Sponsored by: AIA-Central Carolinas (Charlotte)
Contrary to the prevailing view that the conversion of Egyptians first to Christianity and then Islam, put an end to any interest in their heritage, there is ample evidence that they continued to study their past with great pride. Many medieval Arab scholars visited Egypt to study its heritage and ancient scripts. This interest in ancient Egyptian scripts led to many scholarly attempts to decipher them. Here is a brief study of the probable motivations behind their interest and the degrees of their success in the decipherment and understanding of ancient Egypt. They saw the pyramids, temples, and lighthouses as material evidence for the glory that was Egypt. This medieval Muslim reception is widely ignored in our current academia but very worthy of our interest because it fills a huge gap of about a thousand years in the history of Egyptology.
The Ann Santen Endowed Lecture
Okasha El Daly, “The reception of ancient Egypt in the medieval Muslim world”
Tuesday, September 17
7:30 – 9:00 PM
Davidson College
Visual Arts Center VAC-117 Semans Lecture Hall
These lectures are sponsored by the Archaeological Institute of America, with funding from the Davidson College Public Lectures Committee and the departments of Art, Classics, Educational Studies, and History.
About the lecture:
Contrary to the prevailing view that the conversion of Egyptians first to Christianity and then Islam ended interest in their own heritage, they continued to study their own past with great pride. Many medieval Arab scholars visited Egypt to study its heritage and ancient scripts. This interest in ancient Egyptian scripts led to many scholarly attempts to decipher them. Here is a brief study of the motivations behind their interest and the degrees of their success in the decipherment and understanding of ancient Egypt. Nearly all the writers interested in Egyptian hieroglyphs were alchemists; many were also called Sufis or Mystics (for example, Jabir, Dhu Al-Nun, and Ibn Waḥshiyah). The fame of Egypt as the land of science, wisdom, and mysticism created a welcoming environment for the reception of ancient Egyptian thought and arts among medieval Muslim scholars and the general public. This medieval Muslim reception fills a gap of about a thousand years in the history of Egyptology.
About the speaker:
Dr. Okasha El Daly specializes in the history, art, religion, and languages of Egypt from the birth of its civilization to its contemporary history and current affairs. He has served as Inspector of Antiquities in the Giza Pyramids Area, worked as a guide and lecturer in Egypt, and lectured on the AIA’s national lecture circuit. He has directed several international projects, including the Foundation for Science, Technology, and Civilisation in the UK and the recent Qatar-Sudan Archaeological Project. His book, Egyptology: The Missing Millennium (2005), shows that medieval scholars in Egypt and beyond were as keen as we are to explore ancient Egyptian sciences and arts.
These lectures are sponsored by the Archaeological Institute of America, with funding from the Davidson College Public Lectures Committee and the departments of Art, Classics, Educational Studies, and History.
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