The Institut d'Égypte or Egyptian Scientific Institute is a learned society in Cairo specializing in Egyptology. It was established in 1798 by Napoleon Bonaparte to carry out research during his Egyptian campaign and is the oldest scientific institute in Egypt. The building in which it was housed was burnt down, with the loss of many documents, during the Arab Spring unrest of 2011. It reopened in December 2012.[1]
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The Institut d'Égypte was founded on 22 August 1798 by Napoleon Bonaparte for the Institut de France, their mission was "progress and the propagation of the Enlightenment in Egypt."[2]
The institute was organised into sections that cover all the topics of interest and study in mathematics, physics, political economy, literature and arts by the Commission des Sciences et des Arts.
The society first met on 24 August 1798, with Gaspard Monge as president, Bonaparte himself as vice-president and Joseph Fourier and Costaz as secretaries. It had 48 scholars and as with the Institut de France these were organised into sections, divided up as follows:
12 members – mathematics section, including Bonaparte himself, Costaz, Fourier, Malus, Monge.
6 members – political economy section, including Cafarelli, Tallien.
8 members – literature and arts section, including Denon.
The Institut capitalised on the work of scholars and technical experts of the Commission des Sciences et des Arts and fostered the development of Egyptology so as to support the French expeditionary force. This was further supported by the publication of the Courrier de l'Égypte,[3] first issued 29 August 1798, a propaganda newspaper used to keep the moral of troops high. Research was also presented in Mémoires sur l'Égypte, which was published in four volumes between 1798–1801. On 22 November 1799, the Institut took the decision to collect and publish its scholarly work as the Description de l'Égypte. The Institut lasted until its 47th and final meeting on 21 March 1801.
The Egyptian Society
The Institut d'Égypte's activities resumed in 1836 under the name of The Egyptian Society. The work was carried out by French, German and English scholars. It was transferred to Alexandria in 1859, and its name was again changed, this time to Institut Égyptien. The new Institut functioned under the auspices of Egypt's viceroy Sa'id Pasha, and had several prominent members, notably the German botanist Georg August Schweinfurth, as well as Egyptologists Auguste Mariette and Gaston Maspero. Later members included Ahmed Kamal, Egypt's first native Egyptologist, as well as Ahmad Zaki Pasha, a pioneering philologist.[4] The Institut returned to Cairo in 1880. Its previous name was made official by a royal decree in 1918. Henceforth, it was directly under the Royal Palace's auspices. Some of the Institut's more recent members include famed scholar Taha Hussein.[4]
Destruction
The Institute in January 2012.
The Institute was burnt down on 17 December 2011, as a consequence of continued street clashes in the aftermath of the Egyptian revolution that had erupted on 25 January 2011.[5][6]
Opposing groups of protesters were engaged in street clashes, hurling flammable materials at each other adjacent to the Shura Council building when a Molotov cocktail, either thrown accidentally or deliberately, penetrated one of the windows of the Institute causing a massive fire. Fire brigade units were unable to promptly reach the scene of the blaze because of continued chaotic conditions on the streets. Volunteers, protesters from opposing factions, rushed into the burning building and were able to save many items and bring them to safety.
Before the blaze, the repository had held over 200,000 rare and antiquarian books and texts, many dating from the Napoleonic era. A first estimate says that only 30,000 volumes have been saved.[7] Lost, however, were the Atlas of Lower and Upper Egypt (1752), the Atlas Handler (1842), the Atlas of the Old Indian Arts and many other important works.[citation needed] It was incorrectly reported in the press that the original 20-volume manuscript Description de l'Égypte (1809–29) was destroyed during these events. The majority of these volumes reside at the National Archives and the Bibliothèque nationale de France, in Paris, France. Professor Mahmoud l-Shernoby, the general secretary of the institute, told that the damage is a "great loss" to Egypt and that those "who caused this disaster should be punished".[8][9]
Renovations
Sheikh Sultan al Qassimi, ruler of the emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, had indicated his willingness to bear the cost of reconstruction of the building and to donate some of his own rare possessions to it[citation needed] Other works that might be made available include various copies of the Description available in other countries.[original research?]
^ ab. L'Institut d'Égypte. Archived from the original on 10 April 2004. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
^"Amid army crackdown, Egypt's richest library set on fire". Egypt Independent. 17 December 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
^Jonathan Downs (March 2012). "Calamity in Cairo". History Today. 62: 5–6. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
^Un incendio durante los disturbios de El Cairo destruye el original de la 'Descripción de Egipto' encargada por Napoleón ( 18 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine)
^Amid army crackdown, Egypt’s richest library set on fire ( 18 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine)
^A black day for heritage: burning the Egyptian Scientific Institute( 8 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine)
Further reading
Karabell, Zachary (2003). Parting the desert: the creation of the Suez Canal. Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN0-375-40883-5.
