EGYPTIAN
ARCHAEOLOGY
A family of photographers at Saqqara In all the publicity that Saqqara has received as an archaeological site, it is often forgotten or overlooked that much essential recording (in some cases the only recording) of excavation sites and finds in the area has been done by the official photographer for the SCA Inspectorate of the Memphis/Saqqara area. When I began work at Memphis in the 1970s the photographer was Hasibullah el-Tayeb, an extremely dignified and generous soul, who was always happy to help us and even gratified that someone took an interest in his work. Hasibullah had followed in the footsteps of his father, El-Tayeb Ahmed, who had worked with James Quibell in the early twentieth century. In turn, Hasibullah’s son, Salah, has taken over the role part-time, and has been an equally invaluable source of information, much of which concerned local Egyptian authorities’
investigation and much of which never enters official reports or is even recorded, let alone published. Hasibullah worked with what might be considered antiquated equipment, but in fact that was a great advantage: until his eyesight started to fail James Quibell and El-Tayeb Ahmed (indicated his images are sharp by arrows drawn on the original photograph) with the staff of the Saqqara Inspectorate and viewpoints well building (the taftish) in 1909 judged. The vital aspect of our association with him is that he was often the only person who could identify the sites (everyone else had passed away by then). For many years the photographic archive was kept in Hasibullah’s studio, immaculately referenced, mounted and labelled (all in hard copy of course: this was long before the days of digitisation), and Hasibullah was in total control of the material. He had been present, and active recording, at many local excavations during the 1950s, 60s and 70s and was a huge help in providing information for the Memphis survey, even (re-)visiting sites with us despite being increasingly frail. Hasibullah died some years ago, but his legacy lives on: the archive has now been physically moved but copies and (some) digitised versions are kept on site in the new MSA offices at Saqqara. We will always be grateful to him for his diligence, hard work and readiness to share his knowledge with us. DAVID JEFFREYS
In the courtyard of Beit Emery, the EES house at Saqqara, in 1979. Back row, left to right: Yusef Gabriel (house staff), Reis Hilmi and Reis Mahmud, Harry Smith, Gabr el-Khouroubi (house staff), Hazel Smith and Ali Hussein (house cook). Front row, left to right: John Ray, David Jeffreys, Lisa Giddy and Nicholas Reeves. Photograph taken by Hasibullah el-Tayeb
See further: egyptianarchaeology.tumblr.com/ (post of 14 February 2013) and www.flickr.com/photos/egyptexplorationsociety/sets/
EES news and events Regular news updates are posted on our website, www.ees.ac.uk, which we would urge readers to consult regularly for up-to-the-minute information on all EES activities, including our current fieldwork and research. EES news can also be found on our Facebook page: http://tinyurl. com/eesfacebookpage. If you would like to receive our regular e-newsletter please e-mail: contact@ees.ac.uk At the Forming Material Egypt conference held at UCL on 20-22 May 2013. Left to right: Abdelrazek el-Naggar, Alexandra Villing, Tarek Tawfik, Stephen Quirke, Maher Eissa and Daniela Picchi
At the Patrons and Donors event on 17 July 2013: Art Conservator, Laila Hackforth-Jones (daughter of Margaret Drower) describing her conservation of the Society’s painting of Queen Ahmose by Howard Carter to Larry Owens, a member of the EES team working in Minufiyeh Governorate
The EES Field Directors in Doughty Mews on 17 July 2013. Left to right: Jeffrey Spencer (Delta Survey), Penny Wilson (Sais and Tell Mutubis), Eva Lange (Tell Basta), David Jeffreys (Survey of Memphis), Joanne Rowland (Minufiyeh and Imbaba Surveys) and Angus Graham (Theban Harbours and Waterscapes Survey)
Aidan Dodson at the start of his talk, Howard Carter, the Egypt Exploration Fund and beyond, to EES Members at the British Council in Cairo, on 4 March 2013. Aidan was in Egypt from January to May 2013 as William K and Marilyn M Simpson Professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo. Photograph: Dyan Hilton
Discussion time at the Palaces and Residences in Ancient Egypt conference on 12-14 June 2013, with (standing) Peter Lacovara and Chris Naunton and (seated at the podium) Eva Lange and Manfred Bietak