Then there is the great Napoleon expedition of 1798, of course, and his group of 161 savants. The extraordinary ‘Savants’ of Napoleon, 1798 However, amid a long and illustrious list of French greats who came to Egypt and made an impact, he does not quite make the top seven cut. Sicard was a significant French explorer and cartographer in Egypt. Perhaps most significantly, Sicard produced the earliest known map of Egypt by a European during his time as the Supervisor of the Jesuit Mission in Cairo. Sicard was the first European to locate ancient Thebes, identifying the ruins of Luxor and Karnak temples, exclaiming: “Its remains are magnificent and more extensive than it is possible to imagine!” His initial aim? To convert Egypt’s Copts to Catholicism. Interestingly it was a French Jesuit priest from Lyon, Father Claude Sicard (1677–1726) who was one of the early modern explorers in Egypt, visiting between 17. Exploring, restoring, excavating, preserving, mapping, analyzing and decoding all the lost secrets of the Pharaohs! Father Sicard –The French Jesuit who rediscovered Thebes – and mapped Egypt Certainly, the French have made a particularly outstanding impact - revealing what’s under the sands of Egypt and a great deal more. Over the last 200 years, however, it was foreign teams – British, German, French, Czech, Polish, American etc.- leading most excavations. It’s high time! Native Egyptians have finally climbed to the “top of the pyramid” on archaeology digs – taking pride and ownership of their own great heritage. Today in Egypt, so many brilliant Egypt-born Egyptologists lead important excavations. Jean Francois Champollion made our #2 spot

British legacy in egypt