#Vivant Denon

[empirearchives]

“It is rare to love much the grandest men but I assure you that the more I see this there, the more I love him. I feel happy that my final epoch of my life could be devoted to existence so distinguished. It is the burning star who revives my soul.”

— Vivant Denon on his emotional attachment to Napoleon. In a note sent to his lover, Isabella Teotochi, in 1803.

Source: Susan Jaques, The Caesar of Paris: Napoleon Bonaparte, Rome, and the Artistic Obsession that Shaped an Empire

[usergreenpixel]

JACOBIN FICTION CONVENTION MEETING 29: NAPOLEON’S PYRAMIDS (2007)

1. The introduction

Well, hello again, dear Citizens! Welcome back to Jacobin Fiction Convention because it is now back in session!

Okay, first I will get one thing out of the way. I’m doing much better than I did in summer, hence the decision to resume my reviews. And what better way to make a comeback than to get the promised things out of the way first?!

On that note, I introduce to you the topic of today’s meeting: “Napoleon’s Pyramids”, a novel in the adventure genre set in the Egyptian campaign. Now, Directory years don’t have a good reputation in the Frev community, but technically those years are still officially Frev, hence my decision to include this book in the Jacobin Fiction Convention category.

Anyway, I’m pretty sure some people in my audience already know it, but I LOVE adventure stories, so when I stumbled across this book on a quest to find more Frev/Napoleonic media to review, you can bet your ass that I got excited!

Also, its resemblance to an Indiana Jones story initially drew me in, as I used to like the first Indiana Jones movie as a kid (not so much now) so there is some nostalgia involved here as well.

Luckily for me, I managed to find the book in pdf format here:

Then I did more research and it’s available in Russian too, mainly online and sometimes in paperback form, so my fellow Russian speakers who aren’t good at English can find the Russian version!

Is it worth looking for though? Well, let’s find out.

This review is dedicated to @mamelukeraza .

2. The Summary

Here’s the summary from Amazon and, apparently, the back cover of the book:

What mystical secrets lie beneath the Great Pyramids?

The world changes for Ethan Gage—one-time assistant to the renowned Ben Franklin—on a night in post-revolutionary Paris, when he wins a mysterious medallion in a card game. Framed soon after for the murder of a prostitute and facing the grim prospect of either prison or death, the young expatriate American barely escapes France with his life—choosing instead to accompany the new emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, on his glorious mission to conquer Egypt. With Lord Nelson's fleet following close behind, Gage sets out on the adventure of a lifetime. And in a land of ancient wonder and mystery, with the help of a beautiful Macedonian slave, he will come to realize that the unusual prize he won at the gaming table may be the key to solving one of history's greatest and most perilous riddles: who built the Great Pyramids . . . and why?

By all accounts, this book should have been right up my alley! I mean, we have adventures, ancient artifacts, mysteries and clues! What could possibly go wrong?!

(Spoiler alert: A LOT. More on that later.)

3. The Story

First of all, I didn’t really like the beginning of the book, mostly because the narrator (Ethan Gage) really takes his precious ass time to dive into his backstory and explain how he ended up at a table playing that fateful card game. I’m talking about two pages of backstory before finally getting to the fucking point!

Don’t get me wrong, a proper introduction is important to me personally, but maybe my problem is the fact that I prefer to receive a character’s backstory over time, bit by bit. Otherwise it gets a bit too distracting for me, especially when Gage stops narrating to crank out a few pages of his damn autobiography before returning to the actual events at hand.

Also, unfortunately for this book, the comparisons to Indiana Jones don’t imply anything good here. It simply reads like an extremely predictable adventure story that desperately tries and fails to be engaging and fun while treating really old orientalist tropes like a checklist (mysterious Egypt, hot slave girls…). Even the cliffhanger ending is predictable as shit.

Moreover, there is almost no suspense. Gage either conveniently shoots his target or gets conveniently rescued all the time. In short, he always wins, which is not what should happen in a good story because most people get bored with heroes who always win.

