Mediterraneo Antico - 03 - 2015

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Since 2012 you are Director of the Egypt Exploration Society (founded in 1882 by Amelia Edwards and Reginald
Pool with the name of “Egypt Exploration Fund”), one of the most important and prestigious societies operat-
ing in Egypt and broadcasting this ancient culture all over the world. How did you feel during the designation
moment, and how do you live now this high responsability position?
I was very, very pleased and honoured to be offered the job of course. I thought that I had a strong chance, as I
had been Deputy Director for several years before that and had already helped to shape the organisation and by
extension the role of Director. But I was very nervous of course, and I was relieved when I heard the news as hav-
ing been Deputy for all those years I think I would have felt that I would have had to leave the Society if I hadn’t
been made Director, and as I hadn’t been awarded my PhD at that point I’m not sure what I would have done
as I would not have been eligible for most other Egyptology jobs. Perhaps I would have gone back to working
in a bar! I do feel a great responsibility and sometimes that brings with it a little bit of stress but, I am lucky to
have a really wonderful team around me – of staff (London and Cairo), volunteers, Trustees, Field Directors etc.
Things are going well at the moment thanks to their efforts and it really takes a lot of pressure off me knowing
that I have such a good group of people carrying out the Society’s activities.
The EES holds digging fields in many archaeological areas in Egypt (click on the following link
) Which of these projects do you feel more as “yours”? What are the EES future
projects?
None of the Society’s projects are really ‘mine’ more than any others, my ‘archaeological home’ in Egypt is really
with the Italian mission in el-Asasif! As for the future, one of the most important pieces of work we have done at
the EES in recent years is to change the way that we support fieldwork so as to offer small grants for research
every year, to a much wider range of projects than were able to support previoulsy. This means that we are now
able to reachmore sites, cover more themes and involve more people, and I’m really excited about that. We are
currently advertsising new grants and I’m very excited to see which new projects apply for funds – it’s great to
think that we will be able to support work at a new group of sites next year.
England has given extraordinary men and women to archaeology and Egyptology. Is there, among those
names, one in particular you feel really close to you or from which you got particular inspiration?
Well Flinders Petrie is obviously an inspirational figure for having covered so much ground, contributed so
much to our understanding of ancient Egypt, and invented so many new ways to do archaeology in Egypt
– thanks to his enormous energy and creative genius. But I think my favourite character from Britain’s ar-
chaeological history in Egypt is John Pendlebury. He was field director of the EES excavations at Amarna in
the 1930s - a very exciting project which he directed very capably but more than that he was also a brilliant
communicator and showman, and a real romantic. He really loved ancient Egypt and wanted other people
to share his sense of love and romantic notion of the desert evoking a glorious ancient past. He was a sto-
ryteller, with a keen desire to connect with the public; he was perfect for the EES which could only survive
thanks the support of ordinary members of the public, and a real inspiration to me in that sense too.
Is there any archaeological find from Egypt that reminds you the Pharaos land more than others?
The object that springs to mind first is the figured ostracon in the FitzwilliamMuseum in Cambridge with a draw-
ing of an unshaven man. It’s Egyptian yes but it’s also so *human* it reminds me that the Egyptians just like you
and me and objects like that make me feel closer to the Egyptians which is a wonderful and exciting feeling. One
more story: I was lucky enough to visit KV 63 just after it had been discovered and before any of the objects had
been moved. This was in fact not much more than a storeroom of coffins, jars and embalming equipment but
everything was found exactly in place as it had been when it was placed there, probably during the Eighteenth
Dynasty. I was very blasé when we entered the ‘tomb’ but when I saw the objects I suddenly felt very shy, as if I
couldn’t get too close. A colleague even said to me ‘you can go closer if you like’. I realized afterwads that I was
nervous because it felt like I was in the presence of a famous person, someone I knew very well, whose face I knew
very well, but had never seen in person before. This wasn’t a person as such, but it was ancient Egypt, it was as
if I felt as though almost there in the place – and time – that I had spent so many years thinking about. It was
really magical, one of the best experience of my life.