Chapter 3 3

For Egypt, there are two very significant names.Napoleon I and Vivan Denon.Because from an archaeological point of view, the discovery of Egypt began with the two of them.Of the two, one is an immortal emperor and general, and the other is a famous aristocratic artist.These two people who have nothing in common in character are closely connected during the journey of discovering Egypt; these two irrelevant names have also shone on the beautiful starry sky of Egypt since then. Napoleon returned to Paris after signing the famous Peace of Camp Formio on October 17, 1797.Stendhal had the following comment on Napoleon’s way of ending the French-Italian War: “Napoleon’s heroic age is over!”

I believe that at that time, there would not be a minority of people who held the same views as Stendhal.But Stendhal was wrong.The days of the Corsican hero are far from beginning.Before sweeping across Europe, Napoleon had already been "full of the fantasies of psychopaths".He compares himself to Alexander, but suffers from lack of success.He once wrote: "Paris weighs on me like a lead coat, and our Europe is like a mound. Only by going to the east of 600 million people can we create a great empire and achieve greatness." revolution." In order to realize his achievements, Napoleon started a large-scale Eastern Expedition on May 19, 1798.The Eastern Expedition aimed at Egypt used a total of 328 warships and 38,000 troops.

On July 2 of that year, Napoleon set foot on the land of Egypt.After a difficult march, the French soldiers crossed the endless desert, and finally they were able to bathe in the Nile River. On July 21, the French saw Cairo, saw the city in the "Arabian Nights" and its 400 temple towers, and saw the largest mosque in Cairo-the huge circle of Jamie El-Ashana. top.In the soft morning light, these resplendent houses shone with brilliance, and those huge, lonely, cold monolithic buildings rising high in the desert, their sharp outlines were all the more conspicuous against the purple-gray slopes of Mount Moqatum, The two scenes form a strong contrast.These pyramids in the Giza highlands are geometric fossils, eternally silent, testifying to civilizations long dead before Islam.

All this pleasing to the eye was not unique to the French soldiers, and they couldn't even separate their minds to look at it carefully.The multitude of monuments that leap into view reveal a past that is forever lost, but the real world of Cairo leads them into a tantalizing future.The Mamluk king's army blocked their progress and their determination to move forward.Facing the locust-like enemy army, Napoleon pointed to the huge and silent pyramid and said a sentence that will be recorded in history to his soldiers: "4,000 years of history despise you!" The intensity of the battle even exceeded the imagination of the soldiers. On July 25, Napoleon defeated his opponent and entered Cairo.

At this point, his ambition seems to be approaching step by step, and the great trip to India is more than half completed. But afterward (August 7) ​​the Abu Qir naval battle made Napoleon fall into the siege of the British fleet commander Nelson. Although the war lasted a year before it was declared over, this naval battle effectively ended Napoleon's campaign for Egypt. On August 19, 1799, Napoleon left his army and fled alone. On August 25, aboard the frigate Myron, Napoleon watched as the Egyptian coastline slowly disappeared below the horizon. Although Napoleon's world-famous expedition was a military failure, it promoted Egypt's political awakening.

It was this expedition that brought about the study of ancient Egyptian history that continues to this day.Napoleon had 175 "learned civilians" with his army. They not only brought a large number of books, but also all French books about Egypt and dozens of packages of scientific equipment and measuring instruments. In the spring of 1798, a meeting of scientists took place in the halls of the Institut de France.At the meeting, Napoleon discussed the importance of Egyptian culture and what efforts scientists should make.He not only held a copy of Niebuhr's "A Passage to Arabia" in his hand when he spoke, but also tapped its cover from time to time for emphasis.Only a few days later, this group of astronomers, geometers, chemists, mineralogists, orientalists, technicians, painters and poets accompanied Napoleon on the voyage from Toulon.Among the colleagues, there was a person who was recommended by Josephine, the wife of Napoleon I and later the queen of France, who came to take up the post of drawing.This is a remarkable figure.

