The true story of a legendary vessel

The Egyptian Campaign
[1798-1800]

The history of steamships on the Nile began on July 2, 1798. On this day, 35,000 troops disembark for Aboukir. The expedition of Egypt begins.

At this time, Egypt is nothing but a distant colony of the Ottoman Empire meagrely managed by a governor under the Mamelukes regime. Thus one calls upon the mercenaries which Istanbul confines in Egypt after not having been able to control them.

More important than the soldiers were the 137 scientist that Napoleon Bonaparte brought with him. Close to the same glory acquired by Monge or Berthollet, a dozen of some of the new generation scientists like Dominique Vivant-Denon, who is the pioneer of Egyptology and the first organizer of the Louvre museum. This handful of intellectuals would establish the first complete chart of Egypt, standard charts and program an administration. In a couple of months Egypt would enter into its new century.

July 22, 1798, is the victory of the Pyramids. Defeated the Mamelukes fled throughout the Nile. Desaix, the brave of Bonaparte went after them with the Hussards. In a few days,the French rose all the way up to Karnack. On the Nile, there were some "felouques" resembling those which one sees today in Cairo being haled in by hand. With Desaix was Vivant-Denon. The scientist crossed with the soldiers a notebook in hand. While the troops bivouaced, he planned a relief for the temple of Karnack. The men during this time left visible marks: giving Karnack some large graffiti with the name of Desaix's soldiers. The visitors sometimes wonder why the French soldiers wrote their names so high on the walls. The explication is simple: Karnack was in ruins and the name was engraved on the fallen rock. When the Temple was restored the stones found their original places, on the top of the walls.

Bonaparte took on the role of Jules Cesar. Waging war against the Turks, he created an administration, he threw out the basis of the road system, demanded research on the Nile, constructed windmills and pumping stations, and developed a system of agriculture. The scientists worked hard, but not only worked on history: Berthollet improved dyes, Monge performed topography, a Greek sailor… Nicolas Papi Oglou, was nominated to manage the river police in charge of security on the Nile. When Napoleon left for France, at the end of 1799, he left Kleber with what was the early stages of a colony. He undoubtedly left him with a mass of young eager engineers who wished to apply the principles of philosophy to Egypt.

The assassination of Kleber would push forward the position of governor of Egypt to a peculiar man, Jacques Menou, G eneral, married to an Egyptian and converted to Islam under the name of Abdallah. Menou didn't hesitate to nominate Muslums to positions of considerable responsibility; notably in the Army and in the police force. But it's a lame strategy. After the defeat of Canope in 1800, the French troops re-embark.

Nevertheless, the Egyptian expedition even after a less glorious ending, left deep impressions behind. The description of Egypt published by Vivant-Denon is a success. One made Egyptian furniture and one dressed like an Egyptian. Europe discovered Pharos. Egypt seemed like a land of promise; a land of the past with a promising future. Some French citizens came with Napoleon and some of them to stay. Others would immigrate to Egypt to pursue new works. This is how Egypt became tolerant of the French, primarily on a religious basis. The Egyptians also became Francophile as a result of the French becoming Egyptian friendly. One sometimes wonders if the history of the love between the two peoples really ever ended.