The London Office and Library will close at 4.30 pm on Friday 13 August and reopen after the summer bank holiday at 10.30 am on Tuesday 31 August 2010.
The Cairo Office will be closed from Sunday 25 July to Monday 13 September (summer closure, staff holidays and Eid el-Fitr).
The online publication of the EES Delta Survey has been updated recently by Jeffrey Spencer to reflect recent activity by the Society and by other expeditions. Links to the dedicated websites of non-EES projects have been inserted, examples being Tell ed-Daba, Tell Billa (Tebilla) and Kom el-Ghuraf. The presentation of selected sites in Google EarthTM has also been improved with the addition of several more sites and a revision of the site notes in some of the placemark windows.
Routine updates to bibliographies have also been continued.
A full report on the EES work at Tell Yetwal wa Yuksur in March 2010 has been added in the update, and photographs of the Yetwal season can be seen on the Society’s Flickr page.
Two of the Society’s Delta Survey Projects sent back blogs from the field in the Spring of 2010 and these can still be read on-line. Patricia Spencer’s blog from Tell Yetwal wa Yuksur is here and Dr Joanne Rowland’s blog from Quesna can be read here.
Photographs from the Quesna work are also on the Society's Flickr page.
The Society has just released four new publications. They can all be purchased through The Society Bookshop
Fred Aldsworth. Qasr Ibrim. The Cathedral Church
EES Excavation Memoir 97. 2010. ISBN: 978-0-85698-1876. Price: £65.00 EES Members’ Price: £55.00
This book records the results of excavations and investigations undertaken by the Egypt Exploration Society between 1963 and 1998 on the largest surviving building, the Cathedral Church, on the significant site of Qasr Ibrim, one of the very few not totally destroyed by inundation following the construction of the Aswan Dam and the creation of Lake Nasser. It sets out the archaeological evidence, which has resulted from excavations and a detailed study of the surviving fabric, and provides an interpretation of that evidence for the construction of the Cathedral Church including its subsequent abandonment and use as a domestic dwelling and then an Ottoman Mosque. It also places the building and the site within the context of Medieval Nubia. This volumes includes a CD-ROM.
David Jeffreys. The Survey of Memphis VII. The Hekekyan Papers and other sources for the Survey of Memphis
EES Excavation Memoir 95. 2010. ISBN: 978-0-85698-192-0. Price: £65.00 EES Members’ Price: £55.00
The site of Memphis preserves the archaeological remains of the first capital of a unified pharaonic Egypt, including the site of the temple of Ptah which gives its name to the city and the country (Hikuptah – Aigyptos – Egypt). The Egypt Explorations Society’s survey of Memphis began in 1981 and has run up to the present. An exceptionally rich textual and pictorial archive is one important source of information available to us, and is presented here, highlighting the work of Joseph Hekekyan, a talented and pioneering archaeologist who worked at Memphis and many other sites in the 1850’s but who is – surprisingly – almost unknown today.
Janine Bourriau. The Survey of Memphis IV. Kom Rabia: The New Kingdom Pottery
EES Excavation Memoir 93. 2010. ISBN: 978-0-85698-193-7. Price: £65.00 EES Members’ Price: £55.00
This volume is a study of ceramic change in a stratified settlement at Kom Rabia, Memphis, during the New Kingdom. Ceramic chronology of this period has traditionally relied on pottery associated with dated individuals, usually from burials. In contrast, this study presents quantified evidence from a random sample taken from all contexts. A corpus has been made up for each level or phase. Appendices show the distribution of pottery within single contexts and of types within the sequence. Dating, fabric, surface treatments and shape are described in detail and there is a critical appraisal of the methodology used.