Last but not least, too many coincidences and everyone being connected to the point where my suspension of disbelief just went right out the window.

At one point Ethan Gage randomly encounters Sidney Smith, for example. Also he gets rescued by Nelson after a naval battle. And in a later chapter it turns out that the Romani with whom Gage had to hide at one point were the ones who alerted Gage’s future allies in Egypt about his arrival. Very fucking believable.

At this point, this book may as well be a soap opera where all the heroes are somehow connected!

Speaking of heroes…

4. The Characters

I don’t like Ethan Gage. He’s basically a knockoff Indiana Jones crossbred with a Mary Sue. Perfect sharpshooter, womanizer, spy, adventurer, apprentice of Benjamin Franklin. He has a lot of skills and connections and not enough justification for having them.

Trust me, even the fact that he’s a Freemason wasn’t enough for me to justify the fact that he just HAPPENS to know a bunch of important people.

Other than that, he starts out as a typical lone adventurer with no family who enjoys gambling and the company of sex workers. I was half expecting him to go full James Bond and be an alcoholic too, but luckily it wasn’t that cliché.

The Macedonian slave mentioned in the summary, Astiza, is a slightly more interesting character, even though she’s not free from clichés. Starting out as a beautiful mysterious slave girl, she is revealed to know more than she lets on and has a knack for practicing magic. Also she is later revealed to have known the villain of the book… Welcome to Santa Barbara, folks!

As for the villain, Count Alessandro Silano is presented as this master manipulator and a looming threat who wants to harness whatever secrets the ancient secrets and/or powers this medallion can potentially provide. In reality, however, he’s more of a hammy movie villain who likes to monologue, has no positive traits whatsoever has the same ability to survive the impossible as Gage does. Or maybe they both can just respawn, I dunno.

Unfortunately, “cliché” and “flat” are the best adjectives to describe most original characters in the story. Gage’s friend, Antoine Talma, is your typical intrepid reporter but at least he’s more relatable than Gage; Ashraf, a Mameluke Gage captures, is just a loyal servant who is there to conveniently swoop in and rescue Gage Deus ex machina style, etc.

It’s basically modern clichés served under the “sauce” of the Frev setting.

By the way, Napoleon is there as well and he gives me the same vibes as the Nazi villains in the first Indiana Jones movie. He only cares about people who are useful to him, doesn’t give a shit about his troops and also wants to harness the abilities that medallion potentially can provide so he can use those powers to CONQUER THE WORLD!

Most other historical figures only have minor roles, but I’m glad we got cameos of people like Kléber, Vivant Denon and other military men and scientists who were actually part of that campaign.

5. The Setting

Unfortunately, even the descriptions of settings leave a lot to be desired. They’re just blander than stale bread and I’m not even sure how accurate they are. Probably inaccurate as fuck though, if I’m being honest…

Paris is this city of vices like brothels and gambling houses and this setting is hyperbolic like we’re in a noir detective story.

Egypt is a treasure trove of orientalist clichés - a land of mysteries, cruel people, beautiful women and wise scholars who may or may not dabble in magic. That being said, I liked the fact that the book took a sledgehammer to clichés about harems.

6. The Writing

Ooh boy, I have some complaints here too. Aside from the distractingly long backstory tidbits I already ranted about, that is.

For example, basic French grammar and spelling have clearly left the chat because there are characters whose last names are spelled d’Liberté and d’Bonneville (de is only turned into d’ before vowels or the letter “h”) and at one point there’s a hotel called Le Cocq instead of Coq (rooster). The book was written in 2007 so it’s not like the author couldn’t look up the words and basic grammar that I learned in fifth grade!

These may seem like tiny mistakes, but if the author didn’t bother to look up the basics, then this makes me concerned about other mistakes in the novel that I probably missed. So yeah, take everything in this with a grain (or a barrel) of salt.

