Napoleon Part 3: The Egyptian Adventure

Real Dictators

NOISER

History, Fiction, Drama

4.8 • 8.2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 August 2022

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Napoleon sails for the Middle East. After the Battle of the Pyramids, a scientific mission makes remarkable findings, introducing the Western world to the mysteries of Ancient Egypt. But after a drubbing from Britain’s naval supremo, Horatio Nelson, Napoleon does a runner. His return to Paris is timed to perfection. Almost by accident, Bonaparte will seize power... A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson. This is Part 3 of 6. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's July the 15th, 1799. We're in the town of Rashid, 30 miles along the coast from Alexandria,
0:10.2	where the Great River Nile hits the Mediterranean. A breeze blows off the history, but still it's
0:19.5	blisteringly hot. On the Rivers West Bank, a party of French army engineers are stripped
0:27.6	to the waist. With pickaxes and shovels, they hack away at the rock-hard ground. In the background,
0:37.1	Arab dows, Bob passed, laden with goods. On the shore, children gather, curious as to what
0:45.7	the strange Europeans are up to. The engineers are part of an expeditionary force, a force
0:53.6	headed by Napoleon Bonaparte. When the main group went south, they were diverted here. Their
1:01.8	orders are to dig out the foundations of an old Ottoman fort. It will be rebuilt as a French
1:09.2	stronghold. One of the men clangs his shovel into a solid piece of rock. The obstruction
1:17.3	has hauled out and brushed off. It appears most unusual. A chunk of black granite polished
1:25.2	to a sheen, etched into its surface, his row after row of ancient texts. The men summon
1:33.7	their officer Lieutenant Bouchard. He senses this maybe of interest. Napoleon's army has
1:40.2	been accompanied by a contingent of archaeologists. He sends a runner to find one. Prop'd up, the
1:47.8	slab stands four feet high and two feet wide. It's chipped around the edges, with a fissure
1:54.3	running across it. Clearly, it was one's part of something much larger. Its words are divided
2:03.2	into three sections, three languages. Bouchard recognizes one of them as Greek. The second
2:11.0	will be identified as an antique, demotic script. And then there is the third. Made up of those
2:18.3	strange pictograms that adorn the oldest monuments in this part of the world, the eyes and feathers
2:26.2	and birds and snakes. On further analysis, the Greek text reveals that the stone was laid
2:34.2	as a dedication to King Ptolemy V, made by the priests of Memphis. This will date it
2:41.3	to around 200 BC. Though it will take years to decipher fully, the slab will prove to
2:48.0	be a translation device, the key to interpreting the hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt. Unlocking
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