Ian Shaw. Hatnub: Quarrying Travertine in Ancient Egypt
EES Excavation Memoir 88. 2010. ISBN: 978-0-85698-187-6. Price: £65.00 EES Members’ Price: £55.00
This book, the fieldwork for which was undertaken between 1984 and 1990, concentrates on the travertine (Egyptian alabaster) quarries at Hatnub, some 25 kilometres southeast of the modern town of Mallawi, in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Most of the archaeological remains date to the Old and Middle Kingdoms (c.2575-1650 BC), but there was also a significant encampment dating to the New Kingdom (c.1550-1070 BC). The book uses archaeological and textual evidence from Hatnub as a means of addressing some of the social and economic issues relating to ancient Egyptian procurement of materials from remote sites. Among the research questions addressed here are the provisioning and organization of Egyptian quarrying and mining expeditions, the nature of the key groups of workmen involved in quarrying, and the ritualisation of areas of remote, liminal human activity in the pharaonic period.
Details of a new series of lectures, seminars and classes have now been posted to our website. The programme kicks off with a lecture by distinguished Nubian archaeologist Professor Bill Adams on 12 August. During September we will be hosting the British Egyptology Congress at the British Museum, the programme and abstracts for which are now available, launching the Amelia Edwards Projects for 2010-11, and starting a new series of Egyptian language classes taught by Dr Joanna Kyffin. October sees the relaunch of EES events in Manchester as part of a broader programme of 'EES North' activities, and the Society's Chair, Dr Ian Shaw will provide a seminar on work at Hatnub with colleagues from the University of Liverpool. Two further seminars will take place in November, the first on Kushite and Saite Theban tombs with Elena Pischikova, and the second on 'Navigating the Egyptian Nile' which has now been rearrangement following a postponement caused by the Ash cloud earlier in 2010.
To book tickets for the above events please click the links above or visit our main events page. To see the dates of the above at a glance please see the calendar here.
We hope you will be able to join us!
On 12 August 2010, Professor William Y Adams, gave an illustrated, and highly entertaining, talk to EES members in the Committee Room at Doughty Mews, describing his life and career which had taken him from his first archaeological work in the south-west USA to fieldwork in Sudan and Egyptian Nubia, for which he has achieved world-wide recognition. Professor Adams is a former Director of the EES excavations at Qasr Ibrim and has written two Excavation Memoirs for the Society. See: www.ees-shop.co.uk
Professor Adams has recently published his autobiography The Road from Friholes Canyon. Anthropolitical Adventures on Four Continents which will be reviewed in Egyptian Archaeology 37 (Autumn 2010) by Dr Julie R Anderson of the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum.
A few photographs taken after the talk, and of the EES stall at the Nubian Conference held the previous week at the British Museum, are now on the Society's Flickr page.
The Third British Egyptology Congress
(BEC3)
BEC3, organized jointly by the Egypt Exploration Society, The Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum, and University College London takes place this coming weekend (11-12 September 2010) in the Clore Centre at the British Museum. The final programme can be downloaded here.
In addition, the Friends of the Petrie Museum and UCL will be hosting a drinks reception for delegates on the Friday evening, from 7.00 to 8.30 pm, in the Roberts Foyer, UCL (on the corner of Torrington Place and Malet Place - C5 on the map here) - to which all paid delegates are invited. As well as providing an early opportunity for attendees to socialise, delegates will be able to learn about the valuable work of the Friends of the Petrie Museum, and register in advance or the Congress.
If you haven’t already booked, tickets are still available for the full Congress (including the Saturday evening Lecture by Dr Mark Lehner and Reception) or for the Lecture and Reception only, but must be booked in advance either online or by phone: +44 (0)7242 1880.
We will look forward to seeing you at BEC3.
The 2010 Centenary Awards have now been advertised. Click here for full details and a list of previous holders of the Awards.
Following the call for prospective Trustees sent in the Spring mailing, the Board is recommending the following members for election at the Annual General Meeting on Saturday 11 December 2010: Dr Colin Adams, Dr Aidan Dodson, Dr Roland Enmarch and Ms Susan Royce. A PDF with photographs and brief biographies of the nominees can be downloaded here.
