egyptian revivialismsionism

This batch is for my little brother (am I allowed to call you that after you’ve cleared 30, AMB?), who lobbed me an email after the Dawes post and said that, actually, he *would* like to hear more about that Egyptian Revivalism tour.

Problem is, I wish I had more to tell. We saw a smattering of buildings and a huge outcropping of mausoleums scattered around the city and in various cemeteries, the majority of which were built during a surge in interest in all things Egyptian between 1880 and the turn of the century.

There were two disturbing trends in evidence – both of them with the same roots – the diminishment of “paganism” overtime – making Egyptian iconography safe by throwing in a Judeo-Christian angel or two – and the curious emergence of Anglo-features on the figures that had faces – Reebie’s Seti and Schoenhofen’s Sphinx were the two most obvious examples that we came across.





I wish I knew more about 1) what awakened the interest in this round of development (there were some big archaeological finds -- although Tut wouldn't be uncovered for nearly half a century -- but was it also connected to the Spiritualism that thrived during this time?) and 2) whether the presence of this stuff in the city of Chicago had any influence on the thing that AMB’s working through in his thesis – SunRa’s whole crazy trip.

But I don’t. And it’s late. So no research tonight. Just the pictures I promised, and this little tidbit: There are two Seti statues flanking the front door of Reebie Moving and Storage (their ad slogan: "If Old King Tut were alive today, he'd store his things the Reebie way"). The base that they stand on is inscribed with actual hieroglyphs that read:

Protect your furniture • I work for all your reigns in sunshine and darkness forever • Behold the cargo swiftly sent up the Nile in the time of the Pharohs

So you see, there are some advantages to traveling in the company of Egyptologists.

So here you go, little bro: Here's your Egyptian Revivalism Architecture in Chicago Slideshow »