Napoleon and the Sphinx details

[Napoleon] was bent on the conquest of Egypt. He appears to have had something visionary in his temperament, and to have dreamed of founding a mighty empire from the stand-point of the East, the glow and glamour of which seem always to have had a certain fascination for him. He therefore employed the resources of the Army of England to prepare for an expedition to Egypt, and the Directory yielded to his wishes, partly no doubt, through the desire of getting him away from France.” (p. 264)

A photogravure (an early sort of photography) of a painting by Gerome (Jean León Gérôme).