Members now have an additional opportunity to put themselves forward for election in competition with the members nominated by the Board. Any member who wishes to stand for election is invited to contact the Society’s Director, Dr Patricia Spencer, (patricia.spencer@ees.ac.uk) and request an application-form and the Society’s electronic ‘information pack’ for prospective Trustees. To comply with Article 18.2 of the Society’s ‘Memorandum and Articles of Association’, completed applications must be received by 2 October 2010. All candidates will then be listed in the notice of the AGM to be mailed to members in the Autumn.
Photographs from BEC3 can now be seen on the EES Flickr page.
Joanne Rowland's blog from Quesna in Minufiyeh Governorate is continuing. For the latest news click here.
The Society's Annual General meeting will take place on Saturday 11 December 2010 at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. The Agenda and full details will be sent to all EES members in early November.
The Society’s Chair (Dr Ian Shaw) and the Vice-Chair (Dr Paul Nicholson) were due to retire at the AGM and had indicated to the Board on 2 July that they would not be seeking re-election. They have since resigned from the Board, as have three Trustees who were also due to retire at the AGM (Ms Janine Bourriau, Prof Dominic Rathbone and Dr Margaret Serpico) and two Trustees (Mr Robert Partridge and Dr Joyce Tyldesley) who were not due to retire this year.
The Board of Trustees will be nominating at the AGM Dr Karen Exell to serve a three-year term as Chair of the Society and Mr John J Johnston to serve a three-year term as Vice-Chair of the Society. Both are current serving Trustees and their brief biographies can be found on the 'Trustees' page. A letter to EES members from Dr Exell can be downloaded here.
No additional nominees from the membership for Trustees to be elected at the AGM on 11 December were received by the deadline of 2 October. Four members, whom the Trustees are nominating for election at the AGM, have been co-opted onto the Board with immediate effect, see the 'Trustees' page and here. The Board’s recommendations to fill the remaining three places will be uploaded after further consideration at the next meeting of Trustees.
The Office has just taken a call from the Simon Mayo Drivetime show asking for our thoughts on Egyptology. Dr. Aidan Dodson, a Trustee of the Society, will be chatting live with Simon this evening at 17:20 on BBC Radio 2. Tune in here!!
The Society's Annual Report and Accounts for the 2009-10 financial year (1 April 2009 - 31 March 2010) have now been uploaded. Summary Accounts will be sent to all EES Members in the Autumn mailing, and any Member who would like a printed version of the full Report and Accounts will be able to request one from the London Office.
Among the many treasures kept in the Egypt Exploration Society's Lucy Gura Archive is the 'film record' of excavations at Tell el-Amarna, which was made over the course of three seasons from 1930 to 1933. A selection of clips is now available below and here.
The excerpts used in this case were selected for what they show of the character of the expedition Director, John Pendlebury, and his love of athletic competition and play-acting.
For further information on the film please see the following recently published article:
'The "Film Record of the Egypt Exploration Society's Excavations at Tell-El-Amarna"' KMT vol. 21, No. 3 (Fall 2010), 45-53. http://www.kmtjournal.com/currentissue.htm
The footage is also accompanied by the voices of Julia Samson and Margaret Drower both of whom worked with Pendlebury at Amarna. Their reminiscences were recorded by Rosalind Janssen during the 1990s and digitized recently as part of the Society's Oral History Project. The Society is very grateful to Mrs Janssen for her generosity in allowing the digital recordings to be added to the Society's archives, and for permission to use the sections included here.
For further information about the EES and its archives please see the links at left.
Vivian Davies, Keeper of the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum, has kindly arranged for EES Members to have a private viewing of the Museum's 'Book of the Dead' exhibition which opens next week. This will be on the evening of Monday 10 January 2011 and full details of how to book will be sent to Members in the Autumn mailing. This will be a great opportunity for EES Members to visit the exhibition in the more relaxed atmosphere of an evening viewing and we are very grateful to Vivian, and the Trustees of the British Museum, for offering us this opportunity.
There will be an article about the exhibition by its curator, Dr John Taylor, in Egyptian Archaeology 37 (due out in November).
