SUMMARY:

This article examines how anti-colonial critique of the plunder of Egyptian antiquities reached the Russian Empire in the early twentieth century. Drawing on travelogues and secret police reports, the article analyzes how Russian travelers encountered (or did not encounter) Oriental antiquities through the mediation of local Egyptian guides. Once in the Russian Empire, the returnees shared their impressions with the reading audience and thus acted as coproducers of anti-colonial knowledge. However, the impact of the critique of European museal practices remained limited because of the complex arrangement of group identities and interests.