posted
Thought it could be interesting to post names and some data about the leading Egyptologists of today. Who are they and where are their place of work? What have they contributed?
Maybe one could start with "The Man in the Hat" himself, Dr Zahi Hawass.
quote: Zahi Abass Hawass (Arabic: زاهي حواس; born May 28, 1947) is an Egyptian archaeologist, Egyptologist, and former Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs, serving twice. He has also worked at archaeological sites in the Nile Delta, the Western Desert, and the Upper Nile Valley.
His Wikipedia page discloses that he often has been, and still is, a controversial figure with many opinions.
What is your opinion on him? What has he meant for Egyptology and the preservation of Egypts cultural heritage?
-------------------- Once an archaeologist, always an archaeologist Posts: 2684 | From: Sweden | Registered: Mar 2020
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He basically works for Western Egyptology because his education in Egyptology came from the West and he mostly promotes Egyptian history for European and foreign tourists. That said, the rise of Egyptian nationalism has always been associated with the desire to take back control of their artifacts. This came to a head when Howard Carter discovered the Tomb of Tutankhamun and the Egyptian government was the one who refused to let them take the treasures out of the country. Prior to that, Egypt was run by Ottomans and people like Muhammad Ali who was a Macedonian Ottoman Greek. They had no problem allowing the Europeans to cart off these artifacts and Egypt was not run by Egyptians. Hawass got most of his fame because of being on Western produced documentaries which is where he gets his reputation of being a showman more than a serious scholar and being known for regurgitating all the standard propaganda of mainstream European Egyptology.
Posts: 8889 | Registered: May 2005
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Moustafa Gadallah is form Cairo has no training as an Egyptologist. He has an engineering degree from the University of Cairo in 1967. He founded the Egyptian Mystical University (EMU) which is a branch of his Tehuti Research Foundation in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The Egyptian model of mysticism emphasizes that the adherents must be active participants in the society. Members must be involved in society by practicing what they learn. Serving others constitutes an integral aspect of self-development. The individual performance in the society is the true test of his/her success.
The aspirant, in the Egyptian model, learns to purify his inner self by taming vices and practicing the opposites of such vices in society. Knowledge is gained by both the mind and experience. The inner purification must be completed by practicing good social behavior in the ordinary daily life.
If you look closely at this list which includes Egyptologists from the start of the field you will notice some names with no died date, so are probably living Egyptologists) and also a few names with no birth or died dates (some are living)
The nice thing about this list is you can click on each one for a bio. Only a few are the ones known for doing mainstream documentaries like Joann Fletcher and Kathlyn M. Cooney Most are academics who keep a lower profile.
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posted
I could not find Robert Steven Bianchi on the list. I´ve seen him in a couple of TV programs. I also once read the book Daily Life of the Nubians by him. He is an archaeologist and art historian with Egypt as one of his specialities.
Found a presentation here
quote: With a master's degree in Greek and Roman archaeology and art, and a doctorate in Egyptian art and aesthetics from New York University, Bianchi scrutinizes the artistic works of ancient Greeks, Romans and Egyptians to piece together their lives and beliefs.
quote:Originally posted by Archeopteryx: [QB] I could not find Robert Steven Bianchi on the list. I´ve seen him in a couple of TV programs. I also once read the book Daily Life of the Nubians by him.
His background
Robert Steven Bianchi
Born to a Greek-American mother and an Italian-American father, Dr. Bob was raised by both sets of grandparents while his father served in the Pacific Theater during WW II and his mother worked. His first language was Greek during his formative years in Manhattan when his maternal grandmother regaled him with tales of Greece, both ancient and modern, and of Egypt, particularly Alexandria, where until quite recently he still had family. In like manner his paternal great-grandmother entertained him with anecdotes about Italy and the Romans. She was married to Saturno Risoldi, an opera singer who sang with Caruso and had his own radio show, The Musical Cocktail [Tony and Marie] in New York City from about 1930-1950. The impact of those formative years were deeply imprinted on Dr Bob who majored in Classics (Greek and Latin) and art history as an undergraduate. He pursued those studies in graduate school earning a PhD in 1976 from NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts.
Thereafter, he received numerous post-graduate fellowships and embarked on a career in museums serving on the curatorial staffs of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, The Roemer-Pelizaeus Museum [Hildesheim, Germany], The Bible Lands Museum [Jerusalem], the Fondation Gandur pour l’Art [Geneva], and the Ancient Egyptian Museum Shibuya [Tokyo].
He has served as adjunct professor at Uppsala College in East Orange, N.J., at New York University, at Columbia University, and at the University of Alexandria, Egypt. Dr. Bob has spent over 15 seasons on archaeological excavations in Egypt at Mendes in the Delta, at the Precinct of the goddess Mut at Southern Karnak, and most recently as a member (2021) of the Franco-Swiss archaeological mission to Saqqara.