The man's full name is Dominique Vivan Denon.During the period of Louis XV, he served as the supervisor of antiquities, and won the favor of Louis XV's mistress Pet Padur. When he was a secretary at the embassy in St. Petersburg, he also won the favor of the Russian Empress Catherine II.Vivan Denon is well-informed, likes women, deeply understands art, has a humorous and witty conversation, and has the ability to make friends from all over the world.When he was working as a diplomatic mission in the Swiss Confederation, Denon often visited the home of the famous writer Voltaire, where he created the famous oil painting "Breakfast at Ferney".Another Rembrandt-style sketch he created at the same time, Adoration of the Shepherds, made him an academician of France.

When the French Revolution broke out, Denon was placed on the deportation list and all his property was confiscated. He became impoverished, hiding in the slums of Paris, and spending time with the little money he earned from selling paintings.Once, he was appreciated by the famous revolutionary painter Louis David, so he was able to return to the world of feasting and feasting in Paris again.As soon as he stepped on the long-lost parquet floor, Denon's innate friendship instinct exploded with great energy again.It didn't take long for Robespier to order the return of all his belongings and cancel the deportation order against him.His biggest turning point was getting acquainted with the beautiful Josephine Baoana, and because of this, he was deeply appreciated by Napoleon and participated in the expedition to Egypt.

■A pen that conquered Egypt When he returned to France from the banks of the Nile, Denon was appointed as the director of the National Museum because of his stable position and favor.As Napoleon dominated the European battlefield, Denon also rose to prominence.Under the guise of collecting antiquities, he secretly appropriated many works of art, and he continued this activity until the most ordinary works of art became the high-end ornaments of France.He remembered that he had drawn a few random oil paintings and sketches in the past, and he was famous for a while, and now he might as well try it in literature.At a social occasion, someone made a comment that it was impossible to write a realistic love story without being obscene, and Denon assured on the spot that he could do it. Twenty-four hours later, Denon had written Dawn of the Next Day.

This rather long short story brought Denon a reputation as a writer, and critics called it the best of its kind.Balzac later said that the novel "educated the married man and provided the youth with an excellent picture of the social customs of the last century." Another work by Denon, The Rubbings, was published in 1793.As the title says, this is a collection of rubbings, mainly describing sex.This is an aspect of Denon's activities, and it is interesting that some of the archaeologists who write about Denon do not know this.Conversely, a cultural historian as profound as Eduard Fuzhao, who devotes a whole chapter of his Moral History to the work of sexual intercourse, is unaware that Denon had a very important role.

