Why are Egyptian obelisks displayed in the centers of Rome and Constantinople and why did Constantinople became Rome through the use of Egypt? The coming NIT lecture will present a part of Eva Mol's PhD research undertaken at the University of Leiden, which focused on the use of Egyptian objects in Roman house contexts. Although objects connected to Egypt appear in many guises, in this lecture she wishes to focus on how Egyptian artefacts and Egypt as a specific cultural style was incorporated and perceived in the Roman world. In which contexts were Egyptian styles used and what does that say about the Roman perception of Egypt? We might for instance wonder, whether there was a different concept behind the portrayal of an Egyptian sphinx instead of a Greek one. Did these stylistic differences –so well recognised by archaeologists nowadays- even matter to a Roman audience and were they aware of their cultural connotations? Through contextualising the appropriation of Egyptian artefacts from a Roman reference frame, we might obtain a clearer picture of the complexity involved in style use and perception.