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Egyptomania: A History of Fascination, Obsession and Fantasy
Ancient Egypt has been a focus of awe and fascination from its beginnings in the Age of the Pyramids to the present day. In Egyptomania Ronald H. Fritze takes us on a historical journey to unearth the Egypt of the imagination, a land of strange gods, murky magic, secret knowledge, marvellous pyramids, enigmatic sphinxes, monumental obelisks, immense wealth and mysterious mummies.Egypt has always exerted a powerful attraction in popular and high culture, and an array of personalities have been attracted and repelled to the idea of Egypt. Medieval Christians considered Egypt a land with many connections to the Bible while medieval Muslims were intrigued by its massive monuments, esoteric learning and hidden treasures. Scholars of the Renaissance, the Baroque, and the Enlightenment pondered the mysteries of hieroglyphs and Hermes Trismegistus. Even the practical-minded Napoleon dreamed of Egyptian glory and helped open the antique land to the West. Fritze goes beyond the examination of Egyptomania in art and architecture to reveal its impact on religion, philosophy, historical study, literature, travel, science and popular culture. All those who are still captivated by Egyptomania will revel in the mysteries uncovered in this book.
453 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 12, 2016
6 people are currently reading
181 people want to read
About the author
Ronald H. Fritze
17 books6 followersRonald H. Fritze is an American encyclopedist, historian, and writer known for his criticism of pseudohistoric ideas.
Fritze earned his BA in history at Concordia College in 1974. He obtained a master's degree from Louisiana State University and a PhD from Cambridge University in 1981. He has worked at Lamar University in Beaumont and the University of Central Arkansas in 2001 as chair of the history department. He is currently Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Athens State University.
Fritze is the author of Invented Knowledge: False History, Fake Science, and Pseudo-religions (2009) a book which critically examines the pseudohistoric claims of Martin Bernal's Black Athena, Erich von Däniken, Immanuel Velikovsky, Atlantis, Christian Identity, Nation of Islam, and fringe related pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact theories. According to Fritze pseudohistory is a "charlatan's playground" targeting those too "willing to suspend disbelief" and slip into an "abyss of fantasy". Fritze considers such pseudohistoric ideas to be irrational and misleading the public. The book has received positive reviews.
Fritze earned his BA in history at Concordia College in 1974. He obtained a master's degree from Louisiana State University and a PhD from Cambridge University in 1981. He has worked at Lamar University in Beaumont and the University of Central Arkansas in 2001 as chair of the history department. He is currently Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Athens State University.
Fritze is the author of Invented Knowledge: False History, Fake Science, and Pseudo-religions (2009) a book which critically examines the pseudohistoric claims of Martin Bernal's Black Athena, Erich von Däniken, Immanuel Velikovsky, Atlantis, Christian Identity, Nation of Islam, and fringe related pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact theories. According to Fritze pseudohistory is a "charlatan's playground" targeting those too "willing to suspend disbelief" and slip into an "abyss of fantasy". Fritze considers such pseudohistoric ideas to be irrational and misleading the public. The book has received positive reviews.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 3, 2024
A very interesting overview of the topic. The book gets off to a slow start with an unnecessarily long chapter about the old testament, but the rest was a rewarding read. The chapters on Victorian Egyptomania and fringe history theories about Egypt were especially good.
January 17, 2022
I read this book in print format.
This is not an easy read. While not strictly an academic text, it is researched and footnoted like one. The information provided is dense. Sometimes it is hard to keep track of the timeline or of people.
But I found it worth the effort to read. Its point is not to tell Egyptian history per se, although it does provide a brief overview of the subject. The main purpose is to chronicle the Western World's fascination with all things Egyptian from the Greeks and the Romans to modern days.
I was most fascinated by the chapter on fringe theories. These include such topics as ancient aliens helping or being the Egyptians, pyramid power, secret societies such as the Rosicrucians and the Freemasons, and the idea of secret knowledge.
I was intrigued by the Afrocentrism controversy. This view states that the Egyptians and perhaps other ancient civilizations were black. The author and other scholars do not agree with the viewpoint but it is interesting to hear the arguments on both sides.
It was a little sad to read about how Alexandria had degenerated from its ancient heyday, such that 19th-century tourists were underwhelmed when they arrived. The grand tour of Egypt was a pleasure to read about.
Of course it is sad to see how much looting of antiquities has occurred. Now we are seeing a movement to return items to their nations of origin so we will have to see how this plays out with Egyptian artifacts.
The media review of films and books based on Egyptomania was very well written. Movies are one of my fields of interest, so I was happy to get an overview and some reading suggestions.
The importance of Napoleon's ill-fated voyage to Egypt and the discovery of the Rosetta Stone is highlighted. The discovery of King Tut's tomb also warrants much discussion.
So this is a long book but again worth the effort if you are in the least interested in ancient Egypt.
This is not an easy read. While not strictly an academic text, it is researched and footnoted like one. The information provided is dense. Sometimes it is hard to keep track of the timeline or of people.
But I found it worth the effort to read. Its point is not to tell Egyptian history per se, although it does provide a brief overview of the subject. The main purpose is to chronicle the Western World's fascination with all things Egyptian from the Greeks and the Romans to modern days.
I was most fascinated by the chapter on fringe theories. These include such topics as ancient aliens helping or being the Egyptians, pyramid power, secret societies such as the Rosicrucians and the Freemasons, and the idea of secret knowledge.
I was intrigued by the Afrocentrism controversy. This view states that the Egyptians and perhaps other ancient civilizations were black. The author and other scholars do not agree with the viewpoint but it is interesting to hear the arguments on both sides.
