41 (Description of Egypt), 1809–28). At the same time, through the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, the expedition supplied the key to deciphering Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs – which were transliterated by Jean-François Champollion (1790–1832) in 1822 – and hence to the establishment of Egyptology as an academic discipline (1830). Last but not least, the French campaign facilitated the establishment of a new political leadership in Egypt under the former Ottoman military commander Muhammad Ali (c. 1770–1849), who drove out the British forces, gained de facto independence for Egypt from the Ottoman Empire and made great efforts to modernise the country. As a result, European diplomats and specialists were able to travel Fig. 4 Pietro Della Valle, Eines vornehmen Roemischen Patritii Reiß- Beschreibung in unterschiedliche Theile der Welt [. . .], 198 fig., Geneva 1674 A coffin (inv. no. H4 134/40) with (now lost) painted decoration was transferred from the Hofapotheke in 1765, and could therefore have come to Dresden at a much earlier date. The acquisition date of a number of smaller objects that are not attested until the late 18th century is uncertain. As mentioned above, some of these objects can be traced back to collections in Italy. It is, however, often no longer possible to ascertain whether they – like the portrait mummies acquired by Pietro della Valle – left Egypt in modern times, or whether they had come to Italy in ancient times as the spoils of war, art imports or cult objects, or indeed were produced in Italy itself. From 1729 to 1747, the Antikensammlung was installed in the Palais im Grossen Garten (Palace in the Grand Garden) in Dresden. It was then transferred to the four pavilions surrounding the Palais, which unfortunately offered nowhere near enough space for the pieces to be viewed properly. Interrupted only by a period (1760–63) during the Seven Years’ War when the objects were temporarily stored in the Residenzschloss (Royal Palace), this unsatisfactory situation continued until 1785. After visiting the Antikensammlung in Dresden in 1755, Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717–1768), the founder of Classical Archaeology, also wrote about the Egyptian objects he had seen there. In 1785/86 the Antikensammlung was moved to the Japanisches Palais (Japanese Palace), which was already being used by the Saxon Electors as an exhibition space. From then on, at least 17 objects that were considered to be Egyptian were displayed in Hall 10 alongside antiquities from the Classical Period as well as from Central Europe and Asia (fig. 5), while two of the statues of lions were installed at the entrance to Hall 2. In 1798 the numismatist and librarian Johann Gottfried Lipsius (1754–1820) published a detailed outline of the collection entitled Beschreibung der Churfürstlichen Antiken-Galerie in Dresden (Description of the Electoral Antiquities Gallery in Dresden). Between 1804 and 1811, Wilhelm Gottlieb Becker (1753– 1813), the Inspektor (director) of the Antikengalerie (Antiquities Gallery) and the Münzkabinett (Coin Cabinet), published a three-volume catalogue of the antiquities collection entitled Augusteum, which included numerous engraved plates (fig. 3). This period also saw a significant increase in explorations of Egypt. Although Napoleon Bonaparte’s campaign to Egypt (1798–1801) ended in military failure, the scientists and scholars who accompanied the expedition made a huge contribution to the documentation of Pharaonic monuments (published in the famous, 23-volume series Description de l’Égypte
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