Dr. Bob is widely traveled having repeatedly visited and studied in over 30 nations in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, and extensively published, having authored 37 books and contributed chapters to another 60. He is the author of 243 journal articles and an additional 141 book reviews. He began his TV career with 45 30-minute programs which he wrote and in which he was the only presenter on CBS’s Sunrise Semester in cooperation with New York University in 1979, which was regularly featured in TV GUIDE. To date he has appeared in 113 TV telecasts.
quote:Originally posted by the lioness,: Moustafa Gadallah is form Cairo has no training as an Egyptologist. He has an engineering degree from the University of Cairo in 1967. He founded the Egyptian Mystical University (EMU) which is a branch of his Tehuti Research Foundation in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The Egyptian model of mysticism emphasizes that the adherents must be active participants in the society. Members must be involved in society by practicing what they learn. Serving others constitutes an integral aspect of self-development. The individual performance in the society is the true test of his/her success.
The aspirant, in the Egyptian model, learns to purify his inner self by taming vices and practicing the opposites of such vices in society. Knowledge is gained by both the mind and experience. The inner purification must be completed by practicing good social behavior in the ordinary daily life.
quote: Phase I. The Treasure Within [3 credits] The Image of God
The One Joined Together (The Divine Parts)
The Metaphysical/physical functions of (body) parts
Utilizing our Faculties
The Power of Love
So there are a lot of people with no formal training. Heinrich Schliemann, had no training in archaeology yet he is remembered as the greatest archaeologist of the 19th century and pioneer of Aegean archaeology for discovering Troy and some Mycenaean sites.
Moustafa Gadalla if anything is more of an ethnologists who connects Egyptology with modern Baladi culture.
By the way, I think Hawass is overrated. Despite his accomplishments, even his peers like Ahmed Saleh have criticized him for mishandling of some sites amongst other things.
-------------------- Mahirap gisingin ang nagtutulog-tulugan. Posts: 26239 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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I looked up Ahmed Saleh, I get the impression he is not very influential outside of a moment in time critiquing Hawass but I don't know much about him ( and he is somewhat outside of the Western Egyptology system) Gadalla main things is not be an advocate of modern Baladi culture. He main focus is mysticism
quote: Meanwhile, Ahmed Saleh, an Egyptian Egyptologist working for the antiquities service, complained to Egypt Today that Woodward was looking for links between Egyptian kings and Jewish prophets.
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An article about a new generation of Egyptian archaeologists who want the Egyptian heritage to be researched by Egyptians themselves
quote:The future of Egyptology is in Egyptian hands
New discoveries enrich the story of civilisation, and are being led by homegrown talent
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When the Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass took over the Ministry of Antiquities in 2011, his main concern was just that: for Egyptian archaeologists to learn the art of excavation and restoration. He set up excavation schools and taught more than 500 Egyptian archaeologists the arts of research and excavation until they reached the same level of ability as foreign expertrs, even surpassing them.
The best evidence of this fact is today’s trove of recent discoveries. They have dazzled the world and were uncovered entirely by Egyptian hands. They include the aforementioned findings at Saqqara and the discovery by Dr Hawass of the tombs of workers who built the pyramids and the lost golden city in Luxor. The history of the city dates back to the reign of King Amenhotep III, 3,000 years ago. He also discovered the pyramid of Queen Nate in Saqqara and the Valley of the Golden Mummies in the Bahariya Oasis in the depths of the Western Desert.
When Mustafa Waziri became head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, he immediately led missions to excavate Egyptian antiquities throughout the country and began working at the Saqqara necropolis, where many of the kings and queens of ancient Egypt, senior statesmen and priests were buried.
quote: Egypt’s heritage is a world-renowned source of wonder, which enchants visitors from all over the world. But while an important part of Egyptology’s identity is global, it is still positive that today Egypt is seeing the fruits of the hard work of figures such as Dr Hawass and Dr Waziri, in the form not just of new wonders, but a new generation of Egyptian experts.
quote: In 2009 Hawass demanded that the Louvre hand over five limestone wall paintings, purchased by the museum in 2000 and 2003 at a gallery and at auction after being stolen from a Luxor tomb in the 1980s. When the museum director ignored him, Hawass blocked a Louvre-sponsored excavation at Saqqara. “This was like a bomb,” he says. “At 8:45 a.m. I was giving a lecture, Mubarak called me. ‘Zahi, Sarkozy just phoned me, he said you stopped the Louvre, what happened?’ I explained it, and he said, ‘What you did was perfect.’” The Louvre returned the pieces in 2009. “This return became a symbol everywhere,” says Hawass. “In 2006 they named me among the Time [magazine] 100 [Most Influential People] because of all this courage, the things I did in the world.”
-------------------- Once an archaeologist, always an archaeologist Posts: 2684 | From: Sweden | Registered: Mar 2020
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There's no doubt Dr Hawass has been highly influential and has done important things for both Egypt and Egyptology. He may always be the most important steward of these sites. However, I believe the harm he has done in refusing to allow publication of testing results and further exploration of G1 (among other sites) may outweigh the great benefits of past accomplishments. He said he would not allow publication of data related to the Scanspyramid Project because it might "confuse" the laymen but he has also withheld all this data from other Egyptologists as well.
