Artefacts of Excavation

Amelia Edwards (1831-1892) was arguably the most instrumental person in the establishment and promotion of Egyptology and in particular British excavations in Egypt in the late 19th century. She helped to establish both the Egypt Exploration Fund (now Egypt Exploration Society) and the UK's first Chair in Egyptian Archaeology and Philology through a bequest in her will. She collected Egyptian material both from her travels in Egypt and through her vast network of contacts, including from excavations led by Naville and Petrie. 

An accomplished authoress both as a novelist and a journalist, she used her literary skills to promote and popularize Ancient Egypt, notably in the best-selling book, A thousand miles up the Nile (1877), an account of the archaeological remains in Egypt, as well as Egypt in the late 19th century. However, she also stoked interest in Egypt by authoring hundreds of articles on the subject in specialist and main-stream publications. Edwards promoted Egyptology and British excavations by lecturing extensively in the UK and in America. Some of her personal papers are held in the Griffith Institute, University of Oxford and in Sommerville College, University of Oxford.