THE ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF ISLAMIC CAIRO pdf download

The Art and Architecture of Islamic Cairo

THE ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF ISLAMIC CAIRO

From the Book

Underlying the contemporary American interest in ancient Egypt is, therefore, I think, a persistent desire to bypass Egypt’s Arab identity, to reach back to a period where things were assumed to be both simple and amenable to the always well-intentioned American will.

Edward Said sees Western attitudes towards Egypt’s ancient past as an expression of imperialism; having loosened our colonial hold on Egypt, a form of cultural colonialism took its place.

The first manifestation of this cultural colonialism occurred when Napoleon occupied Egypt between 1798 and 1801.

He brought with him 167 scholars and set up the Commission of Science and Art and The Egyptian Institute to investigate ‘this cradle of the science and art of humanity’.

The result was the publication of a monumental work, Description de I’Egypte: Pupliee par les ordres de Napoleon Bonaparte, ten folio volumes with 3,000 magnificent illustrations, first published in Paris in 1812.

The next decisive event