-------------------- Men fear the pyramid, time fears man. Posts: 393 | From: NW Indiana, US of A | Registered: Aug 2006
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Even up here in Sweden we have had some egyptologists. One of the most famous was late professor Torgny Säve-Söderbergh (1914 - 1998).
quote:Säve-Söderbergh studied at the University of Göttingen. He then attended the Uppsala University for his doctoral studies and was awarded his doctorate at the age of 27 for his thesis Ägypten und Nubien (1941, written in German). After graduating, he performed archaeological and historical research.
From 1935-1950, he participated in archaeological excavations in Greece and Turkey (1935, 1938-1939) and in Egypt (1937, 1950). From 1942-1980, he was a lecturer, then professor of Egyptology (1950) and dean (1960-1965) of the Faculty of Arts at the Uppsala University.
He also served as Director of the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Uppsala from 1950-1980. From 1960-1964, he was directed excavations during the Scandinavian expedition in Sudanese Nubia. He was also the director of the Nag Hammadi expedition from 1976-1977.
In addition to his research, he also help to popularise archaeology and research, giving radio talks and writing popular books such as Egyptian Character (1945) and Pharaohs and Men (1958).
When the Aswan Dam was being built in the 1960s, Säve-Söderbergh became project leader for a joint Scandinavian expedition (1960-1964) in UNESCO's campaign to save temples and historical monuments from flooding - the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia. The entire area was archaeologically investigated, and a large number of temples were saved. The wealth of findings and data from the expedition was published in 14 volumes edited by Säve-Söderbergh. He published his story of the expedition in the popular book Mission in Nubia: How the World Saved a Country's Cultural Monuments (1996).
quote:Originally posted by Djehuti: U.S. Egyptologist Dr. Kent R. Weeks who is the founder of the Theban Mapping Project.
Two prominent Egyptian Egyptologists besides Hawass are Dr. Ahmed Saleh and Dr. Moustafa Gadallah.
Pakistani Egyptologist Dr. Salima Ikram.
Late British Egyptologists Dr. Michael Rice and Dr. Ian Shaw have produced classic works.
Canadian Egyptologist Donald Redford.
There is also Stuart- Tyson-Smith, who incidentally, in the conservative Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, finds it quite reasonable that the AEs could be labeled "black."
-------------------- Note: I am not an "Egyptologist" as claimed by some still bitter, defeated, trolls creating fake profiles and posts elsewhere. Hapless losers, you still fail. My output of hard data debunking racist nonsense has actually INCREASED since you began.. Posts: 5905 | From: The Hammer | Registered: Aug 2008
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^ Yeah, how could I forget Stuart Tyson Smith! He's a black American Egyptologist who has done a lot to dispel a lot of the racist lies on the Egyptians and he does so using Egyptological evidence. This is why you don't hear too much about him. Of course that hasn't stopped Euronuts from calling him "Afrocentric" which is silly because his whole argument is simply that Egypt is African which is why Oxford and other prestigious journals still cite him.
-------------------- Mahirap gisingin ang nagtutulog-tulugan. Posts: 26239 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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He has also participated in some popular culture by reconstructing ancient Egyptian language for the films Stargate (1994) and The Mummy (1999).
In that context he has participated in the book Box Office Archaeology Refining Hollywood’s Portrayals of the Past from 2007.
quote: “How true is it?” is a common refrain of patrons coming out of movie theatres after the latest film on pirates, Vikings, or mummies. While Hollywood usurps the past for its own entertainment purposes, archaeologists and historians know a lot about many of these subjects, digging up stories often more fascinating than the ones projected on screen. This distinguished group of archaeologists select key subjects and genres used by Hollywood and provide the historical and archaeological depth that a movie cannot—what really happened in history. Topics include Egypt, the Wild West, Civil War submarines, Vikings, the Titanic, and others. The book should be of interest to introductory archaeology and American history classes, courses on film and popular culture, and to a general audience. Alternate Selection, History Book Club.
posted
A couple of Egyptologists who also have a presence on social media are John Coleman Darnell and Colleen Darnell. They have been somewhat controversial partly because of their relationship and partly because they like to dress up in "colonial garb", ie clothes in the style of the 1920s.
They have a YouTube channel named Vintage Egyptologist, and they are also often seen in TV documentaries about Ancient Egypt.
posted
An Egyptologist who is mainly known for his fiction is French author Christian Jacq. He has written many novels about Ancient Egypt but also published non fiction.
quote: Christian Jacq (French: [ʒak]; born 28 April 1947) is a French author and Egyptologist. He has written several novels about ancient Egypt, notably a five book series about pharaoh Ramses II, a character whom Jacq admires greatly.
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