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Leopold II and Egypt: Two Initiatory Journeys

par Vanhulle, Dorian ;Warmenbol, Eugène ;Vandersmissen, Jan
Editeur scientifique De Meyer, Marleen;De Cartier d'Yves, Sibille
Référence Belgians on the Nile, A History of Royal Visits, Entrepreneurship, and Archaeological Exploration in Egypt, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandrie, Ed. 1, page (15-45)
Publication Publié, 2021

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Résumé :

Although Leopold I, first King of the Belgians (1790–1865, r. 1831–1865), already had expansionist views and multiplied commercial deals with foreign countries, his son, who was a born businessman, longed for more proactive actions in order to make his future realm a prosperous European power. Young Leopold was a quick learner and he realized quite early how important it was for a prince to understand all the subtleties of politics, diplomacy, and economy. Egypt, which was at that time part of the Ottoman Empire and ruled by Khedive (Viceroy) Mohamed Sa’id Pasha (1822–1863), was at the crossroads between the Eastern and the Western World. If Cairo was perhaps not yet a “nest of spies”, it was for sure a meeting place of diplomats, European investors, businessmen, artists, writers, and treasure hunters. France and England, unsurprisingly, were the most active Western powers in Egypt since the failed military campaign of Napoleon Bonaparte. The object of their competitive struggle was the acquisition of control over Egyptian state finances. It is in this complex geopolitical context that young prince Leopold made two journeys to the land of the pharaohs, the first in 1854–1855 and the second in 1862–1863. This paper aims to contextualise these two journeys, to address Leopold’s real motivations at the time, and to provide new clues regarding the constitution of his collection of Egyptian antiquities.