Helpful Terms and People To Know:

Amenhotep II (r. circa 1427-1400 BCE): king of the 18th Dynasty (New
Kingdom); son and heir of Thutmosis III. He built a temple to the Great Sphinx
at Giza.

Stele: stone or wooden slabs, inscribed, carved and/or painted, used by royal
and elite individuals as monuments. Stelae can be found in several contexts,
including funerary, religious, and military.

Herodotus: the so-called "Father of History", Herodotus was a Greek historian

who visited Egypt in the 5th century BCE, writing a vast description of the
country and its history. His reliability has been contested by modern scholars. 

Diodorus Siculus: a Greek historian who lived in the 1st century BCE, known for
his Bibliotheca Historica, where he describes Egypt, its culture and history.

Napoleon (r. 1804-1814): a French political and military leader, who became

Emperor following the events of the French Revolution, and established a large
empire over Europe. 

Lord Nelson: a British officer in the Royal Navy, he is best known for his role in
the Napoleonic Wars, during which he secured several important naval victories
for the British.

La Description de L’Egypte: a collection of works - maps, plans, drawings,

engravings, descriptions - made by the 160 scholars and scientists recruited by
Napoleon for his expedition to Egypt (1789-1801). The aim of this publication
was to catalog all known aspects of both ancient and modern Egypt, and it
remains an important souce for Egyptologists to this day.

Rosetta Stone: a stele inscribed with three versions of the same text (a decree
issued by Ptolemy V), which became the key for the deciphrement of ancient
Egyptian hieroglyphs, by Jean-François Champollion. The text is written in
Greek, Demotic (a later phase of Egyptian language), and Hieroglyphs. It was
found during Napoleon's expedition in the Delta city of Rosetta, in 1799.

Jean-François Champollion: a French scholar and philologist, best known for

the decipherment of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, in 1822. His feat opened the
way for the establishment of modern scientific Egyptology.

Giovanni Battista Caviglia: an Italian explorer and amateur archaeologist, who

dug in several tombs at Giza, near the Sphinx, and inside the Great Pyramid of
Khufu, being the first to penetrate into its most underground chambers.

Henry Salt: the British Consul General in Cairo from 1815 to 1827, Salt was a
collector of antiquities and promoted several excavations in Egypt in order to
obtain them. Most of the modern collection at the British Museum was procured
by him.
Giovanni Battista Belzoni: an Italian explorer and amateur archaeologist, who
excavated all over Egypt and worked closely with Henry Salt. Among his great
feats and discoveries are the removal and transportation of the upper part of a
colossal statue of Ramesses II from Thebes, now in the British Museum; the
discovery of the tomb of Seti I in the Valley of the Kings; and the opening of
Khafre's pyramid for the first time.

Seti I (r. circa 1294-1279 BCE): the second king of the 19th Dynasty (New
Kingdom), son of Ramesses I and father of Ramesses II. He is best known for
his tomb in the Valley of the Kings and his funerary temple in Abydos.

Valley of the Kings: a valley near modern Luxor (ancient Thebes), on the
Western bank of the Nile, where most kings of the New Kingdom were buried in
rock-cut tombs.

Howard Vyse: a British officer and amateur archaeologist, who carried out
excavations with Caviglia at the Pyramids of Giza. He is most famous for using
gunpowder in order to find the internal chambers of the Great Pyramid of Khufu.

George Reisner (1867-1942): American Egyptologist and Archaeologist, and

the director of the Harvard-MFA expedition. 

Sarcophagus: a large stone coffin where the mummified body of the deceased
was placed. 

Multiple Choice

1/1 point (graded)

Which king was responsible for erecting a temple slanted toward the Sphinx?
Ankhhaf
Amenhotep II
Khufu
Snefru
correta

Explanation

Egyptian ruler Amenhotep II, also known as the "Warrior King," erected this temple
during Dynasty 18. Though this temple is located near the Sphinx, it was actually
constructed long after the Sphinx was built. Please see the video above at 0:34.

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Multiple Choice

1/1 point (graded)

Who brought Giza and Egypt back into Western culture?
Julius Caesar
Napoleon Bonaparte
Isaac Newton
Lord Byron
correta

Explanation

On his journey to Egypt, Napoleon brought scholars of all varieties with him to study
Egyptian culture. These scholars produced "La Description de l'Egypte," a famous text
that incited a fascination with Egypt in Western culture. Please see the above video at
3:19.

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follow the Submit button.
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Multiple Choice

1/1 point (graded)

What was the purpose of the first Western expeditions to Egypt in the 19th century?
Collection of antiquities
Systematic survey of modern Egyptian sites
Conservation of Egyptian religious heritage
To generate a new understanding of modern Egyptian culture
correta

Explanation

Explorers such as Giovanni Caviglia, Giovanni Belzoni, and Howard Vyse traveled to
Egypt in order to collect great antiqiuities. Unfortunately, many of them did not
carefully handle these artifacts, leading to the loss of destruction of many Egyptian
treasures. See the video above at 5:14.