James Henry Breasted (1865–1935) had a career that epitomizes our popular image of the archaeologist. Daring, handsome, and charismatic, he traveled on expeditions to remote and politically unstable corners of the Middle East, helped identify the tomb of King Tut, and was on the cover of Time magazine. But Breasted was more than an Indiana Jones—he was an accomplished scholar, academic entrepreneur, and talented author who brought ancient history to life not just for students but for such notables as Teddy Roosevelt and Sigmund Freud. In American Egyptologist, Jeffrey Abt weaves together the disparate strands of Breasted’s life, from his small-town origins following the Civil War to his evolution into the father of American Egyptology and the founder of the Oriental Institute in the early years of the University of Chicago. Abt explores the scholarly, philanthropic, diplomatic, and religious contexts of his ideas and projects, providing insight into the origins of America’s most prominent center for Near Eastern archaeology. An illuminating portrait of the nearly forgotten man who demystified ancient Egypt for the general public, American Egyptologist restores James Henry Breasted to the world and puts forward a brilliant case for his place as one of the most important scholars of modern times.

The discovery of ancient Egypt and the development of Egyptology are momentous events in intellectual and cultural history. The history of Egyptology is the story of the people, famous and obscure, who constructed the picture of ancient Egypt that we have today, recovered the Egyptian past while inventing it anew, and made a lost civilization comprehensible to generations of enchanted readers and viewers thousands of years later. This, the third of a three-volume history of Egyptology, follows the progress of the discipline from the trauma of the First World War, through the vicissitudes of the twentieth century, and into Egyptology's new horizons at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Wonderful Things affirms that the history of ancient Egypt has proved continually fascinating, but it also demonstrates that the history of Egyptology is no less so. Only by understanding how Egyptology has developed can we truly understand the Egyptian past.

Egyptians are relative newcomers to the United States. For thousands of years, ruling powers came and went, but the inhabitants of the Nile valley tended to stay in the land of their birth. They rarely emigrated from Egypt. Modern times have seen a notable reversal. Successive waves of emigration from Egypt started after the Second World War. Independence from colonial rule, the creation of the state of Israel, and the 1956 War against England, France, and Israel caused increased political instability in the region. Small numbers of Egyptians began to leave the country. But after the 1967 War with Israel, the trickle became a flood. Many Egyptians became disillusioned with the governmental system and decided to emigrate. Why did they leave Egypt? How did they adjust to and integrate into their new lives in the US? How did they relate to their motherland? The answers to these questions can be found in this anthology. The autobiographical essays include personal reflections of thirty-two Egyptian-American women and men from diverse backgrounds, living in cities and towns across the United States. They include engineers, medical doctors, taxi drivers, business people, scientists, stay-at-home moms, Egyptologists, artists, teachers, and university professors, among others. There are Jews, Christians, Muslims, and atheists. Egyptians immigrated to the US for a variety of reasons: educational, political, religious, and economic. Some were pushed out of Egypt by adverse circumstances; others were pulled toward the United States seeking new opportunities. Often it was a combination of both. Contributors include: Annie Whitney - Awatef Hamed - Dina Samir - Fayek Andrawes - Fekri A. Hassan - Fikry Andrawes - Gamal Omar - Giselle Hakki - Hisham Issawi - Joyce Zonana - Lofty Basta - Magda Saleh - Mahmoud F. Agha - Marlene Barsoum - Maysaa Barakat - Mohamed Elgamal - Mona Michail - Mona Mobarak - Moustafa Elkhashab - Naeem Mady - Nahla Bakry - Mahmoud EL-Shazly - Nimet Habachy - Norm Toma - Rawia El Wassimy-Agha - Reda Athanasios - Samia I. Spencer - Samir Ansary - Sherif Abou Sabh - Sherif Nasr - Souheir Eldefrawy Elmasry - Sylvia Iskander - Tarek Nazir Saadawi

A History of World Egyptology is a ground-breaking reference work that traces the study of ancient Egypt over the past 150 years. Global in purview, it enlarges our understanding of how and why people have looked, and continue to look, into humankind's distant past through the lens of the enduring allure of ancient Egypt. Written by an international team of scholars, the volume investigates how territories around the world have engaged with, and have been inspired by, ancient Egypt and its study, and how that engagement has evolved over time. Chapters present a specific territory from different perspectives, including institutional and national, while examining a range of transnational links as well. The volume thus touches on multiple strands of scholarship, embracing not only Egyptology, but also social history, the history of science and reception studies. It will appeal to amateurs and professionals with an interest in the histories of Egypt, archaeology and science.

The voices of Americans have long been absent from studies of modern Egypt. Most scholars assume that Americans were either not in Egypt in significant numbers during the nineteenth century or had little of importance to say. This volume shows that neither was the case by introducing and relating the experiences and attitudes of 15 American personalities who worked, lived, or traveled in Egypt from the 1770s to the commencement of World War I. Often in their own words, explorers, consuls, tourists, soldiers, missionaries, artists, scientists, and scholars offer a rare American perspective on everyday Egyptian life and provide a new perspective on many historically significant events. The stories of these individuals and their sojourns not only recount the culture and history of Egypt but also convey the domination of the country by European powers and the support for Egypt by a young American nation.

The discovery of ancient Egypt and the development of Egyptology are momentous events in intellectual and cultural history. The history of Egyptology is the story of the people, famous and obscure, who constructed the picture of ancient Egypt that we have today, recovered the Egyptian past while inventing it anew, and made a lost civilization comprehensible to generations of enchanted readers and viewers thousands of years later.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, a particular story about the United States’ role in the long history of world civilization was constructed in public spaces, through public art and popular histories. This narrative posited that civilization and its benefits – science, law, writing, art and architecture – began in Egypt and Mesopotamia before passing ever further westward, towards a triumphant culmination on the American continent. Early Civilization and the American Modern explores how this teleological story answered anxieties about the United States’ unique role in the long march of progress. Eva Miller focuses on important figures who collaborated on the creation of a visual, progressive narrative in key institutions, world’s fairs and popular media: Orientalist and public intellectual James Henry Breasted, astronomer George Ellery Hale, architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, and decorative artists Lee Lawrie and Hildreth Meière. At a time when new information about the ancient Middle East was emerging through archaeological excavation, ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia appeared simultaneously old and new. This same period was crucial to the development of public space and civic life across the United States, as a shared sense of historical consciousness was actively pursued by politicians, philanthropists, intellectuals, architects and artists.