External factors have always played an important role in creating reputation, no matter what the context might have been. There is one's expression and there is another’s perception. One’s deeds and words do not create a legacy on their own; it is the way they are remembered by others that really shape the memory that would endure throughout the eons.
In the previous entries, I looked at the unique features of ancient Egyptian society and culture, the aspects that make understanding ancient Egyptian history more difficult, and the ancient local traditions that tangled in the mysterious and supernatural which were part of the civilization's fabric for centuries. But in order to truly understand the image of Egypt as a mystical land in Western imagination, we need to look at how Egypt was perceived in the West throughout different historical periods, the factors that contributed to it, and how this image changed throughout the centuries along with attitudes.
Ancient Egypt and Antiquity: The Edge of the Known World
Depicting Egypt as a place where miraculous and mysterious things happen on a regular basis is not a modern invention. In the West, this trope has existed since Antiquity. And there is a reason why it came to be. Ancient maps presented the Earth as a much smaller place. Classical geographers placed Egypt close to the southern edge of the known world. Beyond Egypt and its neighbours lay an unexplored realm. And human imagination is built in a way that it activates when the prospect of coming into contact with the unknown emerges, creating vivid and wild images. So the edge of the known world became a place where the rational met with the uncanny.
Greek and Roman authors retold tales and anecdotes about the peculiarities of Egyptian geography. According to some claims, there were floating islands on the Nile. There were claims of a vast underground lake connecting the Nile Valley and the Libyan Gulf. Stories about fantastic creatures were shared. According to Herodotus, Egypt was the burial ground of the mythological Phoenix bird. A Phoenix would come to Egypt from Arabia once in their lifetime to lay their father to rest. Sightings of flying serpents were also reported.
It was during that time the first Western authors began to use Egypt as a setting for what would eventually give rise to action-adventure fiction. According to Euripides’ tragedy Helen, when Paris abducted Helen from Sparta, he was unable to take her to Troy. Instead, the goddess Aphrodite created an apparition of Helen from a cloud whilst Helen herself was magically transported to Egypt only to be found by her husband Menelaus after the Trojan War when the latter got shipwrecked and stranded in Egypt.
Egypt appeared in a version of the myths about the Twelve Labours of Heracles. On his way to retrieve the magical apple from the Garden of Hesperides, Heracles wandered into Egypt, which was ruled by the cruel king Busiris who sacrificed all foreigners who entered the country as offerings to its gods. An attempt to sacrifice Heracles failed and resulted in the hero slaying the vile king.
Heracles slaying Busiris. Ancient Greek amphora.
So the ancient authors were the ones who created the picture of Egypt as a fabled and otherworldly land in Western imagination. In part due to the authority of classical texts in Western culture, this depiction outlived the Antiquity. Moreover, it continued to evolve, adapting to the trends in Western cultural history throughout the ages and changing as people’s perceptions of the natural world and the paranormal shifted.
Ancient Egypt and the Renaissance: Back to the Sources
The Renaissance brought about renewed interest in the ancient classics and their re-evaluation. This also led to increased interest in Egypt due to the country’s role in the broader history of the Mediterranean. Part of its success was probably due to the novelty. Greek and Roman sources had already become close and familiar; but the texts from Egypt with their complex cosmologies and foreign concepts, in contrast, were a source of intrigue.
Interestingly, the precursor of modern Chemistry also helped boost interest in the prototype of modern Egyptology. It can be said that alchemy, a quasi-science dedicated to understanding the workings of the natural world, went from being a fringe subject during the Middle Ages to a more or less mainstream field of study during the Renaissance. I covered Hermeticism and its mystical cosmology in a previous blog post. But the name of Hermes Trismegistus had been known by European alchemists long before the Renaissance. Some medieval texts on alchemy made references to a mysterious text and artefact known as the Emerald Tablet. Its true authorship is unknown, but it was attributed to Hermes Trismegistus. The original source, which legends claimed was literally inscribed on a tablet made out of emerald stone, never resurfaced, but the translated text was preserved via quotes in the works of several early medieval Arabic authors.
The text of the Emerald Tablet consists of 14 verses and feels like a cross between a religious hymn and some encrypted instruction. It tells about “the One Thing” that is connected to “the One”. This “One Thing” is the source of all matter, is able to separate earth and fire, cross from earth to heaven, and go through solid bodies. Through “the One Thing” it was said a person could achieve “the glory of the world”. But what exactly does all of this mean? The narration is incredibly vague and allegorical, so it feels impossible to decipher the meaning behind these words. And yet throughout the centuries they appealed to those individuals who sought hidden knowledge or wished to get that ambiguous “glory of the world”.
The emblem of the Emerald Tablet in a 17th century alchemical treatise.
The Corpus Hermeticum was translated from Greek into Latin on the order from Cosimo Medici, the ruler of Florence, during the late 15th century. Hermetic teachings became quite popular not just among early modern alchemists, but philosophers and scientists as well, such as Isaac Newton.
So once again, Egypt became viewed as a land of lost ancient knowledge, a source of wisdom. Whoever wanted to give their teachings more clout would try to claim some connection to Ancient Egypt. For instance, in late 18th century, the Italian adventurer and charlatan Count Cagliostro, a self-declared mystic who found popularity among the high classes in several European countries, claimed to have been a “Great Copthe” of a mystical order of Egyptian origins. It is also said that Hermeticism with its ever-present strive to achieve knowledge inspired the philosophies of secret societies such as the Freemasons and the Illuminati.
