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."
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