The Project Pyramids and Progress – مشروع الاهرامات والتطور

Since 2018, the Belgian research project “Pyramids & Progress” brings together contemporary historians and Egyptologists from the Université libre de Bruxelles, the KU Leuven, the Universiteit Gent, the Royal Museums of Art and History and the Royal Museum of Mariemont to investigate the history of Belgian Egyptology and Belgian industrial and political expansionism towards Egypt, a process that started in the 19th century, almost from the very creation of the Belgian state in 1830. At that time, Belgium in all regards aspired to become a player on a global scale. This aspiration not only concerned Congo, which was to become a genuine colony, but areas around the globe. Egypt, with its strategic location in Africa and its fascinating ancient monuments, played a key role.

“Pyramids & Progress” investigates the personal, institutional, and commercial networks of Belgian royalty, diplomats, businessmen and scholars in Egypt and between Belgium and Egypt. The project has several sub-projects. The first one is in the history of Belgian Egyptology. The rich archives of the FERE (Fondation (now Association) égyptologique Reine Élisabeth) have been inventorized and are being digitised for a wider access to the scientific community. Based on this unique material, historian Jean-Michel Bruffaerts is completing a biography of FERE founder Jean Capart (1877-1947), while Dr. Marleen De Meyer studies the American career of Capart, who served as advisory curator of the Brooklyn Museum between 1932 and 1939. The development of the Brussels collection is the focus of a post-doctoral research by Dr. Athena Van der Perre. Finally, the position of Belgian Egyptology in western intellectual history of the first half of the 20th century is the subject of a PhD research by Vincent Oeters.

 

Image: Metal structure for the Bulaq train locomotives repair workshop, build by Baume & Marpent,  (©Musée Royal de Mariemont, MRM_ARCH_EQFED_BM_CATA_001) (source: https://industrielsbelgesenegypte.omeka.net/items/show/1164)

 

The focus is also on the history of 19th and early 20^th century Belgian expansionism in Egypt. Dr. Jan Vandersmissen, the project’s very own Leopold II-expert, is meticulously reconstructing and mapping the king’s travels in the Levant at the time he still was the Duke of Brabant, heir to the throne. Revaluating all the contacts he had during his journeys through Egypt and its neighboring countries, his research aims to fully integrate the role of Egypt in the crystallization of Leopold II’s expansionist imagination long before his eyes were set on Central Africa. A study of the antiquities collection assembled by the future king during his stays in Egypt in 1855 and 1862-63 and now kept at the RMAH will also be published soon by Dr. Dorian Vanhulle as part of the project.

Image: Section of the Embabeh bridge during its construction in the Baume & Marpent workshops in Belgium, ca. 1913 (©SAICOM, Fonds Baume et Marpent, BAUM_CV_223.jpg) Source:https://industrielsbelgesenegypte.omeka.net/items/show/236)

The research on expansionism includes corporate networks in Egypt, going beyond the well-known focus on Empain’s “business empire”. Partly thanks to prof. Christophe Verbruggen’s expertise in network analysis the practice of interlocking directorates in the Belgo-Egyptian economic context of the late 19th and the first half of the 20th century is highlighted. Gert Huskens, who is enrolled in a joint-PhD at the Université libre de Bruxelles and UGent, in turn aims his attention at all sorts of diplomatic actors and the connections they helped to established in the history of Belgian-Egyptian relations between 1830 and 1914.

Thanks to prof. Verbruggen’s expertise in the field of Digital Humanities, “Pyramids & Progress” is structurally supported with some of the finest database, network analysis and annotation software. With his assistance, “Pyramids & Progress” does not only look into the past, but equally aims to contribute to the future of historical research by further testing the possibilities of NodeGoat and developing innovative tools such as the MADOC annotation platform.

Image: Imbaba bridge during its construction, 1922 (©SAICOM, Fonds Baume et Marpent, BAUM_CV_084.jpg» (source: https://industrielsbelgesenegypte.omeka.net/items/show/224)

As part of the “Pyramids & Progress” project, the Royal Museum of Mariemont created and presented an exhibition Made in Belgium. Industriels belges en Égypte (1830-1952), first presented from September 5 to December 4, 2020 at the Musée de la Mine et du Développement Durable (Bois-du-Luc, Belgium). The exhibition highlights the links between Belgian industrial achievements in Egypt and the collections of antiquities created between 1830 and 1952. It focuses on the industrial archives and the original preserved plans of the Baume & Marpent company, which has achieved real technological feats in Egypt. Like other Belgian companies, it specialized in the construction of metal cars and structures. Locomotives, carriages and wagons were built and assembled in Belgium’s production plant and then sent to Egypt by boat. A first inventory credited Baume & Marpent for the delivery of 6,691 vehicles (cars, wagons, and chassis), constructing 158 metal bridges, including the famous Imbaba bridge and a number of other metal structures.

(Text by “Pyramids & Progress”, G. Huskens, J. Vandersmissen and M.-C. Bruwier)

The project is supported by the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique – FNRS and the Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Vlaanderen (FWO) under EOS-Project n° 30885993, and the Fonds Jean Capart (https://jeancapart.org).

Project website: https://www.pyramidsandprogress.be

Facebook: @PyramidsandProgress

Twitter: @Egyptology_PP

Team-leaders:

KU Leuven: Prof. Dr. Harco Willems (“Pyramids & Progress” coordinator)

Université libre de Bruxelles: Prof. Dr. Eugène Warmenbol (PI), Prof. Dr. Laurent Bavay (PI)

University of Gent:  Prof. Dr. Christophe Verbruggen (PI)

Royal Museums of Art and History Brussels: Dr. Luc Delvaux (PI)

Royal Museum of Mariemont: Dr. Arnaud Quertinmont (PI), Dr. Marie-Cécile Bruwier (PI)