The Representations of Egypt in Late Nineteenth Century British

Abstract

The aim of this study is two-folded. On the one hand, it studies the different representations of Egypt before and after colonization, and on the other hand, it demonstrates how these representations had played a significant role in the act of colonization. This had been done either by drawing the world's attention, especially the British Empire, to the beauty and importance of Egypt, which eventually led to its colonization, or by advocating and justifying this act of aggression in front of the whole world after colonization. Evidently, the nineteenth century marked the beginning of the British colonization of Egypt. As a country that was a constant target for colonization from different European countries, it was only natural for the colonizer to study and analyze everything about it before coming to conquer it. As seen before, the act of colonization is not only a political and a military one, but also, and most importantly, a cultural one. Notably, in order to colonize and conquer a country which is as important and as strategic as Egypt, the British Empire had to dissect and decipher every aspect of the country. The British studied the culture, traditions, customs and beliefs of the people they were about to colonize and decided that they were quite below their standards. The way they viewed the natives, or perhaps chose to view them, as inferior and primitive, and above all, as too incompetent to rule themselves, and unworthy of the treasures and riches of their own country, represented a justification for seizing and claiming the land of Egypt as their own. They claimed to have a rightful reason for their presence, as they represented the sole