Salvaging Damaged Documents
at the Egyptian Scientific Institute

The Chronicle of Higher Education has an article on efforts to salvage the fire-ravaged collection of the Egyptian Scientific Institute.

Last December when the Egyptian army clashed with protesters in Cairo, the Egyptian Scientific Institute was destroyed in a fire, along with much of its precious library.

The institute was created in 1798 as the Institut d’Egypte by Napoleon Bonaparte during his Egyptian campaign. One of the most precious books in its collection was the original Description d’Egypte, a first-of-its-kind, multivolume illustrated description of the country’s geography, landmarks, customs, and history that 150 scholars who accompanied the French expedition spent 20 years assembling. (Eight of the 20 volumes have reportedly been recovered.) The institute’s library grew over the next two centuries, alongside research in every field on Egypt.

The article also contains several photos of the devastation caused by the fire.

Read the article on the destruction of the Institute here.

The photos of the devastation can be seen here.

You can also read a report published on Arab News about the destruction of the Institute here.

NOTE: For other studies on the history and archaeology of Egypt, read my post Egypt, The Land of the Pharaohs.

Claude Mariottini
Emeritus Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

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