Why is France so fascinated by exhibitions on Ancient Egypt?

An immersive exhibition about Egyptian pharaohs opened on Friday at the Ateliers des Lumières in Paris. It's the fourth expo on Ancient Egypt to be shown in the French capital since 2019, when artefacts from the tomb of Tutankhamun attracted a record number of visitors.

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"Egyptian pharaohs. From Cheops to Ramses II" will run until 5 January 2025 at the Atelier des Lumières in Paris. © Culturespaces - C. de la Motte Rouge

Projections of art pieces from the Louvre and the Egyptian museum in Cairo (EMC) adorn the walls of the 2,000 square metre Atelier des Lumières. They're accompanied by classical and contemporary music, some from the soundtrack of films.

"The selection is based on art pieces that have been remarkably conserved despite the millennia that separates us from this civilisation," the exhibition's artistic director, Virginie Martin, told RFI.

She also uses new technology based on the 3D reconstitution of temples. Some of the projections come from the original Assassin's Creed video game, which was set in Egypt.

A projection at the exhibition "Egyptian pharaohs. From Cheops to Ramses II" at the Atelier des Lumières in Paris. © Culturespaces - C. de la Motte Rouge

"There really is a love, a passion for the Orient and especially for Egypt," French Egyptologist Jean-Guillaume Olette-Pelletier, the exhibition's scientific advisor, told RFI. 

"Because Egypt is a land of mysteries, it's still very much part of our collective imagination, especially in France."

There's been a longstanding relationship between Egypt and France ever since Napoloen Bonaparte led his Egyptian Expedition from 1798 to 1801.

• How French linguist Champollion unlocked the hieroglyphs of ancient Egypt

"It's also thanks to [French egyptologist] Champollion, who discovered the key to hieroglyphic texts and ensured these hieroglyphs were no longer just images," says Olette-Pelletier.

Several museums commemorated the anniversary of Champollion's 1822 breakthrough with exhibitions highlighting the scientific and cultural relationship between France and Egypt.

Egyptologist Jean-Guillaume Olette-Pelletier

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Egyptologist Jean-Guillaume Olette-Pelletier in Karnak, Egypt in March 2022. © J.G. Olette-Pelletier

Record visitors

In 1967, an exhibition dedicated to Tutankhamun at the Petit Palais in Paris was the first to attract more than one million visitors.

The Tutankhamun treasures went on display again in 2019, this time at the Grande Halle de la Villette, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the famous pharaoh's tomb.

A new record was set with 1.4 million visitors.

• King Tut’s treasures come to Paris, record visitors expected

These exhibitions top the list of the most visited shows in French museum history –  trumping those devoted to Leonardo da Vinci in 2020, Monet in 2010, Dali in 1979 and Renoir in 1985. 

Ancient Egypt exhibitions in Paris since 1967

1967: The first exhibition on Ancient Egypt called Tutankhamun and his time was shown at the Petit Palais.
1976: Ramses II's sarcophagus displayed at the Grand Palais.
2019: Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh at the Grande Halle de La Villette.
With 1,423,170 visitors, it is the most visited exhibition in France so far.
2023: Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs at the Grande Halle de La Villette.
3 February 2024: Tutankhamun the pharaonic immersive experience at the Galeries Montparnasse.
9 February 2024: The Egypt of Pharaohs. From Kheops to Ramses II at the Ateliers des Lumières.
 

Scientific, cultural cooperation

A significant number of French archaeologists and Egyptologists work in Egypt, says Olette-Pelletier.

"There are three French centres in Egypt – in Alexandria, Cairo and Karnak – and they work all year round in collaboration with the Egyptians to bring certain works to the fore and to uncover temples or tombs," he says.

Olette-Pelletier himself was trained at the French-Egyptian Centre for the Study of the Temples of Karnak (Cfeetk).

"Egypt loaning us some of Tutankhamun's ancient artefacts is also a great way for Egypt to promote its own tourism," he says.

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Egyptian Pharaohs. From Cheops to Ramses II is at the Atelier des Lumières in Paris from 9 February 2024 to 5 January 2025.