Last but not least, this:

This is where General Dumas and General Desaix make a cameo. Now, it seems fine… except there’s no prior mention of them being present in this scene at all before they speak their lines so… did these two just randomly poof into existence or something?

Also, these two suffer from Delayed Introduction Syndrome ™️, which means we don’t find out who the fuck these men are until a few chapters later and we don’t get any descriptions of them before that either.

Why is this an issue? Well, other minor characters in the book do get a proper introduction and a brief description IMMEDIATELY or SHORTLY after being mentioned, so there is an inconsistency here, especially since some minor characters get TOO MUCH time dedicated to their descriptions despite the fact that they are not part of the main cast (d’Liberté in particular gets too much attention).

Also, some descriptions in the book are unintentionally funny, like a part where Gage compares a woman’s nipples poking out of her cleavage to soldiers sticking heads out of a trench. Yes, this is the real comparison in the book and it fucking cracked me up.

One thing I appreciate, however, is the fact that the narrative doesn’t shy away from describing gruesome injuries like traumatic amputations and sometimes the author does have the balls to permanently kill off an important character (said characters has a really gruesome death btw). I don’t mind blood and gore like this, but trigger warning just in case you’re more squeamish than me.

7. The Conclusion

All in all, instead of being a cool swashbuckling adventure, “Napoleon’s Pyramids” comes off as an Indiana Jones ripoff with clichés stacked onto one another like Jenga blocks, a cast of bland characters, mistakes that could be easily corrected by a few Internet searches and inconsistent writing.

Do I recommend it? ABSOLUTELY NOT. Please don’t waste your time on this novel.

Okay, with that said, it’s time to conclude today’s meeting of the Jacobin Fiction Convention.

Please stay tuned for updates on future reviews and stay safe.

Love,

Citizen Green Pixel

[drrestlesshate]

Vivant Denon - Self-portrait, 1823

[federer7]

Femme faisant le portrait d'une autre femme. 1700s

Auteur: Dominique-Vivant Denon

[dwellerinthelibrary]

A fragment of a yellow coffin. We can make out the deceased offering incense and other goodies to Osiris, who kneels on a nub-symbol behind his imuit-fetish.

When: Third Intermediate Period, 21st/22nd Dynasty

Where: Vivant Denon Museum

[francoiserocafort-blog]

Le Cavalier Du Louvre, Vivant Denon (1747-1825) - Philippe Sollers

Le Cavalier Du Louvre, Vivant Denon (1747-1825) – Philippe Sollers Auteur(s) : Philippe Solers Editeur : Plon Parution : 01/01/1995 Nombre de pages : 322 Format : Grand Résumé. ” Il a donc traversé tous les régimes ? Louis XV, Louis XVI, la Révolution, la Terreur, le Directoire, le Consulat, l’Empire, la Restauration ? Sans y perdre la tête ? Et vous dites qu’après avoir fondé le musée du…

[generaldesaix]

tell us more! tell us about all those stories!

Well, have a seat.

One story I can remember was the officers having to attend obligatory classes on everything related to Egypt right before the campaign. Now, personally, I enjoyed these classes and saw them as an opportunity to learn more.

The Gascons (namely @your-dandy-king and @armagnac-army) , on the other hand… they were up to unhealthy amounts of GASCONNERIE. Just fooling around throwing paper balls everywhere and not taking the lecture seriously at all. I pity our savants, to be completely honest.

Ah, I didn’t explain. See, it wasn’t just the military that partook in the ill-fated Egyptian campaign, but multiple savants too. Botanists, zoologists, historians, artists, architects, engineers… all sorts of experts.

I befriended some of them. Especially Dominique Vivant Denon, the first director of the Louvre! Yes, THE Louvre. A fascinating man I learned so much from! I miss him.

