Following on from the great expeditions of the 18th and 19th century, travel activity in general increased as well. The Orient and above all Egypt now became the goal of this movement embracing exoticism. This work centers on the question of the received patterns of thought and argumentation that were applied consciously or unconsciously by the travelers. By way of example, the reports of the scholar Russegger are examined, whose travels gave him insights into areas that were seldom accessible to a foreigner. Moreover, he may be regarded as a forerunner of Humboldt’s educational ideal in the sense of science.