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Napoleon had been obsessed with Ancient Egypt since he had been a child and decided that he wanted a complete survey of chart maps, a record of contemporary life, to gather artifacts and specimens, and most importantly to document the ancient temples and monuments.
The Savants recorded everything that they saw in Egypt, to Napoleon's regret his military aspect was a failure he had intended to establish a French Colony, disrupt British trade with India, free the Egyptians from their Mameluke oppressors and impose liberty and equality on a benighted land. Things didn't work out as he had planned and he was forced to withdraw from Egypt within three years, Egypt reverted back to the Ottomans who had the support of the British in 1801. After his defeat Napoleon fled back to France leaving the Savants stranded with the remnants of the French army. Napoleon had given the Savants a vacant building in Cairo and an academic organization known as the Institute of Egypt. it contained printing presses for both Arabic and Roman characters, a library, and laboratories for physical and chemical experiments. Girad, who had been appointed as Egyptian Minister of the Interior by Napoleon, proposed to the institute that they should explore the Nile as far as the falls. He also took part in the study of ancient monuments, including the Nilometer the Ancient Egyptian method of measuring the height of the Nile, in the Temple on Elephantine Island.
'Description De L'Egypt'
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One of the guest Artists of the expedition was Dominique Vivant Denon who was befriended King Louis XV, he survived the French Revolution, and attracted the attention of Napoleon. He joined the expedition at Napoleon’s invitation, although he was not included in the Commission of Sciences and Arts (the Savants).
Denon was the first artist to discover and draw the temples in Dendera, Luxor, Esna, Edfu and Philae, he was allowed to join the troops as they worked their way through Egypt, and was thrilled when they arrived at the first temple of the Goddess Hathor at Dendera, where he sat down to draw the Temple.
The Temple of the Goddess Hathor at Dendera
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Karnack Temple
The troop ships moved south reaching Luxor to find the Temples of Karnack the earthly home of the supreme God Amun Ra,'Iput Isut' the Sacred Place and Luxor Temple, that was created to celebrate the Opet Festival a yearly Event where the King and Egypt would be renewed,. As their ship arrived at Karnack they were so overwhelmed with her majesty that they immediately stood to attention and saluted to a drum roll.
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Tuthmosis 111 war records and prisoners are recorded on the walls of Karnack Temple. He spent most of his rule on Campaign he was military genius of his time, and he brought wealth and power to Egypt. The French were so impressed with his long Battle records and Campaigns recorded on the walls of Karnack temple that they declared him to be 'The Egyptian Napoleon'. He understood the value of logistics and lines of supply, the necessity of rapid movement, and the sudden surprise attack. He led by example and was probably the first person in history to take full advantage of sea power to support his campaigns.
Colossi of Memnon
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Denon found himself working alone in his attempts to make visual records of the Egyptian monuments then he met another expedition that had been sent out by Napoleon whilst he was drawing the Colossi of Memnon, under the direction of the engineer Pierre-Simon Girard. The purpose of this expedition was to make a hydrographic study of the upper Nile, and many of the members of the Commission were sent along. Denon showed them his portfolio, which included a view of the magnificent Colossi of Memnon, on the plain west of Thebes. The engineers were amazed, and wanted to spend their time recording ground plans and elevations, but Girard objected strongly. Archaeology was not their mission, he claimed. But whenever their hydrographic work was done, the engineers would visit the ruins. The Colossi originally stood either side of the entrance to the Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep 111 who also created the large Festival hall surrounded by columns in Luxor Temple, his wife Tiy is embracing his leg on the first statue.
The Ramesseum - The Mortuary Temple of Ramses the Great
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The name 'Ramessium' was inspired by Champollion during his visit to Egypt in 1829, he gave it the name 'Rhamesseion' because he had identified the hieroglyphs making up Ramses names and titles on the walls
The Valley of The Kings
In 1799, members of Napoleon's expedition arrived at the Valley of the Kings, Vivant Denon drew maps and plans of the known tombs, and for the first time Valley Jollois and Édouard de Villiers located the tomb of Amenhotep III, who was the Pharaoh who created the Festival Hall in Luxor Temple, and the Colossi of Memnon, the statues that originally stood before his Mortuary Temple. Since the discovery of the Tomb of Amenophis 111 the funerary objects have appeared on European markets.
The troops moved south rapidly. They reached Esna, then Edfu, but Denon was limited to how much time that he could spend recording the temples. in February 1799 they arrived at Aswan and Denon finally had free time for his work recording the temples, he explored Elephantine and saw the Nilometer and then he found the Temple of Philae.
The Temple of Isis at Philae
Arriving at Philae the local inhabitants would not allow the French to land for some time, but eventually the natives were forcibly evicted, and Denon was allowed to explore the many temples on the island he wrote in his journal:
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Denon was enthralled by the tiny Kiosk of Trajan. He wrote that if ever the French were to take a monument back to Paris, he felt that this should be the one because he wrote, 'it would give a palpable proof of the noble simplicity of Egyptian architecture, and would show, in a striking manner, that it is character, and not extent alone, which gives dignity to an edifice.'
By the end of February, the soldiers headed back north, with Murad Bey always a little ahead of them, so Denon finally had a second chance to see many of the monuments, that he had not had time to sketch on there first arrival. He had been rushed through Karnack and Luxor temples previously, but now he had time to draw them on this his fourth visit. In May they arrived at Dendera againand Denon drew the Zodiac ceiling that he would make famous, as it is the earliest record of the Zodiac signs in history.
Denon finally arrived back in Cairo in July of 1799 where he met with members of the Institute and showed them his drawings and they were captivated by what he had managed to record, Napoleon was so impressed with Denon's drawings that he authorized two more expeditions to Upper Egypt with the express purpose of studying the antiquities they headed south in August 1799.
Napoleon fled Egypt France, deserting his troops and his savants, and taking with him Monge, and Berthollet, and Denon. On his arrival home Denon began to prepare his journal and drawings, and they finally appeared in a folio edition in 1802.
The studies of the Savants, the encyclopedic 'Description de L'Egypt,' was finally published approximately thirty years after Napoleon's campaign had begun, and almost a decade after Napoleon's death in exile from France. The twenty three volumes laid the foundations of Egyptology.
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