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daj89's review
4.0
The topic of this book is very specialized: an esoteric society that is mainly known from three copies of the book that documented its rituals and foundational myths. Spieth seems to be the first person to study these books in detail, so this is, and may well remain, the definitive study of this oddball organization. It's not the most gripping read, but it's worthwhile if you're interested in the history of Egyptomania or the culture of early 19th-century France.
Spieth does a good job of setting the Sophisians in their cultural context. Europe in general, and France in particular, were fixated on the idea of ancient Egyptian secret societies after the publication of Jean Terrasson's strange novel Séthos in 1731, which inspired a plethora of Egyptian-flavored Masonic groups. This fascination with Egypt was one of the motivations for Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion in 1798… and upon returning to France, some of the veterans of the campaign in Egypt founded their own Egyptian Masonic order, despite not having found any mystical secrets there! The resulting Sophisian Order lasted a surprisingly long time, continuing well into the 1820s, about a decade after Napoleon's defeat and exile.
Much less satisfying is the book's structure, which jumps around in time and doesn't make it easy to keep track of the sequence of events in the order's history. There's a lot we don't know about that history, but in some cases Spieth doesn't adequately discuss the evidence or the gaps in it, which, combined with the structural problems, is liable to make you wonder if you've missed a more thorough discussion elsewhere in the book. For instance, at one point he indicates that an embryonic form of the Sophisian rites was established while the expedition was still in Egypt, but he's frustratingly vague about it, not saying what his sources for this assertion are.
This topic will mostly be of interest to academics who specialize in this period, but if you aren't one of those people and are still interested, some background reading would be helpful. Spieth's bibliography lists a great deal of material, but many of the more accessible books that describe this era were published after Spieth's work came out. The most obvious one is Nina Burleigh's [b:Mirage|859018|Mirage Napoleon's Scientists and the Unveiling of Egypt|Nina Burleigh|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348722019l/859018._SY75_.jpg|2780048], a vivid telling of the story of Napoleon's expedition that prominently features many of the characters who formed the Sophisian Order. [b:The Zodiac of Paris|7768361|The Zodiac of Paris How an Improbable Controversy over an Ancient Egyptian Artifact Provoked a Modern Debate between Religion and Science|Jed Z. Buchwald|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348396568l/7768361._SY75_.jpg|10653160] describes how ancient Egypt became a weapon in the culture wars during the French Revolution, Napoleon's Empire, and the Bourbon Restoration (and explains why the Sophisians claimed their order originated in 14,000 BC). For anyone seriously interested in the relationship of Sophisian ritual to other forms of "Egyptian Freemasonry", [b:The Masonic Magician|32927346|The Masonic Magician The Life and Death of Count Cagliostro and His Egyptian Rite|Philippa Faulks|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1479734486l/32927346._SY75_.jpg|3670777] contains the most accessible publication of the rites devised by the infamous Alessandro Cagliostro, one of the Sophisians' most important precursors.
Spieth does a good job of setting the Sophisians in their cultural context. Europe in general, and France in particular, were fixated on the idea of ancient Egyptian secret societies after the publication of Jean Terrasson's strange novel Séthos in 1731, which inspired a plethora of Egyptian-flavored Masonic groups. This fascination with Egypt was one of the motivations for Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion in 1798… and upon returning to France, some of the veterans of the campaign in Egypt founded their own Egyptian Masonic order, despite not having found any mystical secrets there! The resulting Sophisian Order lasted a surprisingly long time, continuing well into the 1820s, about a decade after Napoleon's defeat and exile.
Much less satisfying is the book's structure, which jumps around in time and doesn't make it easy to keep track of the sequence of events in the order's history. There's a lot we don't know about that history, but in some cases Spieth doesn't adequately discuss the evidence or the gaps in it, which, combined with the structural problems, is liable to make you wonder if you've missed a more thorough discussion elsewhere in the book. For instance, at one point he indicates that an embryonic form of the Sophisian rites was established while the expedition was still in Egypt, but he's frustratingly vague about it, not saying what his sources for this assertion are.
This topic will mostly be of interest to academics who specialize in this period, but if you aren't one of those people and are still interested, some background reading would be helpful. Spieth's bibliography lists a great deal of material, but many of the more accessible books that describe this era were published after Spieth's work came out. The most obvious one is Nina Burleigh's [b:Mirage|859018|Mirage Napoleon's Scientists and the Unveiling of Egypt|Nina Burleigh|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348722019l/859018._SY75_.jpg|2780048], a vivid telling of the story of Napoleon's expedition that prominently features many of the characters who formed the Sophisian Order. [b:The Zodiac of Paris|7768361|The Zodiac of Paris How an Improbable Controversy over an Ancient Egyptian Artifact Provoked a Modern Debate between Religion and Science|Jed Z. Buchwald|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348396568l/7768361._SY75_.jpg|10653160] describes how ancient Egypt became a weapon in the culture wars during the French Revolution, Napoleon's Empire, and the Bourbon Restoration (and explains why the Sophisians claimed their order originated in 14,000 BC). For anyone seriously interested in the relationship of Sophisian ritual to other forms of "Egyptian Freemasonry", [b:The Masonic Magician|32927346|The Masonic Magician The Life and Death of Count Cagliostro and His Egyptian Rite|Philippa Faulks|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1479734486l/32927346._SY75_.jpg|3670777] contains the most accessible publication of the rites devised by the infamous Alessandro Cagliostro, one of the Sophisians' most important precursors.