Research Blog number 4

 Working Title: The Occultation of Egypt


Topic:

In my research project, I will be examining the occultation of Egypt in the western mind, based off of the magical interpretations of hieroglyphs and the origins and mysteries of the great pyramids and their true meaning. I would also like to further examine why these structures and artifacts led to the association between the occult and Egypt. Another part of this I would like to examine is the Egyptian mummy, and how, not only the mummy but Egypt as a whole is portrayed in the media. These things are only a few of the mysterious Egyptian practices that lead to the occultation of Egypt in the western mind. 


Research Question: 

Many people have different theories on the different practices and activities of the ancient Egyptians. There are many mysteries which have not been uncovered about these ancient peoples. However, as much as we know, how did our knowledge of the pyramids and magical interpretation of the hieroglyphs lead to the occultation of Egypt in the western mind and media? Did these ancient civilizations have connections with otherworldly beings? Why did the Egyptian hieroglyphs and mummies spark rumors and theories about magic and otherworldly beings or practices in Egypt?(curse of the mummy)


Theoretical Frame:

In “The Orientations of the Giza Pyramids and Associated Structures” by Erin Neil, she talks about a study in which their goal was to find out the exact locations and orientations of the pyramids. No plans or blueprints of these Pyramids have ever been found, resulting in much curiosity from the world asking, how were these pyramids really built? She talks about how texts refer to the King of Egypt and The God thoth supposedly worked together to align the pyramids in the correct way. My question is, did Egyptians really have the help of other worldly beings? Although we know these different pyramids were oriented in a certain way, the great pyramid is  aligned almost 100 percent accurately to the 4 cardinal points, only .067 degrees counter clockwise to the perfect cardinal point. This is freakishly close to perfect. Without modern technology, how were the ancient Egyptians able to align the pyramids with this much precision. Furthermore the bricks used in the pyramids were insanely large. Each brick of the great pyramid is said to be 2.5 tons. If these stones were really that heavy, how were these ancient civilizations able to move them with ease and create these giant structures? These theories and hypotheses are frequently portrayed to the western mind and media, leading to the association of the occult with the Egyptian pyramids. Just like with the mummy and hieroglyphs, our magical or otherworldly interpretations lead to the mystification of “magical” Egyptian practices and rulers. 

A term that comes to light is origin and purpose. There are many different mysteries and theories regarding hieroglyphs and mummies that were once a mystery to all. These terms will be useful as I will be able to pinpoint information about how these rumors and information of the occult was spread throughout western minds and media. 


Research:

In the book, The Mummy on the Screen, by Basil Glynn, the evolution of the portrayal of the mummy in cinema is shown. She talks about how in The Mummy (1938), the portrayal of Egyptians and their culture is far off, with little attention paid to the real details of ancient Egyptians. She explains how Egyptians are often shown “as incapable of looking after its own interests (and by extension, its' treasures), with modern Arabs only suitable for either granting permits for Western experts or forming gangs to dig for tombs.”(25) Although this is not true, many western films have similar portrayals of Egyptian culture. Leading to the misinterpretation of the occult in the western mind. Since Egypt is more often than not portrayed as a place of occult and magical practices in the media, the thought of Egypt is associated with the occult in western minds and media.  


Bibliography:


  Glynn, Basil. The Mummy on Screen: Orientalism and Monstrosity in Horror Cinema. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2019.


  Nell, Erin, and Clive Ruggles. “The Orientations of the Giza Pyramids and Associated Structures.” Journal for the History of Astronomy, vol. 45, no. 3, SAGE Publications, 2014, pp. 304–60, doi:10.1177/0021828614533065.


  Forman, Werner., and Stephen. Quirke. Hieroglyphs and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt . University of Oklahoma Press, 1996.

Verner, Miroslav. The Pyramids : the Mystery, Culture, and Science of Egypt’s Great Monuments. 1st ed., Grove Press, 2001. (Verner is an Egyptian Archaeologist)

Walker, Merle F. “The Alignment of the Egyptian Pyramids.” Journal for the History of Astronomy, vol. 37, no. 3, SAGE Publications, 2006, pp. 349–52, doi:10.1177/002182860603700306.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Ancient Sites of the World

Image
  The topics that I would like to work around are ancient sites around our planet that we really do not know the origin of. These include the Egyptian Pyramids, Stonehenge, Easter Island etc... Many people believe that these places were built with the help of extraterrestrial beings since much of the architecture would have been very difficult for people of their time. For example, the stones at Stonehenge are estimated to be around 25 tons, and the bricks in the Pyramid of Giza are around 10 tons each, and are 7.5 feet tall. How were the ancient people able to create these structures? These places always intrigued me and I would like to research further about the mysteries and theories that lie in these ancient locations.  
Read more

Research Blog #10- Final Paper Abstract and Works Cited

Abstract: Ancient Egypt, often referred to as the cradle of civilization, was said to be the birthplace of many different ideas and theories, all affecting us even to this day. Many acclaimed feats were achieved by the ancient Egyptians, such as building the pyramids and creating their own language. To this day, many mysteries of Egypt are largely unknown, which fuels the fascination behind discovering the ancient Egyptians’ true knowledge and purpose behind their many rituals, oftentimes leading to different abstract theories being sparked. Our orientalist interpretation and representation of these rituals and theories can be clearly seen throughout western media and thoughts, detailing the almost obsessive fascination behind many of Egypt’s controversial and fascinating rituals and discoveries. This paper will examine hieroglyphs and mummies, and how the portrayal of both led to a looming fear of the “magic” of Egypt leading to Egypt being strongly associated with the occult in the w...
Read more

Literature Review #2

Image
Citation:    Glynn, Basil. The Mummy on Screen: Orientalism and Monstrosity in Horror Cinema. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2019. Summary: In this book, Glynn talks about the portrayal of the mummy and egyptian culture and practices  in western media. She also talks about the evolution of the Egyptian culture and portrayal of "magical" practices. Author: Basil Glynn is a lecturer in films and television. He is knowledgable since he studies media and films as his job.  Key Terms: Portrayal, Egyptians, Mummy Quotes: Mummy films acknowledge little difference between the ancient and the modern, with only scant attention given to the Muslim country that Egypt has been since AD 639.(25)  Although monsters evidently rise and fall in popularity, to be resurrected anew, the death of the Mummy genre is one that appears to have been actively sought by a number of critics, being pronounced dead on the screen on a number of occasions.(29) In the midst of this ‘Mummy craze’ Mumm...
Read more