A Global History of the Reception of Ancient Egypt

A Global History of the Reception of Ancient Egypt brings together 100 chapters by 56 scholars from more than 40 institutions worldwide, tracing how ancient Egypt has been imagined, borrowed, and reinvented across cultures and centuries.

Organized into ten thematic sections – from theoretical and terminological foundations to performing arts, the reception of Ancient Egypt throughout history, architecture and decorative arts, museums and collecting, literature and comics, entertainment, icons and geographies – the book maps the astonishing reach of Egyptomania. It explores how pharaonic Egypt has shaped opera and theatre, inspired monuments and fashion, filled museum halls, haunted literature through the enduring figure of the mummy, dominated cinema and popular media, and turned rulers like Tutankhamun, Nefertiti, and Cleopatra into global icons.

Rather than offering a single unified narrative, the volume embraces a ‘glocal’ perspective, showing how each region and era engages with ancient Egypt on its own terms, shaped by distinct histories, motivations, and cultural traditions. At the same time, it acknowledges the weight of Western and colonial frameworks that have long dominated the field, while pointing toward more inclusive, decentred approaches for the future.

Comprehensive yet deliberately open-ended, this volume is both a synthesis of decades of scholarship and an invitation to further exploration – a testimony to how one ancient civilization continues to captivate and be reshaped by the modern world.