From Napoleon to Sa’d Zaghlul (1798–1919)

The beginning of modern Egyptian cultural development has traditionally been set at 1798, the date of Napoleon’s invasion. Although the significance of this date for the socio-economic development of Egypt has in recent years become the focal point for some of the liveliest debates in Middle Eastern history, its status as a cultural turning-point is difficult to ignore; as one recent commentator has noted, “the postulation of the French occupation...as the original event that stirs modern Arabic literature [and, by implication, other branches of modern Arab culture] to life...is heavily documented and cannot easily be gainsaid.” Essentially an episode in the history of Anglo-French imperialist rivalry, the French invasion has generally been judged a military failure, but the three-year occupation that followed saw developments that were radically to change the cultural and educational development of the country. The teams of scholars and scientists Napoleon brought with him undertook a comprehensive survey of the country, subsequently published as Description de l’Egypte; a scientific Institut de l’Egypte was founded; a printing-press was introduced to Egypt, used not only for printing proclamations for the local people but also for production of a newspaper, Le courier de l’Egypte, and a scientific and educational journal, La décade égyptienne. To win support Napoleon also set up an administrative council and a series of provincial councils, by means of which the Egyptians were involved in western representative institutions for the first time.