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In the early 1930s, Selim Hassan, Sami Gabra, and Mustafa Amer conducted Egyptian University-sponsored excavations alongside those of the dominant Europeans and Americans. Following Borchardt as head of the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo, Junker also chaired the Egyptian University's Institute of Archaeology until the British forced him out in 1939. Sami Gabra followed Junker in the chair, emerging as the dean of the Egyptian profession. Borchardt—being Jewish—struggled to save his own private research institute in Cairo from the Nazis; a decade after his death in 1938, it reemerged as the Swiss Institute for Architectural and Archaeological Research. Hassan challenged Lacau's successor Drioton for the directorship of the Antiquities Service, but an unlikely alliance of British ambassador Miles Lampson, Drioton, and young King Faruq forced him into retirement until the 1952 revolution. After the French discovery of 21st and 22nd dynasty royal tombs at Tanis in 1939–1940, major foreign-sponsored excavations almost ceased until the UNESCO Nubian salvage campaign of 1960.

The discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb hastened the transformation of Egyptology into a scholarly profession open to Egyptians and accelerated the growth of pharaonism among the public. Led by Selim Hassan and Sami Gabra, the scant second generation of Egyptian Egyptologists came home from studying in Europe in the late 1920s to begin careers in the Antiquities Service and the new state-run Egyptian (now Cairo) University. The university's successful new school of Egyptology soon graduated Ahmad Fakhry and Labib Habachi, who both became prominent among the third generation of Egyptian Egyptologists. In the 1920s, pharaonism—interest and pride in ancient Egypt—became a prominent stand of Egyptian territorial nationalism, with King Fuad, Saad Zaghlul's Wafd, and Liberal Constitutionalist Muhammad Husayn Haykal all competing in utilizing pharaonic themes. In the visual arts, Mahmoud Mukhtar's granite sculpture Nahdat Misr (Revival of Egypt) marked the pharaonist highpoint of the 1920s. Pharaonist themes were also prominent on Egyptian postage stamps but not yet on coins, which are usually a more conservative medium.

The Depression, World War II, and the turmoil of the postwar years severely curtailed field archaeology in Egypt. Sidelined from public life, Selim Hassan published vast multi-volume works—Excavations at Giza in English, and a History of Ancient Egypt in Arabic. Sami Gabra presided as dean of the profession, while younger Egyptologists like Ahmad Fakhry and Labib Habachi climbed the career ladders of the Antiquities Service and universities. Under the guidance of Drioton, the last of the French directors of the Egyptian Antiquities Service stretching back to Mariette, King Faruq enthusiastically visited sites, collected antiquities, and subsidized the excavations of Zaki Saad at Helwan out of palace funds. A set of postage stamps depicted the young king as protector of Egyptian heritage from the Pyramids and Islamic monuments through to the Aswan Dam and the Egyptian University. The Museum of Egyptian Civilization opened in 1949 propagated the same message with a similar chronological sweep. In 1951, on the eve of Nasser's revolution, separate crises of decolonization nearly shut down both French and British archaeological activities in Egypt.

Labib Habachi's transformation from a roving inspector into a perceptive Egyptologist came about slowly. As he moved from post to post, he developed a sharp appetite for knowledge, a flair for seeking out archaeological clues, and an eye for an anomaly, whether a subtle change in the color of the soil, a sandy mound in a field, or an object out of context. Habachi early developed a keen sense of social structure. The 'umda in rural areas, like hereditary chiefs in ancient times, had social and legal responsibilities. The gap between foreign and Egyptian Egyptologists grew progressively narrower. The most exceptional of the first generation was Selim Hassan, a disciple of Ahmed Kamal whose career was held up during World War I, when he resorted to secondary school teaching.

When Vittorino Veronese, director general of UNESCO, addressed an international appeal to save the monuments of Nubia, it was the only time the United Nations body was called upon to rescue the heritage of an entire country. He had two reasons: to preserve something known that may be lost and to bring to light as yet undiscovered archaeological wealth. Incentives were offered to encourage people's participation. The temple at Dakka was moved to Wadi al-Sebu', another site in Nubia, on higher ground, near a fine temple by Ramesses II that had been converted into a church in Christian times. More than twenty countries helped in the operations. Egypt's Antiquities Department, Documentation Centre, and Cairo University were involved in eight projects under the supervision of Selim Hassan.