"When visualizing Egypt means visualising the British Empire’s future: A case study in pyramidology and British Israelism. (1864-1898)"

"Quand représenter l'Égypte revient à prédire le futur de l'Empire britannique : Charles Piazzi Smyth et la pyramidologie (1864-1898)"

Stéphanie Prevost (1)

1 LARCA UMR 8225 - Laboratoire de Recherche sur les Cultures Anglophones

From the 1830s, interest in what was broadly called ‘the East’ gathered momentum in Britain. Political events (especially the reopening of the Eastern Question), as well as the development of Orientalism provided the background for the popularisation of ‘the Eastern Tour’, which covered various parts of the Ottoman Empire (from Greece before its independence to Northern Africa and Egypt and the Holy Land). From then on, travelogues publication about ancient sites in Syria, Egypt and the Holy Land surged. But it was also the development of modern Egyptology, numerous findings during excavation campaigns and the display of the Rosetta stone at the British Museum since 1802, which made the land of Egypt, and especially its pyramids, the frequent subject of several magic lantern slide shows from the 1870s as well as of photographic projects from the 1860s. It is in this context that pyramidology took off, first under the aegis of John Taylor (The Great Pyramid: Why Was it Built? And Who Built It?, 1859) and then of Charles Piazzi Smyth. Pyramidology argued that the Great Pyramid had been built for the Lord and that its measures foretold the future of the British Empire, which was perceived as the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. Smyth, a staunch British Israelite, developed his own Great Pyramid theory from photographs he made of the monument in 1864-1865 and gave two lectures to the Edinburgh Photographic Society in which he explained the importance of the pyramid inch to reveal mystical prophecies of the dates of events in the history of the British Empire, and finally of the Millennium. But it is with the reopening of the Eastern Question and with the purchase of the Suez Canal shares by the British Government, both in 1875, that Piazzi Smyth’s theory acquired a new dimension: timeliness. Indeed, two key Ancient Testament loci, Egypt, together with Palestine were the focuses of British Israelism, but also of contemporary political events. Thanks to its organ (Israel’s Identity Standard which was replaced in 1877 by the Banner of Israel), British Israelite associations, which spread all over Britain, but especially around Birmingham and in North England, could propagate its views amongst ‘the masses’. This chapter argues that visual tools were key in constructing a particular understanding of Egypt, especially of the Pyramids, for British Israelite advocates. To prove this, it will be necessary to look at the way photography was used as a scientific truth disclosing device by British Israelites to recreate Egypt as a Biblical locus at a time when visual documents became more readily accessible. It will also be necessary to analyse Pyramidology rhetoric, which contended that a major change was to happen in 1881, to assess its general impact, especially in 1882 (the bombardment of Alexandria), in 1885 (the death of General Gordon) and 1898 (the battle of Ondurman), both for the masses and in intellectual circles.

Domaines: Histoire; Art et histoire de l'art

Stéphanie Prevost. "Quand représenter l'Égypte revient à prédire le futur de l'Empire britannique : Charles Piazzi Smyth et la pyramidologie (1864-1898)". Geuthner. Vestiges du Proche-Orient et de la Méditerranée, Catherine Delmas & Daniel Lançon (eds), , pp.61-78, 2015. ⟨hal-02558905⟩