Editing Egyptian Revival architecture (section)

=== Rise of Egyptian Revival in America ===
[[File:Travels in Egypt and Nubia Fleuron T006299-4.png|thumb|205x205px|Travels in Egypt and Nubia, Fredrick Norden, 1757]]
The first Egyptian Revival building in the United States was the 1824 synagogue of [[Congregation Mikveh Israel]] in [[Philadelphia]].<ref>[[Diana Muir]], "Jewish Identity and Egyptian Revival Architecture", Journal of Jewish Identities, 2012 5(2)</ref>  It was followed by a series of major public buildings in the first half of the 19th century including the 1835 [[Moyamensing Prison]], Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, the 1836 Fourth District Police Station in New Orleans and the 1838 New York City jail known as [[the Tombs]].  Other public buildings in Egyptian style included the 1844 [[Old Whaler's Church (Sag Harbor)|Old Whaler's Church]] in [[Sag Harbor, New York]], the 1846 [[First Baptist Church of Essex, Connecticut]], the 1845 [[Egyptian Building]] of the [[Medical College of Virginia]] in Richmond and the 1848 [[United States Custom House (New Orleans)]]. The most notable Egyptian structure in the United States was the [[Washington Monument]], begun in 1848, this obelisk originally featured doors with cavetto cornices and winged sun disks, later removed. The [[National World War I Museum and Memorial]] in [[Kansas City, Missouri]], is another example of Egyptian revival architecture and art.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2013-03-01 |title=Elements of the Museum and Memorial {{!}} National WWI Museum and Memorial |url=https://www.theworldwar.org/explore/museum-and-memorial/elements-museum-and-memorial |access-date=2018-11-02 |work=National WWI Museum and Memorial |language=en}}</ref>

Around the 1870s, Americans started to become interested in other cultures, including those of Japan, the Middle East and North Africa, leading to a second period of interest in Egyptian revival. Egyptian motifs and symbols were commonly used in the design including elements of "gilt bronze fittings shaped like sphinxes, Egyptian scenes woven into textiles, and geometric renderings of plants such as palm fronds".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Ickow|first=Sara|date=July 2012|title=Egyptian Revival|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/erev/hd_erev.htm|url-status=live|access-date=2021-09-30|website=www.metmuseum.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105081608/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/erev/hd_erev.htm |archive-date=2012-11-05 }}</ref>

Some Americans in the 1880s believed that the United States was a nation without art and therefore wanted to innovate in the field of aesthetic design to distinguish it from Egyptian pyramids and obelisks, Greek temples, and Gothic spires. But implementing such innovations was difficult, and as [[Clarence King]] said, "Till there is an American race there cannot be an American style". The creation of the American style was also hindered by the fact that the ethnic mix of the American people did not constitute a race.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Giguere|first=Joy M.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/893336717|title=Characteristically American : memorial architecture, national identity, and the Egyptian revival|date=2014|publisher=The University of Tennessee Press|isbn=978-1-62190-077-1|edition=1st|location=Knoxville|oclc=893336717}}</ref> In the time that followed, however, America's own culture was assimilating Egyptian revivalist architecture, and their tectonic significance became unstable. This may be because the United States of the early 20th century was a confident nation, and the approach of defining one's own spiritual world by establishing a connection to a great civilization like ancient Egypt faded in such a cultural context.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Grubiak|first=Margaret M.|date=2016|title=Characteristically American: Memorial Architecture, National Identity, and the Egyptian Revival by Joy M. Giguere|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/tech.2016.0009|journal=Technology and Culture|volume=57|issue=1|pages=256–257|doi=10.1353/tech.2016.0009|s2cid=112725318 |issn=1097-3729|url-access=subscription}}</ref>