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REVIEW BY ALAN L JEFFREYS
Emily Teeter’s book, which accompanies a recent exhibition at the ISAC Museum (see ‘Exhibitions’ in AE 145), relates the story of the University of Chicago’s Epigraphic Survey expedition to Egypt, and the team’s efforts to save endangered texts and reliefs on the ancient monuments.
Chicago House was the dream of James Henry Breasted who, from the early 1900s, determined that all ancient Egyptian inscriptions should be recorded before wear and tear, vandalism, and a host of other factors destroyed them. Without doubt, his relationship with multimillionaire John D Rockefeller Jr was vital, for without the latter’s staggeringly generous support, nothing would have come of Breasted’s plans.
With access to reams of carefully archived papers and correspondence, Teeter describes the progress, joys, angst, politics, and achievements under a dynasty of esteemed field directors, including internal squabbles, personality clashes, financial problems, and the almost inevitable struggle to produce publications of the work carried out. Since the principal aim was accurately recording inscriptions, detailed accounts of the various methods that were used open fascinating windows on methodology – in the early days, not without risk. Several staff members incurred injury by falling off ladders, or tripping over ruins. Suffering dust clouds, bothersome flies, and heat, artists laboured to produce fine facsimiles with endless discussion over the best method for portraying the temple decoration.
Extensions from the Medinet Habu work embraced private Theban tombs, the Khonsu Temple at Karnak, a presence at Saqqara between 1930 and 1936, copying at Abydos in conjunction with Amice Calverley, and, unavoidably, cooperation with the Nubian rescue work between 1954 and 1963. This latter was entered into reluctantly, given the stated aims of the Epigraphic Survey and additional costs involved, but resulted in publication of The Beit el-Wali Temple of Ramesses II in partnership with the Swiss.
The latter half of the book deals with life at the various buildings occupied at Luxor, through financial crises in the 1930s, the silence of the war years, and gradual evolution from 1950 to the present day. Over that time, Chicago House has evolved into the premier expedition headquarters in Upper Egypt, its library alone being one of the best in the Middle East. Since the directorship of Kent Weeks, relations with staff and other institutions have relaxed radically – the famed teatime invitations and opening facilities to other visiting scholars being outward expressions of a wider reach than originally intended by Breasted. The ‘back story’ of so many famous researchers, the constant financial struggle, and various interpersonal relationships make for fascinating reading, while a wealth of photographs puts faces to well-known Egyptologists of the pre-war era that are not so familiar to British readers.
Laid out in double-column pages, with copious references and footnotes, the text allows readers to comprehend an almost unique facility. Teeter’s book is highly recommended to anyone with an interest in the history of Egyptology.
Chicago on the Nile: A Century of Work by the Epigraphic Survey of the University of Chicago (ISAC Museum Publications No.2)
by Emily Teeter
Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures Museum Publications, 2024
ISBN 978-1-61491-116-6
Hardback, £45.75
