Even though the military expedition and conquest of Egypt had  been a considered question in late 18th-century France, Bonaparte's scientific expedition (1798-1801) as it finally occurred has been prepared in a hurry. It was based upon two well-established scientific traditions of the power (the great marine expeditions around the world and the revolutionary practice of the Commissions des sciences et arts operating in conquered territories) and developed in a complex ideological context (oriental despotism, idea of progress and civilization, idea of regeneration)--beside the political context. Therefore, it must be carefully looked at as a special event, which foreruns later military and scientific expeditions (such as the ones to Morea and Algeria) and colonization; but one must be cautious not to analyse it under the sole light of further colonization.

After a brief survey of scientific practices and results, which has been thoroughly studied after the Description de l'Egypte, the paper will focus on three less known topics which highly question the modernization of Egypt and the "colonial" context of the expedition. The first one is the scientific and technical education--a major theme in the Enlightenment and revolutionary ideology of regeneration--eventually restricted to the French wants. The second one is the problem of transfer of technology and know-how in industry and agriculture, which reveals antagonist positions in the French side and must be also questionned in a reverse flux. The last one is the political and technical administration of the territory as a good field to look at the difficult encounter of cultures (with a special interest in matters of town planning, public hygiene and prevention of disease).