Dows Dunham and the tomb of Queen Hetepheres

The excavation of the Fourth Dynasty (c.2613-2494 BC) Tomb of Queen Hetepheres was one of the crowning achievements of George A Reisner and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition, but it would never have been possible without the hard work and dedication of Reisner’s chief assistant, Dows Dunham. Born on 1 June 1890 to a prominent New York family, Dunham grew up with an appreciation of art and culture. After graduating from high school in 1908, and before his departure to college, he toured Europe with a tutor and travelled on to the Middle East, including Egypt, which particularly fascinated him. On his return, he enrolled at Harvard University and, inspired by the sights of the Old World, concentrated his studies on art history.

Dunham was fortunate to attend a course in the archaeology of ancient Egypt taught by the legendary George Andrew Reisner (1867-1942). Reisner rarely left his headquarters – ‘Harvard Camp’ – at the foot of the pyramids of Giza to return to his teaching duties in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and curatorial obligations at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In class, he immediately recognised Dunham’s intelligence, artistic skills, and potential as a field archaeologist, and invited him to join the expedition. Dows began work at the Giza Pyramids in April 1914. There he was supervised by Reisner and his Egyptian foreman Said Ahmed, whom Dunham credited with teaching him the particulars of excavation, and who became a lifelong friend. Dunham was soon given the responsibility for conducting the Sudanese excavations, while Reisner concentrated on Giza.

Saqqara

In 1923, Reisner’s old friend and colleague Cecil Firth asked if he could borrow Dunham for some important work at the Step Pyramid at Saqqara. Dunham was thrilled with the experience, particularly in finding the statue of Djoser, and asked if he could stay on another year. Reisner fired Dunham on the spot for having the temerity to want to remain, but he was soon forced to eat humble pie. On 2 February 1925, while his photographer was setting up his equipment to take photographs of the Great Pyramid, a leg of his camera tripod dug into the rock. This ‘rock’ turned out to be plaster covering the hidden mouth of a tomb shaft descending 88 feet (27 metres). When the blocking stones covering the entrance to the burial chamber at the bottom of the shaft were removed, the archaeologists were greeted with a daunting spectacle. The wooden objects placed in the tomb had turned to powder with only the inlays and gold sheet coverings remaining.