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The first Egyptologists

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The first Egyptologists were the ancient Egyptians themselves. Thutmosis IV, then only Prince Thutmosis, restored the Sphinx and had the dream that inspired his restoration carved on the famous Dream Stela . Less than two centuries later, Prince Khaemweset, fourth son of Ramesses II, is famed for identifying and restoring historic buildings, tombs and temples including the pyramid of Unas at Saqqara. Greek and Roman era Some of the first historical accounts of Egypt were given by Herodotus, Strabo, Diodorus Siculus and the largely lost work of Manetho, an Egyptian priest, during the reign of Ptolemy I and Ptolemy II in the 3rd century BC. Muslim Egyptologists Progress was made by Muslim historians in Egypt and elsewhere from the 9th century AD. The first known attempts at deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs were made by Dhul-Nun al-Misri and Ibn Wahshiyya in the 9th century, who were able to at least partly understand what was written in the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, by rela...