Recording ancient Egypt: squeezes, watercolours and drawings from the Griffith Institute

Date: Saturday 1^st February 2025 at 2.00 pm
By Dr Daniela Rosenow
Cost: Free for Members and £4 Visitors
Venue: Oakwood Centre

Abstract

The Griffith Institute houses a diverse and significant collection of archival records containing the collective memory and life work of some of Egyptology's greatest scholars, including its founder Francis Llewellyn Griffith, as well as Sir Alan Gardiner, Norman and Nina de Garis Davies and Howard Carter. There are more than 170 substantial groups of material, ranging from academic papers, early travellers’ accounts, paintings, drawings, watercolours, squeezes and rubbings, nineteenth century photographs, negatives, slides and complete excavation records.

This lecture will present some of the Archive’s early records of Ancient Egyptian monuments and sites including squeezes, watercolours and drawings produced from the late 18th century onwards by early travellers, professional artists and archaeologists. These records also demonstrate the development of techniques and methods to record ancient objects and introduce some of the key characters involved in these earlier phases of Egyptology.

Biography

Daniela studied Egyptology and Classical Archaeology at the Humboldt University Berlin where she obtained her doctorate on Late period sacred architecture. She has worked at UCL’s Institute of Archaeology, the British Museum, the University of Munich and the German Archaeological Institute Cairo. In February 2021 Daniela joined the Griffith Institute, University of Oxford, where she was responsible for the curation of the exhibition “Tutankhamun – Excavating the Archive“, and she is now the Manager of the Griffith Institute.