[lupitovi]

Ernest Pignon-Ernest 

Quel crédit accorder à un artiste (un écrivain aussi bien) qui ne toucherait à aucun moment de son art au cœur même de l'humain ? Qui ne serait cet archer qui annonce à sa façon, en poète qu'il est : « Et d'un oeil avisé nous mirons droit dans la rime.» Bonheur de l'anagramme : rime, mire (rima). Le cœur de l'humain ? Métaphore du romantisme à travers les siècles, pour reprendre le titre d'un livre de Philippe Muray qui désigne en vérité, comme nous le signifie un poème du XVIII siècle, le sexe, plus précisément le sexe de la femme. Le tireur à l'arc, chasseur de fauves : « Et nous mettons droit les yeux dans la fente/Et nous ne tirons jamais de coups décochés en vain. S'il est un artiste, poète et chasseur qui sait mettre droit les yeux dans la fente du réel, de tout le réel, c'est-à-dire dans le lieu où le réel s'ouvre pour délivrer son sens; s'il est un dessinateur qui ne tire jamais un trait décoché en vain, c'est bien Ernest Pignon-Ernest. Archée : principe de vie, feu central de la terre. Viser le feu de la femme, c’est viser dans le même temps et plus fondamentalement le feu de la terre, le principe même de la vie. Titre du tableau de Courbet : L'Origine du monde. Le Vésuve sait faire jaillir sa rougeoyante semence sur Naples et la côte amalfitaine. Zelda, épouse de Francis Scott Fitzgerald, dans une rue de Paris, brise la vitre d'une borne d'appel aux pompiers: « Vite, vite, venez Vite, j’ai le feu au cul ! » Naples n'est pas choisi au hasard par Ernest Pignon-Ernest. Présence de Virgile, bien sûr, près de la tombe duquel, en manière d'hommage, il colle son dessin. C'est aussi la ville où Vivant Denon situe sa Belle Napolitaine vue de dos. Vue de dos mais, robe relevée, exhibant son magnifique cul, et la tête tournée, regard aguicheur, vers les mâles suiveurs, vers nous aujourd'hui, les voyeurs du dessin, vers ceux de demain, pour s'assurer auprès de nous, auprès d'eux, d'un effet maximum. Qui m'aime me suive ! Qui me suit me baise ! Force du dessin d'Ernest : il indique que le siècle libertin de Vivant Denon est loin, que le XIX° est passé par là. La femme, de face, exhibe son sexe mais détourne la tête, se cache les yeux. La culpabilité a fait son ouvrage, du coup, son sexe est d'autant plus en feu. Double effet d'obscénité, laquelle, selon Bataille, rend la beauté du sexe encore plus fascinante : la Napolitaine n'est pas nue et elle est velue. Pas nue. Bataille encore: « Je pense comme une fille enlève sa robe. » Ernest dessine comme une fille soulève sa robe. Le dévoilement est autrement plus érotique, plus scandaleux, que le déjà dévoilé. Velue. Présence taboue de l'animalité chez la femme. Breton n'est pas Bataille, on le savait. « C'est une honte, déclarait l'auteur de L'Amour fou (retour à grands pas du XIX siècle dans la poésie du XX), qu'il y ait encore des sexes non rasés. » Merci à Virgile, merci à Pignon-Ernest, d'avoir, chacun en leur temps, fouillé, tisonné les cendres de la honte pour ranimer les laves ardentes du sexe et de l'amour.

— Jacques Henric - Femme avec le feu entre les jambes

[monimarat]

A very unkind drawing of Danton at the Tribunal by Dominique Vivant Denon.

Also Hébert on the charrette.

[publicdomainreview]

Sketches of Voltaire aged 81, by Baron Dominique Vivant Denon, just 2 yrs before the great Enlightenment thinker would pass away, #onthisday in 1778. Learn about his relationship to Buddhism in Donald S. Lopez, Jr.'s essay "Voltaire and the Buddha" — https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/voltaire-and-the-buddha

[eunikia]

Napoleon and Freemasonry

Was Napoleon Bonaparte a member of the Masonic Brotherhood? Multiple hypotheses have been advanced on the subject, and although the probability is high, it has never been definitely established that he was made a Freemason, either in Valence (French Department Drome), Marseille, Nancy ("St. John of Jerusalem" Lodge, December 3, 1797?), Malta, Egypt or elsewhere.