Such was Denon, a man who knew everything and was often a blockbuster, but who was truly and forever remembered as a singular achievement.Napoleon conquered Egypt with the bayonet, but his occupation lasted only a year; Denon conquered the pharaoh's country with the paintbrush and occupied it forever.With his well-trained eyes and hands, he showed a living ancient Egypt to the modern world. Although Denon was frail during his long life in the salon, from the moment he breathed the hot desert wind, he fell in love with everything in Egypt.He has been to many ancient markets and ruins, but his interest has never diminished. Denon was in the army under General Desai's unit.General Desai led his troops to pursue Maulad, the chosen leader of the Mamluks, and the troops crossed the desert in northern Egypt. At this time, Denon was 51 years old and was already Desai’s father. It is also popular in China.He didn't care about the bad weather, which made the soldiers admire him deeply. Sometimes he galloped his horse and ran ahead of the supply cart, but the next day he would be far behind.Every day at dawn, he stepped out of the tent to paint, and he continued to paint no matter whether he was marching or camping. When he was hungry, he simply ate something and kept a sketchbook by his side.Once he had just heard the siren call, and the battle was already on his side.When Denon saw the soldiers firing back at the enemy, he waved the cartoon to boost morale. At this moment, he suddenly realized that it was a very good picture, and he started to paint regardless of the flying bullets. Later, he saw the hieroglyphs.Denon knew nothing about hieroglyphs, and there was no one in the Desai army to ask for advice. He didn't care about these, and he tried to draw everything he saw. Although he didn't understand, he immediately recognized the hieroglyphs with his keen observation There are three different forms.He discovered that some of the hieroglyphs were inscribed and some in Yangwen. He drew the stepped pyramid in Saqqara, the huge remains of the late ancient Egyptian pyramids in Dendera, and then worked tirelessly on 100 ancient Thebes. Among the ruins of the city gate, he has not had time to finish painting.But when he received the order to break out of the camp, he had to scold and find a few soldiers, telling them to stop packing the backpack temporarily and help him remove the mud shell from the head of a statue. He was still there until the supply truck had started. Desai marched deep, reaching Aswan and the first waterfall on the Nile.Denon painted the ornate columned church built by Amenophis III at El Lautain.The building was demolished in 1822, so Denon's painting is the only surviving record of it.Saidiman eliminated Maurad in World War I, and the French army was ready to return home.The French soldiers who looted the Mamluk army were loaded with war crystals, but the countless drawings brought back by Viscount Dominique Vivan Denon were a batch of richer harvests.Although the strange appearance of Egypt had excited him greatly, this did not affect the precision of his workmanship. His sketches are as real as the works carved by old craftsmen. Those old artists concentrate on carving meticulously, neither starting from impressions nor expressing themselves. They never care about whether the title "artisan" is derogatory or not. of.Denon's drawings provide extremely valuable information for archaeology.The first famous work on Egyptian archaeology, "Description dell Egypt" (Description dell Egypt) is a systematic scientific work written based on these sketches. ■Unheard of records At the same time, the Egyptian Academy was established in Cairo.While Denon was busy painting, other artists and scientists who accompanied Napoleon were also measuring, counting, investigating and collecting what they found on the ground in Egypt.The reason why it is only found on the ground is because there are rich materials everywhere, which can be seen everywhere, so no one wants to dig.In addition to many stone secret models, various memos, manuscripts, sketches and animal, plant and mineral specimens, Napoleon's literati brought back several sarcophagi and 27 stone carvings, most of which were fragments of statues, and one Polished black basalt stele with 3 different forms of writing engraved on it.This heavy stone slab was later the key to solving many Egyptian mysteries - the famous Rosetta Tablet. But in September 1801, the city of Alexandria surrendered, and France was forced to withdraw from the occupied area in northern Egypt, and handed over to the British along with the pharaoh's cultural relics transported by the French army during the expedition.General Hutchinson was in charge of transporting the goods to England. Because these were extremely precious antiquities at that time, King George III ordered them to be stored in the British Museum.In this way, the French worked hard for a year, and some scholars lost their eyesight while working. Such hard-won gains were completely wasted.However, it was discovered afterwards that although the originals were taken away by the British, the authentic copies or pictures of these cultural relics had been left one by one, and these materials were enough for a generation of scholars in Paris to study. Denon was the first person on the expedition to use these materials.In 1802 he published his vivid "Itinerary to the North and South of Egypt".At the same time, François Jomas began to revise his masterpiece, which was based on the harvest of the scientific collective of the expedition, especially Denon's extensive drawings.The publication of this book is a major event in the world of archaeology, and only a few travelers knew about the ancient Egyptian culture in the past; although it is not completely invisible, its mystery and ambiguity are no less than that of Troy.This work unprecedentedly puts ancient Egyptian culture in front of modern readers. Roma's "Egyptian Chronicles" were published successively from 1809 to 1813.This 24-volume masterpiece was a sensation comparable only to the later books on Nineveh written by Botha and Schliemann on Troy. Ruoma's choice of subject matter, his book's rich content, its many illustrations, many in color, and its beautiful binding, all of this is beyond the reach of people who use modern rotary printing presses today. It's hard to understand how rare it was at the time.At that time, only rich people could afford this book, and when they got it, they would treasure it as a treasure house of knowledge. Today, every important discovery in science can be spread all over the world quickly, and copied thousands of times through photos, movies, text and sound. Millions of copies were circulated, and the sensational effect was greatly diluted.One publication after another, each trying to attract the reader, slowly leads to the fact that the reader knows a thing or two about everything, but nothing in depth. Therefore, it is difficult for modern people to understand the feelings of the first readers of Ruoma when they got the book "Egyptian Chronicles".The contents of the book were unheard of in the past, and the life of the ancients written in it was never imagined by them. The readers at that time were more pious than now, and they will definitely feel a great shock after reading such a book. Egyptian culture is ancient, much older than any ancient culture known at the time.Egypt was already an ancient country when the policies of the future Roman Empire were discussed on the Capitol Hill in Rome.By the time the Germans and Celts were hunting bears in the forests of northern Europe, Egypt was already in decline.According to the current calendar, the first dynasty of Egyptian pharaohs arose 5,000 years ago. At that time, there was already a splendid culture on the banks of the Nile.Even the decline and fall of the 26th Dynasty was still a matter of 500 BC.The peoples who ruled the land were first the Libyans, then the Ethiopians, the Assyrians, the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans, all before the stars shone on the stables of Bethlehem. ■The journey to death Of course, people have known the stone carvings and stone buildings along the Nile River for a long time, but those rumors are full of legendary colors.Only a few pieces of Egyptian ancient relics were shipped abroad and placed in museums for people to watch. Tourists in the Napoleonic era could see lions on the stone steps of the Capitol in Rome, but they disappeared later.They can also see the statues of the emperors of the Ptolemaic Dynasty, but they are already works of art in the later period. At that time, the heyday of ancient Egyptian culture had passed, and the Greek culture of Alexandria had already been highly developed.There are only 12 obelisks that really represent the ancient Egyptian culture, in addition to some reliefs in the cardinal's garden.More common are gemstones carved with scarabs, which were considered sacred to the ancient Egyptians and were once used as amulets throughout Europe.There is nothing else. It is also difficult to find truly valuable academic materials in bookstores in Paris. In 1805, Xinger published a set of five volumes by Stella. The quality of the translation is excellent. The content of this authoritative work In the past, it was only known to scholars, and only now has it become popular.Strabo traveled to Egypt during the time of Augustus the Great.There is also invaluable material in the second book of Herodotus, a distinguished traveler to ancient Egypt: but how many people have read Herodotus!Egypt is sometimes mentioned in other ancient texts, but these materials are more ancient, more scattered, and less known. "You clothe yourself with light like a garment," is a line from King David's Psalms.The morning sun rose and moved in the clear blue sky, and its yellow, scalding, blinding rays shone on the brown, red, and white sand, making shadows as sharp as silhouettes on the sand.This is a wilderness where the sun shines forever. There is no climate change, no rain, snow, fog, hail, and very little thunder and lightning. Crunchy clods.In this land flows the great Nile River, the father of all rivers, known as the "Nile River, the father of all things".It has a long history, the river comes from lakes and tropical rains in Sudan. During the flood season, the river overflows both banks, submerges the deserted sand, and spits out fertile mud in July.The river rises to a height of 52 feet per year, and has continued for tens of millions of years.There is a group of marble statues in the Vatican, which represent 16 children dancing around the river god, each representing a 15-inch flood peak, which represents the Nile River.After the water receded, the dry soil and sand by the