A01=Diane Greco Josefowicz
A01=Jed Z. Buchwald
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Alexis Clairaut
Amiens
Ancient Egypt
Archives nationales (France)
Aries (constellation)
Astrological symbols
Astronomy
Atheism
Author_Diane Greco Josefowicz
Author_Jed Z. Buchwald
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Auxerre
Before Sunrise
Bourbon Restoration
Brothel
Brumaire
Bureau des Longitudes
Calculation
Category1=Non-Fiction
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Cisalpine Republic
COP=United States
Coup of 18 Fructidor
Culture of France
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Dendera
Dendera zodiac
Dupuis
Ecliptic
Egyptians
En plein air
Engraving
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Euhemerus
First French Empire
French Army
French art
French campaign in Egypt and Syria
French Consulate
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Girondins
Grand Orient de France
Grenoble
Herodotus
Hippolyte Carnot
House of Bonaparte
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Language_English
Lighting
Louis Blanc
Louis Daguerre
Louis Philippe I
Madame de Pompadour
Marseille
Mertrud
Napoleon
Napoleonic propaganda
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Pamphlet
Paris Commune
Paris Observatory
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
Planisphere
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Ptolemy I Soter
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Religion
Religion in France
Revue des deux Mondes
Sans-culottes
Semaphore line
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The Coronation of Napoleon
The Fall of Robespierre
Toulon
University of Paris
Upper Egypt
Writing
Product details
- ISBN 9780691145761
- Weight: 907g
- Dimensions: 152 x 235mm
- Publication Date: 09 May 2010
- Publisher: Princeton University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
- Language: English
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The Dendera zodiac--an ancient bas-relief temple ceiling adorned with mysterious symbols of the stars and planets--was first discovered by the French during Napoleon's campaign in Egypt, and quickly provoked a controversy between scientists and theologians. Brought to Paris in 1821 and ultimately installed in the Louvre, where it can still be seen today, the zodiac appeared to depict the nighttime sky from a time predating the Biblical creation, and therefore cast doubt on religious truth. The Zodiac of Paris tells the story of this incredible archeological find and its unlikely role in the fierce disputes over science and faith in Napoleonic and Restoration France. The book unfolds against the turbulence of the French Revolution, Napoleon's breathtaking rise and fall, and the restoration of the Bourbons to the throne.
Drawing on newspapers, journals, diaries, pamphlets, and other documentary evidence, Jed Buchwald and Diane Greco Josefowicz show how scientists and intellectuals seized upon the zodiac to discredit Christianity, and how this drew furious responses from conservatives and sparked debates about the merits of scientific calculation as a source of knowledge about the past. The ideological battles would rage until the thoroughly antireligious Jean-Francois Champollion unlocked the secrets of Egyptian hieroglyphs--and of the zodiac itself. Champollion would prove the religious reactionaries right, but for all the wrong reasons. The Zodiac of Paris brings Napoleonic and Restoration France vividly to life, revealing the lengths to which scientists, intellectuals, theologians, and conservatives went to use the ancient past for modern purposes.
Jed Z. Buchwald is the Doris and Henry Dreyfuss Professor of History at the California Institute of Technology. His books include "The Creation of Scientific Effects: Heinrich Hertz and Electric Waves". Diane Greco Josefowicz teaches in the writing program at Boston University.
