#Paris in July, 2026 - Luxor and the French Connection

During our trip to Egypt in December last year, we visited most of the famous sites. One of the most important ones is Luxor. We set out early one morning, leaving our cruiser ship, and with a driver and a guide, drove to the other side of the Nile to visit the Valley of the Kings. But, what is the French connection here? Well, we have to go back to Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in 1798, and the beginning of modern Egyptology.

Napoleon’s Egyptian Expedition (1798–1801)

The main aim with the invasion was mainly strategic - to threaten British routes to India. However, Napoleon brought with him a group of about 160 scientists, engineers, artists, architects, and scholars. Their task was to measure, sketch, map and document the ancient monuments of Egypt; temples, tombs, flora, fauna, and people. For people in Europe this was a first look into the history of ancient Egypt.

The Rosetta Stone

In 1799, French soldiers discovered the Rosetta Stone near Rashid (Rosetta), at the Mediterranean coast, east of Alexandria. The stone is unique since it contains the same text written in hieroglyphs, Demotic Egyptian, and Greek. Although the British seized the stone after defeating the French, this discovery became vital to deciphering the hieroglyphs. The Rosetta Stone can today be seen in the British Museum.

Several linguists took on the task, but, in the end, it was French scholar Jean-François Champollion who cracked the code in 1822. This helped architects and historians to decypher the inscriptions on the walls of temples and tombs. All of a sudden the world of the ancient Egyptians opened up to modern man. I have on my shelves The Keys of Egypt, The Race to Read the Hieroglyphs by Lesley and Roy Adkins. This is more exciting than any thriller story you can make up.

Description de l’Égypte

One of the most important results of Napoleon’s expedition was the publication of the monumental work Description de l’Égypte (1809–1829). I don’t have that work, but bought the book Egypt Revealed, Scenes from Napoleon’s Description de l’Egypt, edited by Robert Anderson and Ibrahim Fawzy., when I was living in Egypt. The book contains hundreds of detailed engravings of temples, tombs and people’s every day lives. Furthermore, it is, even today, useful information for archeologists since many of the monuments look different today due to damages, restoration or excavations which altered the original structures. Quite a fantastic account of past times.

Throughout the 19th century French scholars continued to play a leading role in studying Egypt. Institute d’Archéologie Orientale in Cairo, became the center for Egyptological research.

The Luxor Obelisk

The most visible symbol of the French-Egyptian connections today is the Luxor Obelisk. In 1830, Egypt’s ruler, Muhammad Ali Pasha, presented the two obelisks that stood before Luxor Temple to France. One has to be grateful that France ultimately transported only one of them—the western obelisk. It was taken to Paris, where it was erected in Place de la Concorde in 1836. The matching obelisk remains at Luxor Temple today. The Paris obelisk is over 3,000 years old, dates to the reign of Ramesses II(c. 1303 – 1213 BC), and remains one of the most recognisable Egyptian monuments outside Egypt.

The expeditions impact on Europe

Napoleon’s expedition sparked Egyptomania across Europe and here are some of the impacts: it sparked Egyptian-inspired architecture; obelisks were raised in public squares, furniture and decorations were filled with Egyptian motifs, it caused an increased interest in mummies and archaeology, and, maybe most important, it saw the birth of Egyptology as a scientific discipline.

Even today, the French often describe the Luxor Obelisk in Paris as a symbol of the long cultural relationship between the two countries.

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If you are interested in reading more about our trip to Egypt, I am writing several articles on the trip on my newsletters (see links below).

Are you interested in my posts on travel, history and culture? Have a look at my Substack newsletters (in English och på svenska).

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