The wonders of the ancients: Arab-Islamic representations of ancient Egypt

Egypt was incorporated into the Islamic empire in 20 AH/641 CE. Like so many conquerors before them, early Muslim settlers faced the challenge of defining their own civilization in the shadow of the country's ancient monuments. Egypt was the first province in the Islamic empire to produce regional historical works. Inevitably, the formation of regional Arab-Islamic identity involved coming to terms with Egypt's pre-Islamic past.; Although direct links with pharaonic culture had been severed long before their arrival, local Arab Muslim scholars did not regard the ancient past as irretrievably lost or forgotten. Qur'anic references to ancient Egypt were supplemented with additional scriptural lore provided by Christians and Jews, and the Copts, despite their bitter struggle with paganism, were held to be authorities on the country's past, the inheritors of its ancient wisdom. The local discourse on ancient Egypt that emerged in the Islamic era was dominated by wonders and magic, the dubious legacy of an awe-inspiring, but ultimately pagan, civilization. Until the advent of modern Egyptology, this discourse provided the primary paradigm for interpreting and understanding Egypt's ancient legacy.; The aim of this study is to identify the parameters of this discourse and explore its origins. Two principle texts, Ibn `Abd al-H&dotbelow;akam's Futuh&dotbelow; Mis&dotbelow;r wa-akhbaruha ("Reports on the Conquest of Egypt") and al-Was&dotbelow;ifi's Kitab al-`aja'ib ("Book of Wonders"), are examined as historical narratives and literary constructions. The ways in which these seminal works influenced later representations of Egyptian monuments are then discussed, both in the context of elite literature and popular traditions. Detailed readings of specific texts are provided to illustrate the richness of the discourse and its remarkable consistency throughout the Middle Ages.