Napoleon’s Egyptian Adventure
By Dr. Syed Amir
Bethesda, MD
Until they actually landed in the dead of night on July 2, 1798, on the deserted beaches west of Alexandria, members of Napoleon’s Army of Egypt, comprising some 34,000 soldiers and 10,000 sailors, had no idea of what their ultimate destination was. Only Napoleon and a handful of his trusted generals knew the details of their stealth mission.
Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt more than two centuries ago is regarded as a watershed event in the history of the Middle East and his own turbulent career. A strange set of events had propelled Napoleon on course to an Egyptian invasion. He had just returned from the Italian campaign and was flushed with the glory of his dazzling conquests there. France had not fully recovered from the chaos and upheavals caused by its bloody revolution that overthrew the monarchy in 1789, and was being ruled by a weak consortium of five corrupt and incompetent members, collectively referred to as the Directory.
The Directory, in need of perpetual warfare to sustain its power base, was contemplating an invasion of England, hoping to drive Napoleon away from the capital to lead the assault. Napoleon, a brilliant military tactician, however, knew that the French had scant chance of success against the British, who commanded the world’s most powerful navy at that time. Prudently, he decided to focus his attention on Egypt, the country to the South.
Why the choice of Egypt? In the late eighteenth century, Egypt was a land of mystery and fascination for Europeans, a realm of exotic customs and people. Few had ventured into that territory, and those who had, did not leave much information about their experiences. In that respect, Egypt was unlike India which had been well explored by the Europeans, allured by the exaggerated tales of its fabulous wealth and prosperity. Also, the British and French had had a long history of bitter rivalry, as both sought colonies in Asia and Africa. Napoleon realized that control of Egypt would effectively block the British trade routes to the East, enabling the French to challenge the British supremacy in India.
The French had been driven of India not so long ago and the resentment was still simmering. Napoleon also had some personal reasons for invading Egypt. He had long fancied himself following in the footsteps of Alexander the Great, who had conquered Egypt in 331 BC. He was so enamored with the country that after his conquest of Italy, he had requisitioned for himself all the books on Egypt from the library in Milan.
Egypt had been ruled for centuries by a succession of Mameluke Sultans, a dynasty originally of slaves recruited mainly from Caucasus to serve in the Muslim armies. Mamelukes had a formidable reputation as fierce fighters, especially as cavalrymen. In 1260, their forces had for the first time defeated and stopped the Tartar armies of Helagu Khan, shattering the myth of Mongol invincibility. In 1570, as the Mameluke power declined, Egypt was conquered by the Sultan Selim I, who made the country part of the Ottoman Empire. However, the Ottoman control of Egypt loosened over time and Mamelukes once again became de facto rulers of Egypt. Meanwhile, Egypt had had little contact with the outside world, especially Europe, and consequently, the Egyptians were largely ignorant of the advances in the weaponry and warfare techniques made by the Europeans.
The French landing on the coast was not entirely a surprise; nevertheless, their advance towards Alexandria encountered relatively light resistance. However, as they got closer to Cairo, they were opposed by the strong Mameluke army. The Mameluke soldiers and cavalryman came out dressed in their colorful uniforms, but armed mostly with obsolete weapons -- javelins, sabers, battle axes, bows and muskets -- to fight one of the most disciplined and modern armies. Mamelukes fought bravely, but proved no match for advanced French weapons and military tactics. The battle, fought in the shadows of pyramids, was over in hours, leaving thousands of Mamelukes dead; many drowned in the Nile while attempting to flee. The French lost only a handful of soldiers.
As he entered Cairo, Napoleon proclaimed himself the eternal friend of Islam and Muslims, and even attended some religious festivals in an unsuccessful attempt to seduce the population. The occupation army, however, soon ran into opposition from the general population and the Ulemas of Al Azhar. More ominously, the British Navy commanded by the celebrated naval officer, Lord Nelson, which had been monitoring and stalking the French forces, sunk the French fleet anchored off the coast. The French forces were now stranded in Egypt, their escape route having been cut off. Through all this, Napoleon had kept a wary eye on events in Paris. Seeing an opening for a coup, he hastily abandoned his troops, leaving them under the care of his deputy, and fled to France after only a year. The ill-fated occupation of Egypt was brought to its final conclusion by a joint Anglo-Ottoman force that defeated the French in 1801, sending them packing after a period of just over three years.
The details of the French invasion and occupation have been well documented in several books; most prominent among them is the disquisition of Ottoman-Arab chronicler, Abd al-Rehman al-Jabarti (1753-1825), who recorded an eye-witness account of the invasion and the Egyptians resistance. The book has been translated from Arabic into English and represents a fascinating and authentic source of information about the invasion and its aftermath.
While the French invasion of Egypt proved to be a military disaster, it did serve in a unique way to greatly enrich the body of knowledge about Egypt. Napoleon, following the example of Alexander the Great, who had taken a group of Greek philosophers with him on his invasion of Persia, had recruited 151 eminent French savants, before embarking on his Egyptian expedition. Included among them were mathematicians, philosophers, chemists, physicists, doctors and many luminous scholars and intellectuals drawn from across the country. They had eagerly signed on to join a scientific expedition without enquiring where they were headed. The opportunity was sufficiently enticing to persuade them to abandon their peaceful laboratories and cozy class rooms. A recent book from Nina Burleigh, entitled Mirage, Napoleon’s Scientists and the Unveiling of Egypt, published by Harper Collins, describes in exquisite detail the scholarly achievements of French scholars in the realm of science and culture.
The Burleigh’s book provides some fascinating glimpses into the daily lives of the French savants. While the troops were harassed continuously, the scholars were able to set up the Institute of Egypt in Cairo, where they held scholarly seminars on a variety of subjects. They studied the plant and animal life, surveyed the land, explored the archeology of ancient monuments and made meticulous notes and drawings of whatever they observed. Their most celebrated discovery was that of Rosetta stone. Believed to have been carved 200 years BC, it contained ancient Egyptian written language, hieroglyphics, dating to the pharaoh’s times. The writings, despite many attempts, remained indecipherable for many years, but finally were decoded by a French scholar in 1822. The Rosetta stone afforded the key to decipher many other ancient engravings and writings.
The monumental amount of material and scientific data collected by the French scholars during their three-year stay was nearly lost when the defeated French army was evacuated from Egypt. Under the term of surrender, the French Generals agreed that the collections of valuable antiquities, priceless drawings and specimens would go to England. Subsequently, the French zoologist, Saint-Hilaire, succeeded in persuading the British that only the scholars could follow and interpret their notes and commentaries. Crates full of scientific material were eventually shipped to France. However, the prized Rosetta stone has remained part of the collection of the British museum.
The work of the French scholars was cataloged and compiled (1809-1828) into 24 volumes of texts, and 12 volumes of maps, published under the title Description de l’Egypte, representing a hugerepository of knowledge that has never been translated into English. The collected volumes when originally published by the Government were so expensive that only the rich could afford to buy them. However, the Egyptian Government has now established a new library, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, on the site where Alexandria’s ancient, fabled library used to stand and has made the Description del I’Egypte publicly available on line.