Chart of the Bonaparte Masonic Lodge, c. 1810 Enlarge

What is certain is that members of the expedition he commanded during the Egyptian campaign brought the Freemasonry to the banks of the Nile. General Kleber founded the "Isis" Lodge in Cairo (was Bonaparte a co-founder?), while Brothers Gaspard Monge (member, among others, of the "Perfect Union" Military Lodge, Mezieres) and Dominique Vivant Denon (a member of Sophisians, "The Perfect Meeting" Lodge, Paris) were among the scholars who would make this strategic and military setback a success that the young General Bonaparte would exploit upon his return to France.

What is also undeniable is that, beginning with Bonaparte's coup of 18 Brumaire, the Freemasonry would thrive for 15 extraordinary years, multiplying the number of lodges and members. The First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte, understanding the advantages he could derive from the obedient Freemasonry, invested in these reliable men, hoping to be rewarded with faultless servility. He was not disappointed.

Read the entire article here:

There’s too scanty information available concerning Napoleon’s involvement with Freemasonry. Sometimes it seems like his biography has been carefully cleaned of some unwanted negativity - not only on this issue.

[empirearchives]

Napoleon and the Bayeux Tapestry

In 1803-1804, this tapestry was borrowed from Bayeux in Normandy for a two-month exhibition at the Musée Napoléon (Louvre).

Vivant Denon’s letter to the sub-prefect of Bayeux the following year:

“I am sending back to you the Tapestry embroidered by Queen Matilda, wife of William the Conqueror. The First Consul has seen with interest this precious monument of our history, he has applauded the care that the habitants of the city of Bayeux have brought for seven and a half centuries to its conservation. He has charged me to testify to them all his satisfaction and to entrust them with the deposit. Invite them to bring new care to the conservation of this fragile monument, which retraces one of the most memorable actions of the French Nation.”

(20 February 1804)

Napoleon attended the opening of the exhibition on 5 December 1803, with Denon and Visconti.

A press release for the exhibition was published in the ‘Beaux-Arts’ column in Le Moniteur on 29 November and in the tabloid Journal de Paris on 28 November. Visconti wrote a guide for the artwork which was partially reprinted in Le Moniteur.

The tapestry was returned to Bayeux two months later, on 18 February 1804. Many in Paris wanted to keep it in the city, but Napoleon ordered that it be returned.

Previously, the historic tapestry had been confiscated during the French Revolution. It was covering military wagons and almost cut up when a local lawyer, Léonard Lambert-Leforestier, saved it by sending it to city administrators for safekeeping.

The tapestry depicts the William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy. The piece was made about a decade after his 1066 invasion of England and the purpose of the tapestry was to glorify the invasion.

It was displayed to the public in Bayeux in 1812 and has been publicly displayed ever since:

“From 1812 the Tapestry was kept in the Hotel de Ville (city hall) in Bayeux. It was generally hung and displayed to the public in September of every year. In addition, the custodian could show it to visitors, rolling it out gradually on a table by turning the crank handle of a winder: this way of exhibiting it was described on several occasions by British writers between 1814 and 1836. From 1842, it was put on permanent display for the first time in the Matilda gallery.”

Sources:

Susan Jaques, The Caesar of Paris: Napoleon Bonaparte, Rome, and the Artistic Obsession that Shaped an Empire

Carola Hicks, The Bayeux Tapestry: The Life Story of a Masterpiece

Bayeux Museum: From Odo’s Cathedral to the Louvre

[canesenzafissadimora]

Succede ai baci come alle confidenze: uno tira l'altro, e via via si fanno più vicini e caldi.

