‘The Description de l’Égipte’, published between 1809 and 1829, Champollion’s decipherment of the hieroglyphic writing in 1822, expeditions such as the Prussian expedition led by Richard Lepsius between 1842 and 1845, and the continuous discovery of tombs, temples and treasures in Egypt, laid the foundations for an Egyptomania present in the nascent Egyptological collections of the great European museums, in paintings such as those of David Roberts, and in the descriptions that travellers and explorers made of their experiences in Egypt.
This atmosphere of colossal scenery and riches was captured in the opera Aida. Premiered at the Cairo Opera House on 24 December 1871, two years after the opening of the Suez Canal, where Johann Strauss II’s Egyptian March Op. 335 was performed. Auguste Mariette, founder of the Egyptian Antiquities Conservation Service, worked on the plot, costumes and characterisation of the characters.