Nicolas Tourechot zwany Granger (około 1680 - 1737) i odkrywanie Górnego Egiptu

Abstract

Nicolas Tourtechot Known as Granger (ca. 1680 - 1737) and The Discovery of Upper Egypt

A French doctor, who travelled up of the Nile in the first half of 1731, wrote Relation du voyage fait en Égypte […], published in 1745 (soon his book was published in English and German). Tourtechot, during his transit to the south, noted and described several monuments. He realized that in Luxor and Karnak he was seeing the remains of the ancient Thebes, although he presumably never reached the west bank of the Nile, and the information referring to the Theban necropolis was drawn by him from indirect sources. He intended to go further to the south, but in Edfu local riots made him go back. In his report Tourtechot put Greek inscriptions which he had found in several places (Qus, Esna, Akhmim, Sheikh Abade); in the following years these inscriptions were included in specialist studies. Tourtechot’s information about Coptic monasteries which he had visited during his voyage are also considered important (he managed to visit the monasteries of St. Anthony and St. Paul on the Red Sea, which were difficult to reach). He wrote a great deal about the details of everyday life, nature and customs. Dangerous moments and specific curiosities described by Tourtechot make his simple and unpretentious writing more vivid and appealing for the reader. Tourtechot’s work constitutes an important part in the history of studies on the art and topography of ancient Egypt.