How a Frenchman who saw a mummy in childhood, dug up the Great Sphinx and saved Egypt

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

As a child, he was struck by the sight of the only Egyptian mummy in the local museum. It was not yet known about the existence of most of the temples, nothing disturbed the centuries-old peace of hundreds of burials, then no one had yet seen the paws of the Great Sphinx - they were hidden under a thick layer of sand. The museum, which will become the largest repository of ancient Egyptian treasures, did not exist either. All this was to be dealt with by this French boy, who was considering an ancient sarcophagus in his hometown.

How Auguste Mariet became an Egyptologist

Francois Auguste Ferdinand Mariet was born on February 11, 1821 in the small town of Boulogne-sur-Mer into an ordinary family - his father served as an official in the local municipality. A year and a half later, Jean-Francois Champollion will read his famous Paris report on deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphic writing, which will mark the beginning of Egyptology as a science.

At first, the life of Auguste Mariet was not associated with archeology. For some time he lived in England, where he taught French and drawing. On his return, Mariet received a small position at the Louvre. The collection of the Paris Museum was by no means more and more significant than anything that Auguste remembered from his childhood in Boulogne and the only mummy that was displayed in his hometown. But he really "got infected" by Ancient Egypt, when he was sorting out the papers of his cousin, Nestor l'Ot, a member of the expedition of that very Champollion. Then the fate of Mariet was determined - his whole future life was connected with the history of the Land of the Pharaohs.

He took up the study of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, as well as Coptic, Aramaic and other languages of the past. And soon the Louvre sent Mariet to Egypt to replenish the museum's collection. At that time, everything Egyptian was in great fashion: thousands of exhibits were brought from distant African lands - for museums, private collections and simply decorating living rooms and libraries. They took out mummies and statues, religious objects, amulets, ancient vessels, tools, fabrics - everything that could be dug up and found in the sands of Egypt. Such was the archeology of those times - more like plunder. The Louvre did not lag behind in this race for fashionable trophies - that's why Marieta was commissioned.

At first, he performed this mission conscientiously, however, due to his little experience, he was not always lucky. Sometimes, not achieving success in the pursuit of the treasures of antiquity, he nevertheless visited ancient temples, communicated with the local population. One day, Mariet was in Saqqara, near Memphis, where he began to explore the vicinity of the Step Pyramid. One day, in the fall of 1850, he found the stone head of a sphinx towering over the sand. The figure was not the only one who refused - it was part of the Avenue of the Sphinxes that led to the ancient temple of the Serapeum, it was dedicated to the Egyptian god in the guise of a bull. During excavations, Mariet discovered several chambers and sarcophagi with sacred Apis bulls. Mariet worked carefully, he could refuse further excavations in case of a possible threat of destruction of the ancient premises.

In Giza, an archaeologist cleared the territory of the pyramids and rid the figure of the Great Sphinx from the sand deposits - after all, in those days, the giant sculpture was hidden up to the shoulders. Mariet discovered the necropolises of Abydos and Thebes, cleared a number of funeral structures from the sand, including the temple of Pharaoh Seti I and the one dedicated to Queen Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahri.

Return to Egypt and new position

Mariet found thousands of statues and other works of art, and he sent them all to the Louvre. In any case, this was the case at the beginning of his career as an archaeologist and Egyptologist - later Mariet will completely change the approach to the export of ancient values from Egypt. He returned to France in 1855 and was promoted for his services; but a year later, the researcher went back to Egypt, this time for good.

The Egyptian authorities paid attention to the work of Mariet and supported him, recognizing his great services in the discovery of monuments of Egyptian history. Therefore, in 1858, at the invitation of the Khedive, the ruler of Egypt, Mariet took over the leadership of a specially created department of excavations and antiquities of Egypt. Subsequently, this department will be called the Service, and then the Ministry of Antiquities. The powers were broad: Mariet set restrictions on excavation and removal of finds from Egypt.

In his desire to preserve the historical heritage of Egypt, he sometimes even entered into conflicts with the Khedive - for example, when the French Empress Eugenia liked the gold ring of Queen Ahotep. Mariet objected, and the decoration remained in Egypt, but a few years later, the scientist gladly became the Empress's guide during her visit to Egypt.

Mariet continued to excavate. Moreover, he secured a monopoly on searches in Egypt to the detriment of foreign, primarily British and German, archaeologists, who until recently held the lead in this area of historical science. In 1860 alone, he carried out more than 30 excavations. France, thanks to Mariet, became a leader in the field of Egyptology. The director of the department of antiquities, however, did not trust the Egyptians themselves - in advance he considered their possible appointment to positions affecting the conduct of archaeological research in their country a mistake.

The brainchild of Marieta - museum

In 1863, on the initiative of Mariet, the Egyptian Museum was opened, where the found ancient treasures began to be exhibited. It is located in Bulak, one of the suburbs of Cairo, on the banks of the Nile. The location turned out to be unfortunate - in 1878, part of the museum's collection, including the drawings and notes of Mariet himself, were lost due to flooding. After this incident, the museum moved. Now the Cairo Museum houses the world's largest collection of ancient Egyptian treasures.

For his merits, Auguste Mariet received the title of Bey, and two years before his death - Pasha. In all, during his life, Mariet discovered more than three hundred ancient Egyptian burials, discovered more than 15,000 other treasures and left many scientific works and publications. He died in 1881. The Egyptologist was buried in a marble sarcophagus in the garden of a museum in Cairo. Gaston Maspero, who was appointed by him, became the successor of Mariet as head of the department of antiquities, who continued the policy of his predecessor. Until 1953, when Egypt became a republic, only the French were in this position, and later - Egyptian citizens.

Auguste Mariet left his mark on the history of music as well. At the request of the Khedive, he wrote the plot of the opera Aida, which was staged for the construction of the Cairo Opera House. The premiere was timed to coincide with the opening of the Suez Canal, but it was postponed until 1871 due to the Franco-Prussian war. Mariet not only came up with this story, but also gave advice on the scenery and costumes.

One of those who brought fashion for everything Egyptian to Europe was Dominique Denon, the artist who kept the blood of Napoleon and Voltaire's tooth, and became the first director of the Louvre.