Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign: Science, Sand, and the Rosetta Stone

In 1798, a young General Bonaparte set sail for Egypt with 40,000 soldiers and 167 scientists. This episode unpacks the bizarre, ambitious, and world-changing collision of military conquest and Enlightenment science known as the Egyptian Campaign. We follow the Battle of the Pyramids, the disastrous Battle of the Nile, and the strange partnership between Napoleon and the scholars of the Commission des Sciences et des Arts. Lucas and Luna discuss the discovery of the Rosetta Stone by Pierre-François Bouchard, the founding of the Institut d'Égypte, and how Napoleon's propaganda machine turned a military failure into a legend. They also explore the darker side: the brutal siege of Jaffa, the plague, and the massacre of prisoners. The episode ends with Napoleon's secret escape back to France, leaving his army behind. Along the way, we touch on the influence of the campaign on Egyptology, the Description de l'Égypte, and the birth of modern Orientalism. This is a story of hubris, curiosity, and the strange ways empires leave their mark. #Napoleon #EgyptianCampaign #RosettaStone #BattleOfThePyramids #BattleOfTheNile #InstitutDEgypte #DescriptionDeLEgypte #PierreFrancoisBouchard #CommissionDesSciences #JeanBaptisteKleber #SiegeOfJaffa #Mamelukes #HoratioNelson #Orientalism #Egyptology #18thCentury #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo