14:30
Sunday 25 September 2022
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(Masrawy):
Coinciding with the Egyptian celebration of the 200th anniversary of the discovery of the secrets of writing, and the deciphering of the Rosetta stone by the French academician and linguist Jean-François Champollion, in September 1822, the complaint is renewed on social media, after circulating images of the statue of Champollion, putting his foot on the head of an Egyptian pharaoh.
Below we review the history of the carving of this offensive statue, which raises controversy from time to time.
This marble statue, sculpted by the French artist Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, depicts Champollion standing with his left foot on the head of a pharaoh, in the year 1875.
– It was exhibited in the “Parc Egyptian” garden set up by the French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette.
– Take part in the 1877 World Exhibition, which celebrated the end of the war between France and Prussia (now Germany).
– Initially the statue was to be moved to Champollion’s hometown, but the statue did not find sufficient financial support and remained erected in Paris.
In 1878 the statue was erected in its current location on the Place de Collège de France, in the center of Paris, one of the most important centers of higher education in the capital.
In 2013 some Egyptian archaeologists sent a petition to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Antiquities condemning the statue as a contempt for Egyptian civilization.
At this time, a number of Egyptian organizations and youth movements in France threatened an international escalation and organized protest vigils, which resulted in a crisis between the Egyptians and the French government, as the Egyptians considered it an attack on Egyptian civilization. pharaonic and an insult to every Egyptian in Europe.
In another context, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities celebrates, this September, the 200th anniversary of the deciphering of ancient Egyptian writing and the emergence of Egyptology by the French scientist “Champollion” who deciphered the hieroglyphs on the stele of Rosetta in 1822, by launching a promotional campaign on the Just sites on various social media platforms to highlight the most important and distinct artifacts that have been discovered within each of the Egyptian governorates, entitled: “Discover a treasure in your governorate “.
Egyptian experts and archaeologists have expressed their outrage at the image spread on social media, showing the insult to one of the ancient Egyptian kings, asking the authorities concerned in Egypt to take immediate action to remove the abusive statue of Egypt and file a complaint. against the French Universities.
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