Egyptology, the formal study of Ancient Egypt, began with the invasion of Napoleon in to Egypt. With him he brought “Savants” who began to study ancient Egyptian ruins and attempt to explore Egypt’s past before Islam. These events lead to a revitalized interest in Egypt as the birthplace of civilization and started a European rivalry that would extend into the 20th century. However, it was not until the rise of the Nationalist movement in the early 20th century that Egyptians became involved in the study of their own Ancient Past. Although images of the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx were on heavily circulated items such as paper money and postage stamps, few Egyptians were involved in the study of the Ancient past. The few who did attempt to make this study were blocked from teaching others because of funding or their European counterparts. Notably these included Ahmed Kamal, Marcus Saimka, and Ali Mubarak who were all the first in their fields to represent Egyptians in the field of Archaeology. While many Egyptians were not clear on the details of their past, Nationalists were quick to use those symbols to encourage separation from the British. These Pharaonic themes can be seen in Egyptian art of the Nationalist period and still permeate arts in Egypt today. However, this appropriation of symbols carries with it another underlying theme that few have explored. The connection between images of women and this Egyptological discourse. Many statues that contain Pharaonic themes, such as Nahdet Misr, portray the ancient world as a female or in juxtaposition with the image of a modern Egyptian woman.
For this research project, I will examine 3 architectural portrays of females in pharaonic styles from the early 20th century. I would like to answer two important questions. First, why was it that public portrayal of Ancient Egyptians chose to portray females rather than males? Was it because of the relationship between Egyptian connotation of “Pharaohs” or a by-product of individual design choices? Second, how does the feminist discourse of the early 20th century explore the portrayal of Ancient women? How far did feminist discourse draw in the past to explain the position of women in Egyptian society? Or is this time period ignored in favor of more well-known Islamic examples? Has this discourse changed at all with Egypt’s true independence and now the Arab Spring?
To answer these questions, I will look at both primary and secondary source material. For Primary source material I am looking specifically the Nahdet Misr statue, Sa’ad Zaghlul’s Mausoleum, the façade of the Egyptian Museum, the statue of Mustafa Kamil, the memoirs of Huda Shaarawi, and 2 famous women biographies that describe the lives of Queen Nefertari and that of Pharaoh Nitocris. As for secondary source material I will explore what work has already been done to relate these pieces of evidence to the general values of the Nationalist and the Feminist movement in the early 20th century. I would also like to read accompanying histories to the monuments themselves in order to explore the choice of the builders to included pharaonic themes in their art.
My preliminary research suggests that the portrayal of females on the façade of the Egyptian Museum represented the rise of Neopharaonic styles in European architecture rather than any nationalist want to revitalize an old style. The museum was built by Europeans and for Europeans since many of the inscriptions on the outside are written in latin and not a single Egyptian who participated in Egyptology is inscribed on the outside. The presence of women on other statues suggests the incorporation of the Nationalists perception of the whole nation as a household and as Egypt as a “Mother” country. This is supported by the famous women biographies that portray Queen Nefertari and Pharaoh Nitocris as good housewives that still maintained a public face and were able to rule Ancient Egypt themselves.
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