Barone Vivant Denon

[josefavomjaaga]

The fate of Sainte Apolline

A friend sent me a link to this video about Napoleon’s marshals Suchet, Ney and Soult that, as far as Soult is concerned, of course inevitably had to refer to Soult’s avarice and his looting of Spanish art.

In order to visualize the looting, there is this picture (screenshot at 32:16):

And we even get an example of stolen artwork: »Sainte Apolline« by Zurbaran (a couple of seconds later):

Which I consider a nice opportunity to look into the matter a little more closely.

Before the French occupation of Spain, the painting in question belonged to the catholic order »San José de la Merced Descalza« and presumably was part of its church. That order, like all male monastic orders in the whole of Spain, was dissolved by decret of newly installed king Joseph Bonaparte in 1810, all its properties falling to the government. So »Sainte Apolline« was, together with an abundance of other paintings from other convents, brought to the Royal Alcazàr, the official residence of king Joseph in Sevilla.

Just to make sure: No, Soult (or rather his men) did not loot those paintings out of his own volition and for his own good. He seized them in the name and for the person whom his emperor had told him was the new king of Spain, Joseph Bonaparte.

To my knowledge, there also never was any actual fighting or looting taking place in Sevilla, at least not in the way that is pictured in the caricature above. I understand king Joseph entered the city quite peacefully, stayed a couple of weeks and then immediately hurried back to his mistresses in Madrid, leaving the work that was to be done to Soult (and complaining behind Soult’s back to Napoleon about him). By the way, as far as actual »looting« is concerned, not even Soult’s enemies in France (which seem to have been much more ferocious than outside of France) denied that all the paperwork was in order. He had certificates and receipts for each and every of his paintings.

But of course, these papers had to cover up a forced trade that Soult had imposed on the former owner through threats of reprisals, torture, and death. Right?

At least in the case of Sainte Apolline we can rule that out. Or at least, if Soult indeed stole the painting, he stole it from King Joseph. But that was probably not even necessary, as Soult’s penchant for art was obviously well-known and offered Joseph a rather cheap way of rewarding Soult for his services: just hand him over half a dozend of those hundreds of paintings catching dust in the Alcazàr whenever the guy gets testy.

But back to »Sainte Apolline«: The text next to the painting in the screenshot makes it look as if this painting alone had been worth 1.5 million Franc in 1811. That is not what the speaker in the video says, however, who claims that Soult »amassed an art collection worth an estimated 1.5 million Francs«.

Which, unfortunately, still is incorrect. First of all, this is not an estimation – it is the actual worth of Soult’s collection of art that was on sale after his death, consisting of 163 works of art (see the catalogue here), and with one third of the sum going to a single painting, the »Inmaculada Concepcion de los venerables« by Murillo. But most of all, this happened in 1852, four decades later! Those four decades mean a lot here. Because at the time when Soult acquired the paintings (by whatever means) they were considered so unimportant that Vivant Denon refused most paintings Joseph offered to him for the Louvre and kept haggling for the very few he considered worthy of a Paris museum, but that Joseph wanted to keep in Spain. At the time when Soult bought his paintings, with all convents dissolved and an abundance of religious art on the market all of a sudden, the price for paintings must have dropped close to zero. The paintings also often were in very bad shape and desperate need of restauration. Soult writes to his wife that he actually bought a painting somewhere on the docks, where they were stored in the open.

»Sainte Apolline«, btw, stayed in Soult’s family even after his death. According to the description of provenience on the website of the Louvre, it was his daughter Hortense de Mornay who bought it, and only after her death was it acquired by the Louvre. Who probably could have had it a lot cheaper in 1810 or 1811.