river had been soaked, and green plants grew where the yellow water passed.The crops germinate and mature, and the harvest in the "fat year" supplies the needs of the "lean year". In this way, a new Egypt appears every year, which is the barn of antiquity.As Herodotus said 2,500 years ago, Egypt was "the gift of the Nile."Even the hunger of the Romans in faraway lands depended on the bounty of the Nile. This sun-baked land is home to cities with minarets of mosques and ethnic groups: Nubians, Berbers, Copts, Bedouins and blacks.The narrow streets are bustling with voices, and the ruins of countless temples, halls, and mausoleums are full of worshipers. Pyramids stood on the sand under the scorching sun.The 67 pyramids around Cairo are arranged on the "playground of the scorching sun". Here lies the largest Sphinx of Giza, the mane on its head has been worn away, and its eyes and nose have become black holes. After all, it has been lying down for thousands of years, and it will stay there forever. Its body is huge: Tothemis, who wanted to be a king, erected a large stone tablet between its two claws. The spiers of the mosques stood up in the clear sky, guarding the gates of the temples for gods and emperors.Some of these exquisite stone tips are as high as 91 feet. In addition, there are round and square stone mausoleums, statues of "village heads" and pharaohs, various sarcophagi, stone columns and tower doors, various reliefs and paintings.There are countless people who ruled this ancient kingdom. Their images stand among carved beams and painted buildings, and they point to a certain goal with a stiff and dignified posture.Some people say: "The life of the Egyptians is the process of going to death." Egyptian wall sculptures everywhere highlight the principle of teleology; It is compared with the European "space" and the Greek "body". ■Mysterious world Egypt can be said to be a great collection of ancient tombs, and it is almost full of hieroglyphs.Hieroglyphs include various symbols, pictures, lines, codes, and incomprehensible graphics.This is a strange way of expressing images from many sources, such as human figures, animals, plants, fruits, instruments, clothes, baskets, weapons, geometric shapes, waves and flame-like lines can all become words.There are hieroglyphs on the walls of temples and tombs, on memorial stone carvings, on coffins, on tombstones, on statues of gods and mortals, on boxes and anvil utensils; there are even pictographic symbols on inkwells and walking sticks.It seems that the Egyptians were the ancient people who liked writing most. "If someone wanted to copy the hieroglyphs in the Edfu Temple, from morning to night every day, they would not be able to finish it in 20 years!" Ruoma presented such a colorful and continuous world to Europe, and that was when Europe began to see both the power of science and the value of the past.Thanks to Napoleon's sister Caroline, the Pompeii excavation work has been intensified again.Inspired by the scripture Kerman, scholars have learned the basic methods of archaeology, and are eager to try in deciphering ancient characters. The various sketches, sketches and descriptions in the book "Egyptian Chronicles" are of course extremely rich, but the authors cannot explain these, because this is beyond their ability.Sometimes I try to explain it, and the result is also wrong. The ancient relics listed in the book cannot speak by themselves, and can only be silent forever.The arrangement of their order is all based on intuition, and no one knows how to make a concrete and practical explanation.Hieroglyphs are simply incomprehensible, be it hieroglyphic, secular, or simplified (monkic is a simplified hieroglyph, with curvilinear strokes, and secular is a simplified or popularized form of hieratic. Monastic is originally Used to write all religious literature and non-religious literature. After the secular style became popular, the monk style was only used for religious texts.) are the same.This kind of writing has never been seen by Europeans. The Narratives of Egypt introduced them to a new world; a world entirely enigmatic in its internal relations, in its natural conditions, and in its meaning. In the eyes of people in the Ruoma era, whoever can solve the mystery of hieroglyphics will be worth the price. The famous Persian orientalist De Sassi said: "This is a complex problem that science cannot explain. problem." At this moment an undeniable fact occurred: an ordinary teacher in Göttingen, surnamed Gorotfinder, published a treatise on the decipherment of the cuneiform script of Piersepolis. The correct method was pointed out and it has achieved results.Gorotfinder had very limited material, but now there are countless hieroglyphs to study.In addition, Tianyuan, one of Napoleon's soldiers, happened to find an unusual slab of black basalt.The reporters who were the first to report the news knew it too.This Rosetta Tablet is a key to solving hieroglyphics.But where is the man who knows how to use the tablet? This monument was born long ago, and the "Egyptian Courier" published an article about this monument. The date of the article was quite revolutionary: "December 29, Year 7 of the Republic." No coincidence, this Egyptian newspaper spread to the hometown of a man who wrote an original article 20 years later. He actually read the words on the slate and solved the mystery.