"Egyptomania" refers to post-pharaonic fascination with ancient Egypt and its myriad manifestations. This includes obvious visual expressions of Egyptian themes, for example in operas and architecture, as well as the employment of Egyptian motifs by philosophers, occultists, and groups with political or social aims. Egyptomania began with the Greeks and Romans and persists today among modern civilizations. Its various Egyptianizing forms are referred to as the Egyptian Revival, the Neo-Egyptian, Egyptianate, Egyptiana, and Pharaonism. 

Egyptomania.org is a web site founded to promote the examination and appreciation of the varied aspects of Egyptomania.  Such examination may be scholarly or popular in approach, but it must be responsible.  This currently includes extensive bibliographies, calendar of events, and links to web sites and news items. In the future, it is hoped that Egyptomania.org will host a virtual museum; a virtual library of fiction, poetry, and articles; a guide to Egyptian Revival monuments that can be visited by the public; and other resources.

Aspects of Egyptomania covered by Egyptomania.org include but are not confined to:

• the inspiration of Egypt as expressed in fine, decorative, literary, performing, and cinematic arts;
• the reception and perception of mainstream Egyptology by the public and the media;
• the reaction of Egyptologists to public interest in their subject of study and its popular expression;
• the phenomenon of "fringe Egyptology";
• the notion of Egypt as a point of origin;
• the scholarly study of ancient Egypt prior to Napoleon;
• the contributions (material, theoretical, symbolic, rhetorical) made by Egyptology and its subject matter to other disciplines;
• Egypt in ancient and modern esoterica;
• the antiquities trade, past and present, legal and illegal, and the forgery of artifacts;
• the dissemination of aspects of Egyptian culture (e.g., artifacts, religion, artistic motifs) in antiquity;
• the social and political contexts of Egyptology and Egyptomania;
• the impact of archaeology and tourism on modern Egypt and Pharaonism in Egyptian politics;
• the commercial use of ancient Egyptian motifs, objects, and themes;
• the preservation of endangered Egyptian Revival monuments;
• biographies of Egyptologists, professional and amateur, and of individuals involved in expressions of Egyptomania;
• the history, in a social or political context, of museum or private collections of Egyptian material.

Currently available:

CURRENT EGYPTOMANIA LECTURES AND EXHIBITS

Collections/Permanent Exhibits

Past Lectures

Past Exhibitions

Egyptomania in the News

The Quotable Egyptian Revival

Annotated Bibliography for Egyptomania, the Egyptian Revival, Egyptianizing Works, Egyptiana, and Related Matters (incomplete and in progress)

Ancient Egypt in Fiction (the move from its former site is complete, but reformatting remains a work in progress)

Graphics Index

Site Map

Also of interest will be these sites:

Newsletter of the Egyptologists' Electronic Forum Egyptology News The Association for the Study of Travel in Egypt and the Near East Travellers in Egypt Abzu Google << egyptomania OR "egyptian revival">>