[claudehenrion]

Ramsès

  La passion des français pour l'ancienne Egypte, ses Pharaons, et sa civilisation, complexe à en être compliquée et souvent incompréhensible, est un phénomène étonnant. (NB : En admettant que d'autres nations partagent cet engouement, cela ne changerait rien à l'intensité de celui qui nous anime). Penser que Bonaparte, en plein chaos révolutionnaire, est parti aussi loin de ses ''sources normales'' d'intérêt, emmenant une escouade de savants est à peine croyable... Et ça a l'air de durer...

En 1797, lorsque le futur Empereur a pris cette décision étrange –aujourd'hui vue comme un fantastique coup de génie de cet homme qui en a pourtant eu tellement-- on ne connaissait l'Egypte des Pharaons qu’à travers les récits des historiens et voyageurs grecs de l’Antiquité. Sous la férule ottomane, ses monuments étaient à l’abandon, enfouis dans le sable... d'où ils allaient surgir soudain, par la vertu d’une expédition française, à la fois militaire et scientifique, où le nombre de ''savants''  était une grande première : 169 ‘’cerveaux’’ dont Monge, Saint-Hilaire ou Berthollet, tous placés sous l’autorité de Vivant Denon, dessinateur et graveur talentueux, dans un ‘’Institut d'Égypte’’ d'où allait naître une science nouvelle, l’Egyptologie.

En 1802, Vivant Denon publia 300 dessins et croquis dans un livre ''Voyage en basse et Haute-Égypte'' qui répandit aussitôt la passion de l'égyptologie dans les cercles cultivés et les ''Sociétés Savantes'' et valut à son auteur d'être nommé directeur général du Musée central des Arts (futur musée Napoléon, puis musée royal, aujourd'hui musée du Louvre). Les résultats complets parurent en 1809 sous le titre peu avenant de ''Description de l'Égypte ou Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l'expédition de l'Armée française''.

Le 15 juillet 1799, le lieutenant français Bouchard découvrit à Rosette, dans le delta du Nil, une pierre en basalte noir d'un mètre de longueur, sur laquelle était gravé un décret de Ptolémée V, pharaon de l'époque hellénistique, rédigé en trois versions : en hiéroglyphes, (l'écriture sacrée des premiers pharaons), en démotique (une écriture égyptienne tardive datant du 1er millénaire av. J.-C.), et en grec ancien. (NB. Par ''époque hellénistique'', on désigne le temps qui va de la mort d'Alexandre le Grand à la défaite de Cléopâtre VII-Ptolémée à la bataille d'Actium, début de la domination romaine sur le monde grec, c’est-à-dire de  –323 à -- 31, avant JC, ).

Une copie de cette pierre de Rosette arriva, en 1808, entre les mains de Jean-François Champollion  qui entreprit de déchiffrer les hiéroglyphes, ces si jolis idéogrammes aux formes stylisées d'animaux, d'humains ou d'objets, conçus au IVe millénaire, et qui étaient alors une énigme absolue. C'est de cet enchaînement de hasards heureux que provient sans doute la ''passion égyptienne'' du peuple français (1,6 millions de visiteurs pour ''Tout-Hank-Amon'', en 2019, record jamais égalé... le précédent record étant détenu par... ''Tout-Hank-Amon 1967'', avec 1,24 million de visiteurs. Parions que Ramsès fera mieux, d’ici le 6 septembre...

Même si Howard Carter fut un british à 100%, il serait vain de nier le lien réel entre ''nous'' et ''eux''. (Petite incise sans intérêt, avant de revenir sur notre vieille amitié avec la momie de Ramsès II : nos bons maîtres savaient nous faire partager leurs enthousiasmes et les richesses programmatiques de MM. Mallet & Isaac, et je dois avouer une égyptomanie chronique qui me tient depuis la classe de 6 ème , et a mis ce pays juste derrière mon cher Maroc et la Grèce, qui est ma troisième patrie culturelle et… touristique (NDLR : Je vous parle d'un temps que les moins de ''tant'' d'ans ne peuvent pas connaître, avant les hordes qui piétinent sans les voir des beautés éternelles … dont ils ne garderont qu'un selfie raté où on aperçoit un bout de monument, mais caché par le chapeau criard de bobonne... Quel intérêt ?).

