What is the meaning of Egyptology? Concept and Definition of Egyptology

Definition, Concept, Meaning, What is Egyptology

1. Concept of Egyptology

Egyptology is the scientific study of the civilization of ancient Egypt. It is a thematic regionalization of several disciplines related to ancient history and archaeology. A practitioner of the discipline is known as Egyptologist.
The study of Egyptology ranges from the V Millennium BC until the end of the Ptolemaic Dynasty and the inclusion of Egypt as a province of the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC.
In Europe, until the beginning of the 19th century, was known very little about Egypt, and less of its historical past, considered one more Ottoman province, unless you wrote the Greek and Roman classics, or poor travellers in the late middle ages and the Renaissance. Egypt was for many an alternative route that the Crusaders had chosen to reach Jerusalem.
Vansleb was sent by Colbert, in 1672, to get manuscripts and old medals, visited the Coptic convent of San Antonio, being the first traveller who describes the ruins of Antinopolis, the Roman city built by Hadrian.

18Th and 19th centuries

Egypt was visited and described by other European travelers like Richard Pococke, but the first systematic exploration was conducted at the end of the 18th century, made by a group of scholars and cartoonists French accompanying the expedition to Napoleon by Egypt's military. His works were published in the "Description de L'egypt", between 1809 and 1822, in 24 volumes. The collections gathered by the French exhibit at the Louvre Museum, although part passed into British hands, such as the Rosetta Stone, when Alexandria was taken by the English armies, and are in the British Museum.
Bernardino Drovetti, Giovanni Belzoni, Henry Salt, and other members of the expedition collected antiques for collectors, increasing the funds of museums such as the Louvre, the British, the Berlin or the Egyptian Museum of Turin. Sir John Gardner Wilkinson English published in 1837 "The life and customs of the ancient Egyptians" (Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians), in three volumes, a comprehensive study collecting twelve years of work in Egypt and Nubia.
At the beginning of the 19th century came the science of Egyptian antiquities, as before, the hieroglyphs engraved on the walls of temples had been indecipherable, as well as the hieratic and demotic writing of the papyri texts. There was a breakthrough at the end of the 19th century and during the first half of the 20th century, with large contributions from Jean-François Champollion in the decipherment of hieroglyphs, and the numerous discoveries in many burials of the low and high Egypt.
William Flinders Petrie, introduced and developed new techniques of excavation and meticulous field surveys. I thought that you had to record and preserve the greatest amount of evidence, rather than collecting and antiques of high economic value, a very advanced at the time, replete with archaeological practice of unscrupulous collectors.

20Th century

It was fashionable in the first half of the 20th century Egyptology the concept that a foreign people had penetrated the Nile Valley, to 3400 b.c., civilising the natives and by imposing a more advanced political and social organization, founding the monarchy.
After relative stagnation, from 1950 to 1970, there was a change of approach, with contributions from specialists in anthropology, sociology, and statistics, which allowed a more rigorous and assessment set of archaeological evidence, mainly in the study of the predynastic Egyptian period, promoting a better understanding of the Egyptian civilization, one of the first and more dazzling in the history of mankind.
The elements of foreign origin were marginal, very short and very little weight in the development of political or social of Egypt since the archaeological record does not indicate any jump or marked cultural discontinuity compatible to invasion or massive penetration of external influences that incidieran decisively in the development of any of these cultures. -Juan Jose castles.

2 Meaning of Egyptology

What is Egyptology?

Obviously, the first knowledge that must be purchased on particular science is what is and what is. Egyptology is the science that studies the ancient Egyptian civilization in all its aspects from prehistory until the end of the Pharaonic era with the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the great in 332 a.e., also continuing with the later stages until reaching the Coptic culture - originated by the Christianization of the Egyptians in the vicinity of the beginning of our era - whose language constitutes the last stage of the Pharaonic language and whose field of study tends to become increasingly independent of Egyptology by the required specificity required to study all its documentary and historical corpus.
The campaign of Napoleon in Egypt in 1798, and especially the issue of scholars that accompanied it, facilitated the beginning of scientific studies about the old country of pyramids. As a result of this campaign was discovered fortuitamente in 1799 a (196 a.e.) edict of the King of Egipto Ptolomeo V Epífanes written in two languages, Greek and Egyptian, and with three types of writing, hieroglyphic, demotic, and Greek - development handwriting of the hieroglyphic-on a dark rock of basaltic appearance. This edict was baptized with the name of Rosetta Stone - approximate transcription of the Arabic name of the city where it was discovered: Rashid - and through the comparative study of three types of writing and some other examples, and taking into account the work of his predecessors Sacy, Åkerblad and Young, the French scholar Jean François Champollion in 1822 could lay the groundwork for the system of writing in the ancient Egyptlost to the world since about the century V o.d.
From a general point of view, Egyptology tends to be studied from two major perspectives in which the historical method is a fundamental part: pharaonic, essential between philology and archaeology. They are the initial interpretadoras of the remains. The first consists in the study of the Egyptian civilization from the texts and inscriptions and the second based on the study of the archaeological remains. As internal disciplines Egyptology tends to rely on historical sciences as the palaeography, epigraphy, grammar pharaonic, phonetics and phonology, papyrology, hieroglyphic, hieratic, and demotic writings, Egyptian archaeology, pharaonic culture, Ethnology, history of Egypt, etc. In addition, since it is the study of a civilization and its contexts, it is impossible to address if it is not as interdisciplinary work of all sciences which study each appearance and condition of that civilization, as for example, geology, Botany, semiotics, musicology, medicine, the social and cultural anthropology, theology, sociology, etc.
Many of the great universities of the world offers this race, having a duration that varies between 3 and 5 years, depending on the density of the programs, the country and the institution. However in Spain, for various reasons of varied nature and despite the bright quarry of Egyptologists that we possess, we are lacking of Chair of Egyptology, being temporarily assumed their duties by Professor of ancient history and sites thesis work in the various departments. However, for several years, various Egyptologists itineraries take place at Spanish universities allowing students to obtain a solid background in the curricular contents that are taught.
It should be noted, however, that not everyone in Spain thinks that the presence of a Professor of Egyptology, would be required as there is a sector of professors at the University, that thinks that the studies of ancient Egypt must be competence of the departments of history and that without being licensed in history it cannot be Egyptologist. However, should outline, in honor of the truth, that several of the Egyptologists of the world are due to studies of different nature than ancient history, as for example, those who have completed their specialization in the ancient pharaonic civilization thanks to the philological disciplines. Thus, the problem is institutionally unsettled in our country.
Currently must be distinguished, as it happens in parallel in several other areas of knowledge in the humanities, between degree in Egyptology and Egyptologist. All graduates in Egyptology should be, logically, Egyptologists, but not all Egyptologists are licensed in Egyptology. Although, strictly speaking, a professional Egyptology can only be what a person skilled in Egyptology which exercises an activity right to economical remuneration in relation to this science and so socially is that university institutions grant a license or permit - Bachelor's degree-to be able to exercise the profession where laws require it, everyday and ontological reality is that an Egyptologist should not necessarily be a professional Egyptology - clockwise strict few professionals of Egyptology in our days, despite having people licensed in this science by any University. An Egyptologist is a scholar in Egyptology, as a philosopher, for example, is in philosophy, a scholar in Philology, a gemologist in gemology or a linguist in Linguistics.
On the other hand, educational institutions of a country attest to the specificity, civil and criminal liability and social impact resulting from each profession requiring licensed only for those who are in possession of the highest degree of these characteristics. That is the reason why these conditions are required exclusively for careers as, for example, the of law, pharmacology, architecture, medicine and nursing, among several to be exercised. Smaller is considered the skill level and civil and criminal liability for a particular profession, minor will also institutional requirements to be able to exercise it. For all these reasons, while in professions with recognition of direct social impact legally pursued the professional intrusion, in Egyptology this is not possible, obviously. In this field of knowledge is therefore the general public which must have your intelligence and I raciocino especially well awake, willing and ready to judge the goodness and scientific veracity, consistency and perfection in short, of all the things that are published on the civilization of ancient Egypt.

3. Definition and what is Egyptology

Egyptology is the name which refers to the discipline that focuses exclusively on the study and analysis of ancient Egyptian civilization.
The ancient Egypt knew how to be a human civilization which settled on the banks of the Nile River and was developed in splendid for three thousand years approximately, from 3150 BC and 31 BC when it was conquered by the Roman Empire. For instance, the object of study of Egyptology is comprised between that period and the inclusion of Egypt to the orbit of the Roman Empire from the 5th century BC.
The key to the success of Egypt has been no doubt in its geography, the Nile River allowed them to develop their own resources and also provided always your position to the enemy. The Pharaoh was the highest political authority and was covered with divine characteristics.
Meanwhile, Egyptology consists of a variety of topics in which the ancient Egypt is the object and the subject of attention and subjects such as history and archaeology have a prominent presence.
Until the 19th century was it knew very little of the culture and of the Egyptian ancient society, in both, by that time, an expedition of French cartoonists and scholars accompanying an expedition military led by Napoleon in the lands of Cleopatra and CIA brought much light about particular and fascinating Egyptian civilization. Even that trip was synthesized on a site with lots of information published in volumes: Description de L'egypt and explorers also collected parts and elements which later became prized Museum objects.
Later, towards the end of the 19th century and early 20th, also large progress was made in the knowledge of the Egyptians with the decipherment of its singular writing: hieroglyphics.
Refers to the individual who is professionally engaged the same as Egyptologist. The French scholar Jean-François Champollion is regarded as the father and promoter of this discipline for having been the first decipher the languages stone or stone of Rosetta, recorded in Greek and Egyptian, demotic, and decode the sound of each one of the hieroglyphs.