By Way of Accident

It is astonishing to think that many great archaeological discoveries occurred in Egypt only by way of accident during the 19th and 20th centuries. Even today accidents still play a vital, frequent and sometimes comical role, with new discoveries happening almost weekly and with many more secrets of the ancient Egyptian civilization still remaining. This book takes readers beyond these discoveries and their associated accidents. This book cannot be considered purely as an Egyptological and archaeological reading or even as dry history pages covering Egypt's modern era of the 19th and 20th centuries. Rather, it is a book that sheds light on the intimate links between the birth of Egyptology after the deciphering of the famous Rosetta Stone and the raging world politics and regional power shifts in Egypt and its surroundings. The book ties together the political storms of colonialism in the first half of the 19th century and the unsettling effect these upheavals had on Egypt during the reign of Mohamed Ali Pasha. In a storytelling style, the book is a journey through time and place. The book takes readers on a guided tour to most of Egypt's well-known monuments that were mainly discovered by simple accident or in which an accident played a major part leading to discovery. In addition, the book leads readers through time exploring ancient Egypt, the days of the pharaohs, ancient gods, rituals and public ceremonial festivals, with old and new stories that shed light on the true value of such discoveries in antiquity and modern day.