The hippies of the 1960s adopted the ankh, an Egyptian symbol for eternal life, as a symbol of their movement. A new wave of Egyptomania swelled in the 1970s when objects from Tutankhamun’s tomb toured world museums. Millions of visitors waited for hours to see the solid gold coffins, jewelry, and other treasures.
Egyptomania
refers to a period of renewed interest in the culture of ancient Egypt
sparked by Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign in the nineteenth century.
Napoleon was accompanied by many scientists and scholars during this
Campaign, which led to a large interest after the documentation of
ancient monuments in Egypt. The ancient remains had never been so
thoroughly documented before and thus, the interest in ancient Egypt
increased significantly.
Recent reexamination of a mummy found in a tomb in 1898 has led some Egyptologists to suggest it may be the famous beauty Nefertiti. This startling announcement, along with a Discovery Channel special about the queen, has already set off a new wave of Egyptomania. Many computer games use Egyptian motifs and themes. Mail-order catalogs sell CD cabinets and wine closets shaped like Tutankhamun’s coffin.
You can buy lamps in the form of the goddess Isis, pedestals and end tables shaped like temple columns, jewelry boxes decorated with copies of tomb-wall paintings, and figurines of the Egyptian deities Bastet, Sekhmet, Isis, Osiris, and Anubis. Scarabs and Egyptian cats are popular jewelry items. You can visit web sites that translate your name (or any text) into hieroglyphics, and buy rings and pendants with your name, in hieroglyphics, in a royal Cartouche.
You can buy lamps in the form of the goddess Isis, pedestals and end tables shaped like temple columns, jewelry boxes decorated with copies of tomb-wall paintings, and figurines of the Egyptian deities Bastet, Sekhmet, Isis, Osiris, and Anubis. Scarabs and Egyptian cats are popular jewelry items. You can visit web sites that translate your name (or any text) into hieroglyphics, and buy rings and pendants with your name, in hieroglyphics, in a royal Cartouche.
Jean Francois Champollion deciphered the ancient hieroglyphs in 1822 by using the Rosetta Stone that was recovered by French troops in 1799 which began the study of scientific Egyptology.Egyptian images and symbols also served for more trivial purposes, such as dessert services, furniture, decoration, commercial kitsch and advertising. There were parties and public events that had Egypt as a theme, where people wore special costumes.
Even today, this kind of fascination for Egypt and all things Egyptian still exists. Many different exhibitions about Egyptian culture in museums all over the world demonstrate people's continued interest in it. A prominent example, which also reflected upon the cultural meaning of this fascination, is the exhibition "Egyptomania: Egypt in Western Art, 1730-1930"