ABSTRACT
Brazil is the largest and the only Portuguese-speaking country in South America. The history of its settlement and colonization is fascinating. Spanish, Dutch, French and English, among others, disputed ownership of its territory with the Portuguese explorers and with the Native Indians. The history of the country and the mixture of the cultures led to a unique cultural context, characterized by a balance between renewal and permanence. With reference to Egyptianizing motifs, permanence has been achieved through instruction and teaching of ancient history, and renewal through the dynamic variation of the appropriation of Egyptian elements for different purposes. The permanence of Egyptian elements in art, architecture and other forms of cultural manifestations in Brazil not only has deep roots in the history of the country, but also relies on the traditional, although distinctive, Brazilian practice of qualitative appropriation of cultural elements of other peoples and eras.
