Casting an Egyptological eye over the varied information given by A O Lamplough in the 1911-1912 edition of his tourist guide Egypt and How to See It (see AE 144), what stands out are his impressions of and comments on the archaeological sites themselves. Apart from Auguste Mariette ‘the famous French Egyptologist who discovered the Apis tombs in 1851…’, Lamplough does not credit any archaeologist by name, not even Gaston Maspero, who was the Director General of Antiquities at the time. He makes no mention of any digs in progress, possibly because the book had to go to print before the season’s concessions had been allocated, although it may also be because most Egyptologists resented interrupting their work to entertain casual sightseers.
Deir El-Medina
Lamplough’s descriptions of what his readers could expect to see are sometimes difficult to reconcile with the monuments familiar to us today. For instance, Deir el-Medina is merely ‘a Ptolemaic temple’, with no reference to tombs such as those excavated by the Italian Egyptologist Ernesto Schiaparelli, 1905-1909. Excavation of the Worker’s Village itself by the French archaeologist Bernard Bruyère only began in 1922, with his report not published until 1959.
The Valley of the Queens
Lamplough declares the principal tomb in the Valley of the Queens to be that of ‘Queen Thi or Titi: the paintings are excellent and in admirable preservation’. This refers to QV52, the Tomb of Tyti, a wife of Ramesses III. The surprising omission of QV66, discovered by Schiaparelli in 1904, suggests that Nefertari’s tomb was not accessible to tourists when Lamplough was writing his guide. Today’s visitors would find the same situation, since QV66 has been permanently closed to tourists since March 2024, because of conservation concerns.
Neolithic France: a seismic moment