This paper contributes to the growing scholarship on the formation of modern disciplines of knowledge which is at the intersection of nationalism and state-building. I trace the evolution of Persian Studies as a modern academic discipline in Egypt since the early twentieth century. The aim is to employ Persian studies as a case study of Eastern orientalism; second, to shed light on the long-overlooked Iranian contribution to modern Egyptian thought while examining how the state -as the main agent in structuring a scholarly discipline - has politicized the growing scholarship on Iran in Egypt. After the Iranian Revolution in 1979 exposed the knowledge vacuum on modern Iranian history and society, unprecedented growth in Persian academic programs and publications took place during the last three decades. I argue that the politically motivated demand for Persian Studies has expanded the field of Persian scholarship from focusing on medieval Persian literature to a contemporary Iranian politics and society. In studying the legacy of traditional study of classical Persian literature and in studying contemporary Iranian politics, Egyptian scholars utilized the Iranian experience to answer questions concerning Egyptian realities, and the Iranian trajectory inspired Egyptian scholars in their search for authentic modernity. Meanwhile, Persian Studies in Egypt, like most academic disciplines, have increasingly become vulnerable to the bureaucratization and politicization associated with the state’s control over higher education institutes and most of the publication industry