EGYPTIAN
ARCHAEOLOGY
‘Digging Diary’: an appeal As anticipated in the editorial of EA 43, many expeditions were unable to work in Egypt during the autumn of 2013 while some governments were advising against all but essential travel to most of the country. Restrictions on travel (with the exception of Middle Egypt and Sinai) were lifted in November and, as we go to press at the end of January, it is hoped that the EES expeditions which were originally planned for the autumn of 2013 will now be able to work in spring 2014. Some other expeditions (mainly those with permanently staffed bases in Egypt) were able to work in the latter part of 2013 and we are very grateful to Field Directors who sent reports for inclusion in ‘Digging Diary’ in this issue which is, sadly, reduced to two pages. The picture is not as bleak as this would suggest, however, as ‘Digging Diary’ has never claimed to be exhaustive since its content has always been dependent on the reports received. Other expeditions are known to have carried out fieldwork in late 2013 but did not send us summaries. We are always
happy to print ‘late’ reports and would warmly welcome reports from Field Directors whose expeditions did work in the second half of 2013, to be included in ‘Digging Diary’ in EA 45. The content of this issue of EA is as varied as ever, from Christophe Thiers’ report on discoveries at Armant, written as soon as the season ended, to updates on their work by several of our regular contributors, and articles about people involved in the earlier days of Egyptology, a field of research which also features prominently in the ‘Bookshelf’ reviews this issue. We have recently welcomed Jan Geisbusch to the EA Editorial Board. Jan is the new EES Publications Manager and he will be taking over from me as Editor of EA after issue 45 (autumn 2014) has gone to press. That issue is already ‘full’ so enquiries about submitting articles for consideration for inclusion in EA 46 onwards should be addressed to Jan: jan.geisbusch@ees.ac.uk. PATRICIA SPENCER
Discovering Tutankhamun in Oxford The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, will stage a temporary exhibition, Discovering Tutankhamun, from 24 July to 26 October 2014 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Griffith Institute as a home for Egyptology in Oxford (www.griffith.ox.ac.uk). Following Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922, its clearance took ten years, during which Carter painstakingly recorded the position, size and appearance of every object (5,398 in total), supplemented by detailed drawings and photographs. The records were deposited in the archive of the Griffith Institute at the University of Oxford by Carter’s niece, Miss Phyllis Walker, and from 1995 have been made accessible online through the Griffith Institute’s project ‘Tutankhamun: Anatomy of an Excavation’. Discovering Tutankhamun will enable visitors to follow in Carter’s footsteps in his search for Tutankhamun’s tomb. The early years of his work in Egypt (at first for the EEF and later with Theodore Davis) are documented through watercolour paintings and epigraphic copies from the archive of the Griffith Institute, highlighting Carter’s great skill as an artist.
Watercolour facsimile of a coloured relief in the temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri, painted by Howard Carter while he was working on the Egypt Exploration Fund’s excavations. (GI Watercolour 204)
The exhibition will focus on the notebooks, record cards, maps and plans of Tutankhamun’s tomb made by Carter and his team, including their evocative accounts of the excavation, as well as the wonderful black and white photography of Harry Burton. It will explore the impact of the tomb’s discovery on popular culture - ‘Tutmania’ - as well as the continuing attempts of modern Egyptologists to interpret the tomb’s contents in their search for the ‘real’ Tutankhamun. Featuring objects from the Ashmolean’s superb collections from ancient Egypt and Sudan, as well as major international loans – including iconic pieces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the British Museum – the exhibition will explore the reasons for Tutankhamun’s particular fame, and showcase various projects that have, in recent years, sought to ensure the preservation of the tomb and its contents for future generations. For all of these projects, the Howard Carter archive in the Griffith Institute remains an invaluable resource.
Photograph by Harry Burton (Metropolitan Museum of Art photographer) of the objects in the antechamber of Tutankhamun’s tomb, as found at the time of the discovery in 1922. (Burton Photograph P0009)
q Liam McNamara, Assistant Keeper for Ancient Egypt and Sudan, Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Oxford. Images ©The Griffith Institute, University of Oxford.