ABSTRACT
The approach of medieval Arab writers to Ancient Egypt was different from that of their later Western colleagues. Importantly, it differed from the initial Western approach in that it was not seeking to validate the Scriptures, or indeed the Qur’an, but was part of a genuine general interest in the history of humanity, the study of which was seen by the adherents of Islam both as a need and as a duty. The long and varied contacts between Egypt and the lands of Arabia served as a foundation for the understanding of Egyptian culture. For Moslems a new impetus did indeed come from the Qur’an and the Hadith (the basis of Islamic canon law), but these did not in themselves serve as historical or archaeological records that needed validation. The Moslem annexation of Egypt lifted the yoke of the Byzantines and brought the Arabs within the physical reality of the country’s pharaonic past, and into direct contact with its monuments and the ancient dominant culture of the Nile Valley, where they were eventually absorbed into the culture. The opportunity was there for Arab scholars to learn about the ancient culture through direct contact with learned Copts, and through observing its monuments and artefacts. This created in some Arab writers a need to explore extant classical sources, both written and oral, to satisfy their growing appetite for greater knowledge. The same process can be seen in the exegeses of the Qur’an which had to draw on Jewish sources in order to furnish their works with detail. This all contributed to a very rich corpus of Arabic material on Egyptian culture that to this day remains largely unexplored by modern Egyptologists.
