Egyptian Campaign of Napoleon Bonaparte: Myths and Politics

The article is dedicated to the myths related to the Egyptian campaign of Napoleon Bonaparte. Some of them were invented during the expedition by Bonaparte himself for political purposes. So, he claimed that the French adhered to Islam and hinted that he himself was the Mandi. At the same time, Bonaparte appealed to the Egyptian patriotism, declaring that he had come to liberate the Egyptians from the oppression of the Mamlukes. However, such declarations were only demagoguery. Another myth, created by Bonaparte and widely spread in historiography, was that the French wanted to establish the principles of the French revolution in Egypt. In fact, they didn't have an intention to spread the idea of freedom in the country which they were going to conquer. The myth of the expedition's successful outcome, associated with the discovery of ancient Egyptian heritage by the French, influenced orientalist discourse and historiography and for a long time it was believed that the Egyptian campaign was a turning point in the history of Egypt.