Russia, and the various contrasting political entities that have embraced it over the past two centuries, provides an excellent setting for studies of how political change can influence academic disciplines. Egyptology is no exception in this regard, and this paper will seek to demonstrate how in a Russian context this discipline went through a number of phases aligned with the shifting political and socio-economic landscapes. While illustrating how novel political phenomena could trigger academic evolutions, it will also show that certain key facets of Russian Egyptology have proved remarkably enduring, while some academic developments that one may at first sight attribute wholly to political influence may in fact have been brought about by other, at times purely accidental, factors.