Si nous parlons aujourd'hui,de l'Egypte, c'est à cause, bien sûr, de l'arrivée à Paris, le 7 avril, de Ramsès II, ''en visite officielle''. Cet immense Roi trouve  naturellement sa place ici, après notre réflexion récente sur les grands empires et leur fin : la civilisation égyptienne, impériale s'il en fut, a perduré plus de 3000 ans (''naissance'' vers l'an –3150, et fin officielle en l'an --30, quand Rome en fait une province de l'Imperium romanum). L'historiographie retient cinq siècles de prospérité (dits : le Nouvel Empire) et sept siècles de périodes plus troublées. La réalité est plus subtile et moins tranchée, ne serait-ce que parce qu’il s’agit de trois millénaires, durée unique dans l'Histoire ! Depuis leur origine –qui se confond avec les tout débuts de l’histoire écrite-- jusqu'à leur fin –résultat du triomphe du christianisme-- les grands principes de la culture égyptienne se sont maintenus, et le mode de vie au bord du Nil a très peu évolué, toujours rythmé par les crues, les dieux et les impôts (déjà !).

Pour Hérodote, ''l'Égypte est un don du Nil'', ce qui est exact, même si l'Egypte pharaonique se limitait à une mince bande de ''terre noire'' le long du Fleuve Sacré : quelque 30 000 km² (= 3 départements français) portant entre 0,5 et 4 millions d'habitants. Le régime des crues ''lissait'' les aléas météorologiques, même si les poteries les plus anciennes montrent un climat bien moins aride qu'aujourd'hui, comparable aux actuelles savanes kényanes, ce dont on pourrait déduire, en étant aussi cons que nos climato-dingos, que les cultures le long u Nil et les transports à dos d'âne ont produit de sacrés amas de leurs ‘’ gaz à effet de désert’’’ ! Passons...

Mais au moment où tant de français vont s'extasier sur les merveilles artistiques, sur les réalisations et sur les faits d'armes d'un Roi (de son vrai nom Ousirmaâtrê Setepenrê, Ramessou Meryamon, ce qui veut dire, m'assure-t-on, ''Puissant par l'harmonie de Rê, par Rê, issu de Rê, aimé d'Amon'', ce qui est un joli nom, facile à porter et pratique pour parapher des textes. Je pense que E. Macron devrait s'en inspirer : son règne laisserait peut être un souvenir moins négatif, devant l'Histoire !), il est bon de rappeler que, ayant régné pendant 66 ans, il se trouve à la 12 ou 15 ème place seulement parmi les Rois ayant eu les règnes les plus longs...assez loin derrière ''notre'' Louis XIV (72 ans), et le recordman  Bernard VII de Lippe (1428-1511) et ses 81 années de règne sur un royaume confidentiel, en des époques où l'espérance de vie tangentait les 25 ans. En conclusion, je pense que personne ne va aller chercher les détails énoncés dans cet ''édito'' : ils sont tout-à-fait inutiles !

Un dernier point : on rappelle que le calcul de l'espérance de vie à la naissance est gratuitement fourni en appliquant –tout simplement-- cette formule, bien connue : L(x) = l(x+1)*1 + d(x)*0.5, --ce qui est, simplement aussi, la somme de ’’ i ‘’ à l'infini des L(i), et e(x) = T(x) / l(x).. (NDLR : on peut se demander si Elisabeth II –70 ans de règne), ou K'inkch Janaal Pakel 1er, le très célèbre roi de Palenque, au Mexique (68 ans) –par exemple-- auraient pris le risque d'un règne aussi long s'ils avaient connu cette formule. Mais ceci appartient à une autre lecture de notre Histoire...)

H-Cl.

[mndnblgt]

Vivant Denon Père Lachaise