Review of Egyptology: The Missing Millennium, Ancient Egypt in Medieval Arabic

[elqurssan]

In his book Egyptology: The Missing Millennium, Okasha El Daly essentially shows that this thesis
is totally false and arrogant in its understanding of actual history. Through extensive research and the analysis of a number
of texts and resources on the matter, the author provides
evidence of the countless attempts by Muslim scholars
to understand Egyptian language, culture and practices.
He cites
examples of the
enormous range of studies carried out by Muslim
Arabic writers in the Medieval Ages to truly understand
the Egyptian heritage, especially their

http://www.muslimheritage.com/upload...Millennium.jpg
Figure 1: Front cover of Egyptology: The Missing Millennium. Ancient Egypt in Medieval Arabic Writings by Okasha El Daly (London: UCL Press, 2005).
efforts to decipher the hieroglyph scripts and the nature of Egyptian state administration. Contrary to the common view that Muslims were against studying other
traditions which fell against the
principles of Islam, El Daly demonstrates that
Muslims took great interest in this culture after the
conquest of Egypt and showed their fascination by
expending great effort to uncover the realities behind
the myths and customs within the lands. The book
covers the most significant features of this tradition
of Muslim Egyptology, which are still part of today’s
Egyptology, recounting in detail the interpretations of findings
on aspects of Egyptian traditions such as treasure
hunting, the process of mummification and state
administration. El-Daly states that