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The Society's Annual General Meeting will take place at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London at 3.00 pm on Saturday 11 December 2010. The Agenda, Summary Accounts and other Notices will be posted to all Members in the Autumn mailing and can also be downloaded here.
This year we are asking EES members to support two expeditions working on very different sites in the Nile Delta - Tell Basta and Tell Mutubis. Further details of the proposed work can be found here and donations to the projects can be made through this website. For donors who prefer not to give on-line, we now also have a form which can be downloaded here and returned to the London Office with your donation. A paper version will be included in the Society's Autumn mailing.
Via the Big Give you can simply donate online at www.thebiggive.org.uk/pledge/ees and they will match your donation to the Amelia Edwards Projects; literally doubling your gift. Pledge your support before November 5th or give as part of the Christmas Challenge by logging on to the Big Give at 10am on 6th December 2010.
Details of a new series of lectures, seminar and other events to be held in the coming months have now been posted to our website. Between now and next Easter EES members will be given insights into the latest research by EES teams and others including Aidan Dodson, Joyce Tyldesley, Steve Harvey, Martina Minas-Nerpel, Kenneth Kitchen and Jeffrey Spencer. For further details or to book tickets please click here.
Egyptian Archaeology 37 (Autumn 2010) has just been published and copies are now being mailed to EES Members. The layout of EA has been changed with this issue to include pages at the front of the magazine which showcase the Society’s activities, including a report on EES tours to Egypt and Sudan, a summary and photographs from BEC3, news of the appointment of our Development Director, Victoria Perry, and photographs from recent events at Doughty Mews. Appreciations of the lives of Ian Mathieson, Win Exley and Lydia Barker are also included in this new section.
The main articles are:
Joseph Hekekyan: pioneer archaeologist David Jeffreys
Dahshur North: intact Middle and New Kingdom coffins Masahiro Baba and Sakuji Yoshimura
The Christian settlement at the Amarna North Tombs Gillian Pyke
Revealing new landscape features at Tell Basta Daniela Rosenow
King Sheshonqs at Bubastis Eva Lange
The Book of the Dead John Taylor
Petrie finds revisited Tine Bagh
Tell Yetwal wa Yuksur Jeffrey Spencer
The Yale University Moalla Survey Project Colleen Manassa
Ancient Egypt in the Pitt Rivers Museum Alice Stevenson
The face of a king in the Pitt Rivers Museum Earl L Ertman
Bookshelf has reviews by Marianne Eaton-Krauss (Aidan Dodson, Amarna Sunset), Andrew Bednarski (Dieter Arnold, The Monuments of Egypt), Sylvie Weens (Elizabeth Wickett, For the Living and the Dead), Josef Wegner (Wolfram Grajetzki, Court Officials of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom) and Julie Anderson (W Y Adams, The Road from Frijoles Canyon).
‘Digging Diary’ contains brief summaries of the work of over 50 expeditions that carried out research in Egypt during 2010.
The budget for purchasing new material for the library continues to be bolstered by the proceeds from second hand book sales, however acquiring large numbers of books, to add to the steady trickle that we acquire continually through exchange and gifts from colleagues etc., had become impossible in recent months as shelf space had almost completely run out. During September however a number of bookcases on the ground floor were reorganised by Thomas Booker, resulting in the addition of fourteen new shelves’ worth of space.
Thomas Booker in the midst of moving thousands of books in order to create new shelf space in the Society's Caminos Library.
As a result of Thomas' work we have been able to use the funds from book sales to purchase a great number of new books, all of which have now been catalogued and are available for consultation. A full list of titles acquired in the last few months is now available here.
A selection of the most recently acquired titles in the library.
Not only do we owe Thomas a debt of thanks for his hard work in the library but he also deserves our congratulations: Thomas recently passed his MA in Egyptian Archaeology at UCL with distinction, and was awarded the Margaret Murray prize for his efforts. Well done Thomas!
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