Abstract: The representation of ancient Egypt in science-fiction movies emphasise its exotic aspects, magic and lost knowledge. The 1970s TV show Battlestar Gallactica showed ancient Egypt as one of the starting points of civilization, including the pyramids and the temple of Karnak as scenarios for the lost planet Kobol, the home planet of human beings that colonized the galaxy. Many other sci-fi movies used similar references to emphasise Egypt’s place in history as the primeval civilization and the realm of a lost legacy. This approach is also repeated in documentaries and schoolbooks and it is a manifestation of a Western colonial type of History. In this paper I explore the historical elements presented in Battlestar Gallactica as a construct of a historical narrative, one that keeps ancient Egypt as eternal, immutable and mysterious. I challenge this line of thought that puts ancient Egypt as a starting point of a civilizational discourse highlighting the decolonial debates in History and Egyptology.

Streamed on July 9th 2021 as part of the “Do Ancient Egyptians Dream of Electric Sheep?” symposium.