The Unexplained

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...

  Citation:  Said, Edward W. Orientalism. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2014. Summary: In this book, Edward Said talks about the concept of orientalism, and how this concept is used and can be seen in many western thoughts and actions. More specifically relating to my topic, said goes deeper into the idea of western superiority in Egyptian lands, and explains the effect and the cause of orientalism and the orientalist view regarding Egypt . Author: Edward Said was a literature professor at the University of Columbia. He is also well known for this book, making him a good source on the topic of orientalism Key Terms: Orientalism, Imperialism Quotes: " It does not occur to Balfour, however, to let the Egyptian speak for himself, since presumably any Egyptian who would speak out is more likely to be “the agitator [who] wishes to raise difficulties” than the good native who overlooks the “difficulties” of foreign domination." (chapter 1) "England knows Egypt; Egypt is...

 My Argument or research Question was,  Exactly why and how did the Hieroglyphs, Pyramids and Mummies lead to the association between Ancient Egypt and the occult, in Western Culture and Media? Furthermore, how did the idea and cultural representation of Egypt as a whole become altered due to the portrayal and interpretations of the hieroglyphs and mummies? I am answering this question by providing specific cases in which these discoveries shed light on occult rituals or practices used by the Ancient Egyptians such as the Boo of the dead, or mummification as a whole as a way to enter the afterworld. However, one source I somewhat disagree with is Glynn, Basil. The Mummy on Screen: Orientalism and Monstrosity in Horror Cinema. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2019. In this book, Glynn describes how Egypt is portrayed in a altered fashion because of the exaggeration of the magical practices in films. However, Although we may never know, The Egyptians could very well have been able to ...

     One Cas e that I am using in my paper is The Mummy (2017) starring Tom Cruise. In This movie,  the mummy of princess Ahmanet is uncovered by 3 researchers, and they don’t know this, but princess Ahmanet was actually a daughter of a pharaoh who was supposed to succeed the throne, however after realizing that her newborn brother would be succeed the throne, she makes a deal with set, the god of death, and murder her whole family. As a consequence for her actions, she was mummified alive However as a result of being mummified alive, after uncovering her tomb, she was able to escape. She then proceeds to wreak havoc on London, consuming souls to regenerate her body, which is shown as a mummy with hieroglyphic inscriptions all over her skin. Ultimately she is stopped by the same researcher that uncovered her. This movie is important because it shows the marketing of magical practices in mummy films and also the exaggeration of the powers and rituals conducted ...

  A theoretical frame I am using for my paper is the idea that the portrayal of Egypt in modern day minds and media is altered in a sense that the qualities of Ancient Egypt have merged into the modern day culture of Egypt, due to the orientalist portrayal of many Egyptian ideas, when in reality, much of Ancient Egypt's culture has since shifted and changed. In the Mummy on the Screen by Basil Glynn, this notion is addressed. Glynn talks about how the portrayal of Egypt is not true to its modern day culture. Another book that addresses similar ideas is Orientalism by Edward Said. In this book Said  mentions how Britain and different countries believed that Egypt itself was incapable of handling its own affairs and land, and therefore led to the craze or researchers in Egypt, further generating more interest and hype around the discoveries of Ancient Egyptian Artifacts such as the Coffin Texts and Mummies. This in turn led to orientalism in the portrayal of these discoveries, m...

  Citation:  Westerfeld, Jennifer Taylor. Egyptian Hieroglyphs in the Late Antique Imagination. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019. Summary: In Egyptian Hieroglyphs in the Late Antique Imagination, by Jennifer Westerfield, she talks about how the notion and idea of the Egyptian Hieroglyph was used in antique writing and how it was portrayed to the public during this time. She also gives details about the origins and purposes of these hieroglyphs. Authors: Jennifer Westerfield is a professor of ancient history at the university of Louisville, so she must know a good amount about this topic. Key Terms: Hieroglyph, Thoth Quotes:  “writing in Egypt was the invention of the god Thoth, identified with Greek Hermes and Roman Mercury.”(35-36). “... the name of the god himself was Theuth(Thoth). He it was who invented numbers...and, most important of all, letters.”(36). "The term “hieroglyphic” is not a native designation for the Egyptian writing system but rather a term appl...