The Egypt Exploration Society (EES) is a British non-profit organisation founded in 1882 for the purpose of supporting and promoting Egyptian cultural heritage. It was founded by novelist and travel writer Amelia Edwards with support from Curator of Coins and Medal, Reginald Stuart Poole. It has offices in London and Cairo, and is a registered charity.

The Society has worked at many archaeological sites across the northern Nile valley and delta including Deir el-Bahri, Tanis, Abydos, and Amarna. The results of its work have been shared in more than 350 scientific publications and artefacts from their excavations can be seen in museums around the world.

History

thumb|Amelia Edwards in America, 1890

In 1873, the English writer Amelia Edwards ventured to Egypt to escape Britain's cold, rainy climate and sight-see. She and several friends traveled up the Nile River, from Cairo to Abu Simbel. On her return in 1876, Edwards published her account of the trip as A Thousand Miles Up the Nile. The book became renowned for its description of 19th-century Egypt and the largely un-excavated antiques she encountered. Appealing to both popular and scholarly audiences, Edwards' book became a best seller. The attention and praise her work received prompted Edwards to continue her studies of ancient Egypt.

Second excavation

During the second excavation, the Fund sent Flinders Petrie, an English Egyptologist and 'father of Egyptology', to Tanis, a site linked to the Biblical city of Zoan. Petrie focused much of his work on the ordinary dwellings of the site, presenting a new array of discoveries for the society. Petrie was among the first to look for more than just artefacts he found aesthetically pleasing, viewing every discovery as significant for increasing understanding of ancient Egyptian society. He developed new Archaeological techniques for cataloging everything found at a site in a scientific manner. At the end of his excavation, Petrie was able to bring back many valuable findings and items that he donated to the British Museum. In October 1883, the society became one of the first to provide scientifically excavated objects from Petrie's expedition around Britain and overseas, sending artefacts to museums in Boston, Geneva, Edinburgh, York and Sheffield.

Name change

In 1919, the Egypt Exploration Fund changed its name to the Egypt Exploration Society to reflect the more active role the organization was taking in organizing and publishing findings from their excavations.

Repatriation effort

From its founding up to the 1980s, local archaeologists working with the Society had a limited say in what was taken to England and what would stay in Egypt. This caused a large amount of Egyptian artifacts deemed 'culturally insignificant' by Egyptian authorities at the time to be displaced from their home country. Since ending the practice, the Society has dedicated significant amounts of resources to finding and repatriating displaced artifacts to Egypt.

In 2024, The Society launched a Walking trail at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo where guests can observe 12 artifacts from the Society's excavations. According to the Society, all new artifacts uncovered will remain in Egypt.

Notable members

  • Dorothy Charlesworth; field director of excavations at Buto (Tell el-Farâ'în) in 1969
  • Mary Chubb; the first professional excavation administrator
  • H. W. Fairman; Egyptologist and director of field operations.
  • Al Richardson; Trotskyist historian and Egyptologist.
  • Veronica Seton-Williams; field director of excavations at Buto (Tell el-Farâ'în) 1964–1968
  • Harry Smith; director of Egyptian Nubian Survey

See also

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  • Barbara Mertz
  • Palestine Exploration Fund

References

  • Artefacts of Excavation - showing excavations and where finds were sent