these two schools of thought continued to go through major developments throughout the twentieth century.

Also, there is a striking parallel between the British colonial projects in Egypt and India. In Egypt, Egyptology is used to justify colonialism for the British since their superior knowledge of ancient Egypt is supposed to validate British control of the Egyptian state. However, the Egyptian independence movement used Egyptology to develop an anti-colonial nationalism, which eventually pushed the British out. In India, (see Another Reason: Science and the Imagination of Modern India) a similar dynamic plays out with science in general. Scientific knowledge was used by the British to justify colonialism, but then Hindu nationalists co-opted science in order to justify a national liberation movement, who also kicked out the British. I found this parallel important. The political meanings ascribed to knowledge-formations, like physics or Egyptology, were important for both the colonist and the colonized in this era.

This book would definitely pair well with Colonising Egypt, Another Reason: Science and the Imagination of Modern India, and Collecting the World: Hans Sloane and the Origins of the British Museum.

[Helen Turnock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay this was really engaging, and very well written. The argument reads well, and Colla doesn’t attempt to make his discussion inaccessible, instead injecting his style with verve and character, which this text is all the better for. However, as much as I like it, it is ultimately still an academic text at heart, and as such can’t rate it above 4 stars.

[Dillon Tatum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting almost "post-structuralist" intellectual/literary history of the "artifact." The author argues, that what makes the artifact an artifact is the discourse created by it...otherwise it is just a piece of rock. He views the dynamics of colonial and Egyptian discourses surrounding Egyptology, and how this created the "artifaction" of relics.

[Rebecca Byrne · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's fascinating and sad that exerting control over and claiming superior knowledge of the cultural heritage of a people was leveraged to justify paternalistic behavior. This book expertly explains how this happened in Egypt during the colonial era.

A good book for fans of Egyptology. If you're more interested in reading about Ancient Egypt itself, though, be warned: that is not really what this book is about.

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating information but a bit too verbose, could stand an edit so it's more impactful. The author tends to repeat himself sometimes.

[João Gabriel Caia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Não me tenho deparado com muitas obras científicas que recorram a metodologias próprias de história de coleções e biografias de objetos para analisar a Egiptologia na sua história cultural e científica contemporânea. A de Elliott Colla é uma das poucas que almeja uma análise neste prisma e consegue-o com muito interesse.

Dos diversos contextos político e cultural por onde navega a biografia da cabeça de Memmon, entre Belzoni e o Museu Britânico, o autor captura as dinâmicas de poder que circundavam estas práticas arqueológicas, assim como as perceções sobre a cultura material do Antigo Egipto que a Europa da Era dos Impérios foi desenvolvendo, quer no território do Egipto árabe que controlava, quer nos seus grandes museus que ia consolidando e apurando narrativas científicas.

Colla parte desta "biografia" fascinante para alargar a sua obra a outras perspetivas, como a presença do Antigo Egipto na cultura árabe, o impacto de Rosetta para a Egiptologia, a relação desta disciplina com os seus usos do passado, e os impactos das transformações geopolíticas do século XX no desenvolvimento científico.

Em "Conflicted Antiquities" obtemos uma reflexão conjunta que atravessa os séculos XIX e XX, permitindo ao autor pensar e questionar o fenómeno do Pharaonism enquanto cruzamento de identidades no Egypto árabe, islâmico, mas herdeiro de uma cultura que fora absorvida nas relações de poder com o ocidente europeu. Em suma, e como escreve o autor, legados de uma "specific form of colonial modernity that emerged when Europeans and Egyptians contended with one another over the control of Egypt’s Pharaonic artifacts and, with that, the power to interpret its ancient past."