Ancient Egypt and the Modern Period: Birth of a New Mythology
In late 19th and early 20th centuries, spiritism was a fad in the West. It was a time when spirit séances and clairvoyance became a favourite pastime of some sections of society. So what happens when spiritism mixes with a booming yellow press and the heyday of Egyptology when new antiquities and discoveries appeared to be made every day? You get the birth of an urban legend: “the Curse of the Pharaohs”.
On November 4 1922, an archaeological team led by Egyptologist Howard Carter opened the tomb of Tutankhamun, the first previously undisturbed burial of an Egyptian pharaoh. One of the first people to enter the tomb was sponsor of the expedition, George Herbert, the Earl of Carnarvon.
They entered a tomb where walls were decorated with blood-chilling inscriptions warning any trespassers about the horrible misfortunes that would befall them if they were ever to disturb the eternal rest of those buried there.
Howard Carter studying the mummy of Tutankhamun. 1925.
Incidentally, Carnarvon died from pneumonia 5 months later. This led to the start of the media craze surrounding the curse of the ancient pharaohs. These accounts were laced with tales that felt like scenes from a story in the Gothic genre. These included claims such as all electricity in Cairo going out the moment of Carnarvon’s death or that his pet canary was eaten by a cobra the same day. Later stories on this topic began to include unconfirmed claims of other members of the expedition dying shortly after the excavation in horrible manners. Thus, one of the greatest urban myths of the 20th century came to be.
Ancient Egypt and the Contemporary World: Reimagining in the New Age
By the middle of the 20th century, explorers had visited practically every place on Earth. The known world had become bigger, but what lay beyond it turned out to be significantly vaster than previously thought. It could no longer stay limited to Earth; there was an entire universe out there, just as physical and material. The answers to questions that were once sought in the unseen world began being searched amidst the vast expanses of space. After all, what do the spiritual plane and the distant corners of the galaxy have in common? Humans had not set foot on either.
So a new school of thought emerged, having re-evaluated the ancient sources again. It proposed the notion that the spirits and deities that the ancient texts described as the sources of their knowledge were not supernatural, just different…but more advanced. It seems natural that in the age of atom and space shuttles this idea caught up quite quickly. A new cultural phenomenon emerged: the “ancient astronauts” claim.
Unsurprisingly, Egypt became one of the first civilisations to get connected to the idea of ancient extraterrestrial contacts. From Erik von Daniken to Robert Temple, from Zecharia Sitchin to the showrunners of Ancient Aliens—practically no advocate of the ancient astronauts claim had gone about without touching the matter of Ancient Egypt.
As I mentioned previously, Egypt’s history is riddled with blank spaces and laced with legends. Herodotus in Histories claimed that Egypt had been ruled by 330 kings and that their rule was predated by a time when gods ruled the land. Egypt’s monuments are so imposing, they might sometimes feel too unreasonably grand to serve any practical purpose. The construction of the Pyramids had already been a topic a various theories, each of them having weak spots. Egyptian art depicts creatures that cannot be found on Earth, yet still appear real, and images of objects that can bring association with some of the technology we see nowadays.
3 of the hieroglyphs on the right bear a resemblance to a helicopter, a submarine, and an airplane.
Abydos, Temple of Seti I. Photo by Kairoinfo4u. Licenced under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
All in all, Egypt was already mysterious, so the picture of extraterrestrial presence there feels more genuine than it would be in, say, Rome or imperial China. A mental image of aliens giving speeches at the Roman Senate seems farcical in comparison. A scene with extraterrestrials debating the Five Classics with Confucian scholars would feel completely absurd.
The Matter of Egypt
In conclusion, the reason Egypt and its ancient past have inspired so many works of genre and speculative fiction is because this country has all the prerequisites for an exiting setting. An exotic geography and environment, an ancient society with features unlike any others and a vast list of cultural achievements, millennia-old but partially forgotten history where myth and legend had long been used to fill in the gaps, entrenched traditions of magic, mystic rites, and esoteric thought—all of these are aspects that make the Matter of Egypt.
Priest wearing Anubis mask. Ancient Roman fresco in the Temple of Isis, Pompeii.
Do you need a haunting and awe-inspiring location for your action-adventure story? Think of the abandoned cities and necropolises in Egypt’s deserts. Looking for an imposing and mysterious threat for your fantasy? Try a reanimated mummy relying on forgotten magic. Want to find a link between Earth and alien worlds in your science fiction? Perhaps there might be a portal leading to one in Egypt. The protagonist in your conspirological thriller is investigating a secret society? They are likely to find out about its origins in Egypt.
Such is the allure of Ancient Egypt in fiction; you can always find sources and themes that would allow you to tell an interesting story. It is a perfect setting for practically any genre.
Questions for the readers:
Do you believe in esotericism? Are you a proponent of the “ancient astronauts” theory? Are you neither? Let me know.
What is your favourite book/show/film about Egypt?
What type of Egypt-centric storyline you would like to see in a book or on the screen?
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