It was a little sad to read about how Alexandria had degenerated from its ancient heyday, such that 19th-century tourists were underwhelmed when they arrived. The grand tour of Egypt was a pleasure to read about.
Of course it is sad to see how much looting of antiquities has occurred. Now we are seeing a movement to return items to their nations of origin so we will have to see how this plays out with Egyptian artifacts.
The media review of films and books based on Egyptomania was very well written. Movies are one of my fields of interest, so I was happy to get an overview and some reading suggestions.
The importance of Napoleon's ill-fated voyage to Egypt and the discovery of the Rosetta Stone is highlighted. The discovery of King Tut's tomb also warrants much discussion.
So this is a long book but again worth the effort if you are in the least interested in ancient Egypt.
January 31, 2019
I’d say 3.5 stars. For the first half of the book it was a pretty quick read with interesting stories from and about ancient Egypt. The second half has more information on Egypt in pop culture which was fine, but not as interesting.
October 7, 2023
Really interesting, and the writing (or maybe it was the editing) got better throughout. Some of the author’s asides were rather amusing too.
Worth a read if you love books with lots of detail and facts, but if not you may find it a bit dry.
Worth a read if you love books with lots of detail and facts, but if not you may find it a bit dry.
March 23, 2024
Great book on the fascination with ancient Egypt, from Biblical times to the present.
November 19, 2023
Most books about the Western fascination with ancient Egypt restrict themselves to a particular aspect or time period. Fritze attempts to tackle the whole thing, and, despite some deficiencies, he largely succeeds.
Part One, Egyptomania through the Ages, gives a potted history of the real ancient Egypt and then outlines the development of the Western fascination, from biblical and Greco-Roman times to the "mass Egyptomania" of the 20th and 21st centuries. Part Two is organized by subject: Occult Egyptomania, fringe history, African American Egyptomania, and ancient Egypt in fiction.
Fritze certainly did his research—the references list is huge and includes all of the works on Egypt's Western influence that I'm aware of—and most of the time the text is correspondingly thorough. But there are a few factual errors (hieroglyphic writing went extinct in the 390s, not the 490s) and occasionally there are strange holes in his coverage. The chapter on occult Egyptomania spends a few pages each on Helena Blavatsky and Edgar Cayce but barely even mentions Aleister Crowley, who was more Egypt-focused than Blavatsky and at least as influential as Cayce. Nor does Fritze address the Egyptian influence on neopaganism in general (which is, to be fair, largely indirect and diffuse) or the neopagan groups that are explicitly reviving ancient Egyptian religious practice.
Sometimes I feel that Fritze could analyze patterns in the use of ancient Egypt a little bit more. Why did this or that figure use Egyptian motifs, or were they used just because Egypt is considered cool? I also think he glosses over the sharp change in Egyptomania created by the emergence of Egyptology in the 19th century. Before that, Westerners knew only a strange, Hellenistic-looking Egypt, derived from the biblical and Greco-Roman sources, that was mostly devoid of dynastic Egypt's genuine history, beliefs, and even art style. Later Egyptomania may still be built around some of the basic tropes inherited from the pre-Egyptological world, but the details are largely derived from the evidence uncovered by Egyptology. But in some cases Fritze does discuss the deeper implications of his subject matter. His analyses of 19th-century mummy fiction and of Afrocentric Egyptomania are highlights.
As much as I nit-pick it, Fritze's book is the most extensive and best-researched you're likely to find about Egyptomania.
Part One, Egyptomania through the Ages, gives a potted history of the real ancient Egypt and then outlines the development of the Western fascination, from biblical and Greco-Roman times to the "mass Egyptomania" of the 20th and 21st centuries. Part Two is organized by subject: Occult Egyptomania, fringe history, African American Egyptomania, and ancient Egypt in fiction.
Fritze certainly did his research—the references list is huge and includes all of the works on Egypt's Western influence that I'm aware of—and most of the time the text is correspondingly thorough. But there are a few factual errors (hieroglyphic writing went extinct in the 390s, not the 490s) and occasionally there are strange holes in his coverage. The chapter on occult Egyptomania spends a few pages each on Helena Blavatsky and Edgar Cayce but barely even mentions Aleister Crowley, who was more Egypt-focused than Blavatsky and at least as influential as Cayce. Nor does Fritze address the Egyptian influence on neopaganism in general (which is, to be fair, largely indirect and diffuse) or the neopagan groups that are explicitly reviving ancient Egyptian religious practice.
Sometimes I feel that Fritze could analyze patterns in the use of ancient Egypt a little bit more. Why did this or that figure use Egyptian motifs, or were they used just because Egypt is considered cool? I also think he glosses over the sharp change in Egyptomania created by the emergence of Egyptology in the 19th century. Before that, Westerners knew only a strange, Hellenistic-looking Egypt, derived from the biblical and Greco-Roman sources, that was mostly devoid of dynastic Egypt's genuine history, beliefs, and even art style. Later Egyptomania may still be built around some of the basic tropes inherited from the pre-Egyptological world, but the details are largely derived from the evidence uncovered by Egyptology. But in some cases Fritze does discuss the deeper implications of his subject matter. His analyses of 19th-century mummy fiction and of Afrocentric Egyptomania are highlights.
As much as I nit-pick it, Fritze's book is the most extensive and best-researched you're likely to find about Egyptomania.
May 27, 2018
A book not about Egypt but rather about the world's fascination with Egypt throughout history. Dense but fascinating. Only weakness is a sparse index.
February 18, 2022
I found the information within the book to be captivating, but I do think it was repetitive at times
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews