List of writers about Egypt till the 19th century
This is a list of writers who have written extensively about Egypt and their produced accounts, and may be considered essential, the only, highly popular, ground breaking, major or primary sources on various subjects related to Egyptian history. It includes only accounts published, and in case of no publishing, written, before the turn of the 19th century, before widespread tourism, excavations and travel writing commenced. The date is the publication of the first publication, not minding that later editions or translations to other languages might be more easily accessible, enlarged in contents, containing more relevant Egyptian material or be better known. The list is sorted by publishing date, whiles the actual travel, study or compiling of the work, may have occurred many years before that date.
4th century BC
3rd century BC
1st century
2nd century
3rd century
16th century
| Writer |
Work |
Comment |
| André Thévet |
Cosmographie de Levant (1554) |
Travel writing |
| Joos van Ghistele |
Tvoyage Mher Joos van Ghistele (1557) |
Travel writing |
| Jacques de Villamont |
Les Voyages du Seigneur de Villamont (1598), Volume 3 |
Travel writing |
17th century
| Writer |
Work |
Comment |
| George Sandys |
Relation of a Journey begun An. Dom. 1610 (1615) |
Travel writing |
| Athanasius Kircher |
Prodromus coptus sive aegyptiacus (1636) |
Grammar, language, linguistics |
| Athanasius Kircher |
Lingua aegyptiaca restituta (1643) |
Grammar, language, linguistics |
| John Greaves |
Pyramidographia (1646) |
Survey of the Egyptian pyramids |
| Athanasius Kircher |
Oedipus Aegyptiacus (1652–1655) |
Egyptian hieroglyphs |
| François de La Boullaye-Le Gouz |
Les Voyages et Observations (1653) |
Travel writing |
| Melchisédech Thévenot |
Relations de Divers Voyages Curieux (1663) |
Travel writing |
| Jean de Thévenot |
Relation d'un voyage fait au Levant (1664) |
Travel writing |
| Balthasar de Monconys |
Journal des voyages (1665) |
Travel writing |
| Athanasius Kircher |
Sphinx mystagoga (1676) |
Burial practices, reincarnation, inscriptions |
| Johann Michael Vansleb |
Nouvelle Relation En forme de Iournal, D´vn Voyage Fait en Egypte (1677) |
Travel writing, studies, Copt community |
| Cornelis de Bruijn |
Reizen van Cornelis de Bruyn door de vermaardste Deelen van Klein Asia (1698) |
Travel writing, studies |
18th century
| Writer |
Work |
Comment |
| Paul Lucas |
Voyage du Sieur paul Lucas au Levant (1704) |
Travel writing |
| Simon Ockley |
The History of the Saracen Empires (1708 & 1718) |
History |
| Paul Lucas |
Voyage du Sieur Paul Lucas, fait en 1714 (1719) |
Travel writing |
Benoît de Maillet
Jean-Baptiste Le Mascrier |
Description de l'Égypte (1735) |
Studies, memories from Egypt |
| Richard Pococke |
A Description of the East and Some other Countries (1743) |
Travel writing, studies |
| Granger (Tourtechot) |
Relation du voyage fait en Egypte (1745) |
Travel writing, studies |
| Frederic Louis Norden |
Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie (1755) |
Travel writing, studies |
| Claude-Étienne Savary |
Lettres sur l’Égypte (1785–1786) |
Travel writing, studies and fiction |
| Constantin François de Chassebœuf, comte de Volney |
Voyage en Egypte et en Syrie (1787) |
Travel writing, studies |
| James Bruce |
Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile (1790) |
Travel writing, studies |
| Charles-Nicolas-Sigisbert Sonnini de Manoncourt |
Voyage dans la haute et basse Égypte (1798) |
Travel writing, studies |
| William George Browne |
Travels in Africa, Egypt, and Syria (1799) |
Travel writing |