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Egyptian Revival architecture, part of the Egyptian Revival cultural movement, gained prominence in parts of Europe and the United States during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries after archaeological excavations by Napoleon and others brought renewed interest in ancient Egyptian arts and culture to these places. Although less widespread than Greek-inspired classical architecture, many prominent works were built in Britain, the United States, and in other parts of the world. These buildings were built for private clients and for public functions alike, and many imitated elements of Egyptian architecture such as battered walls, cavetto cornices, solar disks, hieroglyphic texts, and other features. However, interest in the style ultimately faded away in the middle of the nineteenth century.

Hieroglyphics
Many notable works in Britain featured attempts by architects to translate and depict messages in Egyptian hieroglyphics. Although sincere attempts at compositions, understanding of hieroglyphic syntax and semantics has advanced since they were built and errors have been discovered in many of these works. Although both public and private buildings were built in Britain in the Egyptian Revival style, the vast majority of those with attempts at accurate inscriptions were public works or on entrances to public buildings.

In 1824, French classical scholar and egyptologist J.F. Champollion published Precis du systeme hieroglyphique des anciens Egyptiens in 1824, which spurred the first notable attempts to decipher the hieroglyphic language in Britain. Joseph Bonomi's inscriptions in the entrance lodges to Abney Park cemetery in 1840 was the first real recorded attempt to compose a legible text. An Egyptologist himself, Bonomi and other scholars such as Samuel Birch, Samuel Sharpe, William Osburne, and others would compose texts for a variety of other British projects throughout the nineteenth century - including Marshall's Mill in Leeds, an aedicula in the grounds of the Hartwell House, and as part of an Egyptian exhibition in the Crystal Palace after it was re-erected in southeast London.

The content of the inscriptions varied depending on the nature of their specific projects. The Crystal Palace exhibition features several different inscriptions, with the main inscription detailing the construction and content of the hall and proclaiming it as an educational asset to the community. It ends with a message to invoke good fortune, translated as 'let it be prosperous. ' Other smaller inscriptions on the cornice of the exhibit entrance feature the names of the builders and a message in Greek wishing for the health and well-being of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, members of the royal family. The main inscription is accompanied by an English translation, with the characters spaced to match the position of the English words. However, Chris Elliot notes that the translation overly relies on phonetic transliteration and features some unusual characters for words that were difficult to translate into hieroglyphs.

Characteristics
Like other ancient styles, Egyptian Revival can be characterized by its monumentality and specific forms of sculptural decoration. Although these forms were never entirely understood in works built in the Americas, for example, many works of this type featured battered walls, which are thickest at the base and become narrower as they rise; cavetto cornices or variations on them, which are characterized by their quarter-circle profile; thick columns whose capitals were carved to resemble reeds or palm fronds; solar disks - a type of winged ornamental carving placed above doorways or on cornices; and even hieroglyphic inscriptions like those featured on the entrances of Abney Park cemetery in London.

As with any other architectural style, the architects of Egyptian Revival works varied in their appropriations of these characteristics. Some buildings were 'Egyptianized' only on their interiors, presenting an unassuming exterior. Others were more explicit in tying their buildings to an imagined Egyptian past through elaborate interior ornamentation and frescoes of ancient Egyptian life. Specifically, the First Presbyterian Church of Nashville, Tennessee, designed by William Strickland, was refurbished from 1881-82 to incorporate these changes.

Examples - North America

 * The First Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee, designed by William Strickland from 1849-1851
 * The Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.
 * The Battle Monument in Baltimore, Maryland
 * The New Jersey State Penitentiary in Trenton, New Jersey, designed by John Haviland from 1833-36
 * The Medical College at Richmond in Richmond, Virginia, designed by Thomas S. Stewart in 1845