The Great Pyramid between Scientific Knowledge and Imagination: From Herodotus to Maspero and Edgar P. Jacobs

The cultural history of the Great Pyramid of Giza can be understood as that of a dynamic object situated at the intersection of scientific knowledge and imagination. From classical antiquity to the twentieth century, the pyramid has been subject to a continuous process of reinterpretation, functioning simultaneously as a historical monument and a discursive construct. Ancient and medieval sources – from Herodotus to Gregory of Tours and Arabic authors – combined empirical observation with wonder, integrating the monument into religious and symbolic frameworks. Later, figures such as Athanasius Kircher reinterpreted the pyramid within a hermetic paradigm of universal wisdom, while the nineteenth century witnessed the emergence of Egyptology alongside persistent esoteric and pseudo-scientific readings. The Napoleonic expedition and subsequent archaeological practices transformed the pyramid into a measurable and historically intelligible object, yet did not eliminate its imaginative dimension. Instead, scientific representation generated new forms of speculation. This tension is exemplified in the work of Edgar P. Jacobs, whose Le Mystère de la Grande Pyramide combines archaeological accuracy with fictional invention. Through what may be described as “documentary fiction,” Jacobs mobilises scientific discourse to construct a rationalised form of mystery. The pyramid’s meaning can thus be understood as produced through successive interpretive regimes. Its enduring cultural power lies not in a fixed significance, but in its capacity for continual rearticulation across different forms of knowledge.