Until well into the 18th century, the knowledge that Europeans had about Egypt was a fabulous combination of myth and fact. The main sources of information were biblical texts, Greek authors, medieval pilgrims and some contemporary travellers who, except for a few cases, never ventured beyond the city of Cairo. This state of affairs started to change in 1737, when the explorers Richard Pococke and Frederik Norden followed the Nile to Aswan, with the latter reaching further South. The publication of their travel diaries provided new and more accurate information about the country and its ancient treasures, becoming the primary reference for the scholars that took part in the 1798 French expedition to Egypt. Richard Pococke In 1737, the Danish naval officer Frederik Norden was sent to Egypt on a mission to obtain useful data for future expeditions of the Danish Navy, but also information about its monuments and antiques with the aim to increase the knowledge of Egyptian history and art. Although he had planned to follow the Nile until at least the second cataract, the expedition finally could not go beyond Derr. Frederik Norden On December 27 of the same year, Norden was forced to leave Philae Island under threat of nearby villages. A few hours later he passed near the Debod Temple. His intention was to go ashore and visit the ruins, but the captain of his ship refused to miss the favourable wind. He returned to the area in January of the following year, but once again the visit could not take place as intended. He had to content himself with a few quick sketches taken from some distance. His two views of the temple are to this date the earliest representations of Debod. Views of Debod. Norden, 1737