EGYPTIAN
ARCHAEOLOGY
Publishing the past
In the early years of the Egypt Exploration Society Flinders Petrie’s rapid, annual publications of his work in Egypt set a high standard in terms of promptitude, even if the resulting publications were not as detailed as would be expected today.However,during the twentieth century, as archaeology became more scientific and recording techniques were refined and augmented, it ceased to be possible,or even desirable,to aim for as rapid a publication rate as that achieved by Petrie, and other factors have also intervened to slow down the rate of publication.Nevertheless the EES has had a good publication record and 2005 saw the appearance of several Memoirs. At the start of the year John Ray’s Demotic Papyri and Ostraca from Qasr Ibrim resumed publication of the ‘Texts from Excavations’ series and four Excavation Memoirs, publishing work at Saqqara and Amarna, have since appeared. Details of all these volumes can be found on the back cover.In addition one volume of the Graeco-Roman Memoirs (The Oxyrhynchus Papyri LXIX) has been pub-
lished with several further volumes of the series promised for early in 2006. Other EES Memoirs are now in the final stages of preparation, with the imminent publication of the second of Sue Davies and H S Smith’s volumes on the Sacred Animal Necropolis at North Saqqara, to be closely followed by the third. Two volumes from the Survey of Memphis, covering the archaeology at Kom Rabia in the New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period will appear during 2006 and at least one volume from the work at Amarna, Fran Weatherhead’s Amarna Palace Paintings, will be published, with other Amarna volumes now in an advanced state of preparation. 2006 will also see the publication by the Society of Brenda Moon’s long-awaited biography of the Society’s founder,Amelia Edwards. Other volumes are actively being prepared and should appear in the next few years, to bring the Society’s publications as up-to-date as possible. PATRICIA SPENCER
Frankfort photograph albums
The EES has recently been given, by Jon and Catherine Frankfort, two albums of photographs taken by Mr Frankfort’s father, Henri Frankfort, the Dutch Archaeologist and Egyptologist who trained with Petrie and went on to become the Society’s Director of Excavations.The earlier of the two albums in Henri Frankfort at Qau el-Kebir in 1923 this most generous gift contains photographs taken at Qau el-Kebir, during Petrie’s 1922-3 season there; those in the other album were taken during the later 1920s, mainly on EES excavations at Amarna and Armant. The photographs were not taken with scientific purposes in mind.There are a few of excavations in progress, but most record other aspects of life in the field at this time. There are images of team members on the ship sailing to Egypt at the beginning of the season, scenes of music, dancing and other festivities,visits by other archaeologists, discussions on site, and a delightful snapshot of the team taking tea with a visitor.Prominent in the photographs are Frankfort himself, his wife Yettie, and Stephen Glanville, Catherine Frankfort’s father, who was at this time the Society’s Honorary Secretary.
The archives at Doughty Mews are the repository for all surviving documentation produced as a result of the Society’s fieldwork, and particularly photographs, but the usual preoccupation of those behind the camera was to capture the archaeological details; the expeditions themselves and the people involved were, naturally, considered less important. Interest in the development and history of Egyptology has flourished in recent years, as Egyptologists have re-assessed earlier archaeological work and the historiography of the subject has become a sub-discipline in its own right. Photographs of the kind donated by Mr and Mrs Frankfort are, therefore, a very valuable addition to the archives,the maintenance which of now constitutes an important part of the Society’s activities. CHRIS NAUNTON
Local workmen staging a stick fight during a celebration (note the musicians in the background) on site at Amarna in the late 1920s
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