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The Institut d Egypte or Egyptian Scientific Institute is a learned society in Cairo specializing in Egyptology It was established in 1798 by Napoleon Bonaparte to carry out research during his Egyptian campaign and is the oldest scientific institute in Egypt The building in which it was housed was burnt down with the loss of many documents during the Arab Spring unrest of 2011 It reopened in December 2012 1 The Institute in 2007 Contents 1 Early work 2 The Egyptian Society 3 Destruction 4 Renovations 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External linksEarly work EditThis article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in French March 2020 Click show for important translation instructions View a machine translated version of the French article Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate rather than simply copy pasting machine translated text into the English Wikipedia Consider adding a topic to this template there are already 5 310 articles in the main category and specifying topic will aid in categorization Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low quality If possible verify the text with references provided in the foreign language article You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at fr Institut d Egypte see its history for attribution You should also add the template Translated fr Institut d Egypte to the talk page For more guidance see Wikipedia Translation The Institut d Egypte was founded on 22 August 1798 by Napoleon Bonaparte for the Institut de France their mission was progress and the propagation of the Enlightenment in Egypt 2 The institute was organised into sections that cover all the topics of interest and study in mathematics physics political economy literature and arts by the Commission des Sciences et des Arts The society first met on 24 August 1798 with Gaspard Monge as president Bonaparte himself as vice president and Joseph Fourier and Costaz as secretaries It had 48 scholars and as with the Institut de France these were organised into sections divided up as follows 12 members mathematics section including Bonaparte himself Costaz Fourier Malus Monge 10 members physics and natural history section including Berthollet Desgenettes Dolomieu Geoffroy Saint Hilaire 6 members political economy section including Cafarelli Tallien 8 members literature and arts section including Denon The Institut capitalised on the work of scholars and technical experts of the Commission des Sciences et des Arts and fostered the development of Egyptology so as to support the French expeditionary force This was further supported by the publication of the Courrier de l Egypte 3 first issued 29 August 1798 a propaganda newspaper used to keep the moral of troops high Research was also presented in Memoires sur l Egypte which was published in four volumes between 1798 1801 On 22 November 1799 the Institut took the decision to collect and publish its scholarly work as the Description de l Egypte The Institut lasted until its 47th and final meeting on 21 March 1801 The Egyptian Society EditThis article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Institut d Egypte news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Institut d Egypte s activities resumed in 1836 under the name of The Egyptian Society The work was carried out by French German and English scholars It was transferred to Alexandria in 1859 and its name was again changed this time to Institut Egyptien The new Institut functioned under the auspices of Egypt s viceroy Sa id Pasha and had several prominent members notably the German botanist Georg August Schweinfurth as well as Egyptologists Auguste Mariette and Gaston Maspero Later members included Ahmed Kamal Egypt s first native Egyptologist as well as Ahmad Zaki Pasha a pioneering philologist 4 The Institut returned to Cairo in 1880 Its previous name was made official by a royal decree in 1918 Henceforth it was directly under the Royal Palace s auspices Some of the Institut s more recent members include famed scholar Taha Hussein 4 Destruction Edit The Institute in January 2012 The Institute was burnt down on 17 December 2011 as a consequence of continued street clashes in the aftermath of the Egyptian revolution that had erupted on 25 January 2011 5 6 Opposing groups of protesters were engaged in street clashes hurling flammable materials at each other adjacent to the Shura Council building when a Molotov cocktail either thrown accidentally or deliberately penetrated one of the windows of the Institute causing a massive fire Fire brigade units were unable to promptly reach the scene of the blaze because of continued chaotic conditions on the streets Volunteers protesters from opposing factions rushed into the burning building and were able to save many items and bring them to safety Before the blaze the repository had held over 200 000 rare and antiquarian books and texts many dating from the Napoleonic era A first estimate says that only 30 000 volumes have been saved 7 Lost however were the Atlas of Lower and Upper Egypt 1752 the Atlas Handler 1842 the Atlas of the Old Indian Arts and many other important works citation needed It was incorrectly reported in the press that the original 20 volume manuscript Description de l Egypte 1809 29 was destroyed during these events The majority of these volumes reside at the National Archives and the Bibliotheque nationale de France in Paris France Professor Mahmoud l Shernoby the general secretary of the institute told that the damage is a great loss to Egypt and that those who caused this disaster should be punished 8 9 Renovations EditSheikh Sultan al Qassimi ruler of the emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates had indicated his willingness to bear the cost of reconstruction of the building and to donate some of his own rare possessions to it citation needed Other works that might be made available include various copies of the Description available in other countries original research See also EditLibrary fires List of destroyed libraries archives and museumsReferences EditGeneral in French article by Francine Masson director of the library of the Ecole des mines ABC Mines review December 1997 in French Jean et Nicole Dhombres Naissance d un nouveau pouvoir science et savants en France 1793 1824 Payot 1989 Specific Al Shorfa Waleed Abu al Khair Egypt s Scientific Institute comes back to life Culture in Development Retrieved 21 January 2018 Mattelart Armand 1994 Mapping World Communication War Progress Culture U of Minnesota Press ISBN 978 0 8166 2262 7 Retrieved 16 July 2020 Paul Strathern Napoleon in Egypt a b Historical Background L Institut d Egypte Archived from the original on 10 April 2004 Retrieved 14 February 2009 Amid army crackdown Egypt s richest library set on fire Egypt Independent 17 December 2011 Retrieved 11 March 2012 Jonathan Downs March 2012 Calamity in Cairo History Today 62 5 6 Retrieved 11 March 2012 Un incendio durante los disturbios de El Cairo destruye el original de la Descripcion de Egipto encargada por Napoleon Archived 18 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine Amid army crackdown Egypt s richest library set on fire Archived 18 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine A black day for heritage burning the Egyptian Scientific Institute Archived 8 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine Further reading EditKarabell Zachary 2003 Parting the desert the creation of the Suez Canal Alfred A Knopf ISBN 0 375 40883 5 External links EditZahi Hawass opinion on ESI s burning downCoordinates 30 02 32 N 31 14 09 E 30 042164 N 31 235928 E 30 042164 31 235928 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Institut d 27Egypte amp oldid 1095510604, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
