SCRIBE : The Magazine of The American Research Center in Egypt : Fall 2022 | ISSUE 10

Abstract

The Celebrations Continue! E veryone interested in ancient Egypt knows of the events being celebrated this year in Egypt and throughout the world of Egyptology. It is of course the centennial of Howard Carter’s amazing discovery of KV62, the tomb of Tutankhamun, and also the bicentennial of Jean-François Champollion’s demonstration that ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs could once again be read and understood. ARCE has thus continued rolling out its suite of events, bringing the celebrations to fruition! Programs In April, ARCE held its 73rd Annual Meeting in Irvine, California where we celebrated these momentous events with our keynote speaker, the current and 8th Earl of Carnarvon, Lord George Herbert. To further mark the centennial, we kicked-off our national chapter lecture tour in June with Dr. Marc Gabolde, who shared the fascinating story of the fate of several missing artifacts ‘diverted’ away from Tutankhamun’s tomb. The Virtual Annual Meeting also connected researchers and members from around the world, to participate and share their own research findings. Both virtual and in-person lectures were recorded and are all now online, helping more members experience the lectures at their own convenience. A sincere thank you to all the ARCE staff and members who helped make both the virtual and in-person Annual Meeting such a well-organized and successful event. We also have a number of exciting events coming up including the continuation of the Tutankhamun Centennial Chapter Lecture Tour with Dr. Betsy Bryan, who will be travelling to Chicago, Kansas City, North Texas, and Atlanta chapters between September 26th and October 3rd. The special event Transcending Eternity: The Centennial Tutankhamun Conference carried out in partnership with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities will take place in Luxor from November 4th-6th, 2022, and we are honored to continue our partnership with National Geographic through our collaboration with their Beyond King Tut: The Immersive Experience project in providing content and partnership programming. See their advertisement in this issue for a discount code to visit the exhibition and stay tuned to ARCE.org for more information! Fieldwork In Luxor, the renovations of Howard Carter’s house continue thanks to the generous donation by long-time ARCE board member Adina Savin. In this issue of Scribe, ARCE’s Sally El Sabbahy and Nicholas Warner review the fascinating history behind the construction of Carter’s house and its use in the years following the discovery of KV62. In the next issue coming out in early 2023, the team will review the outcome of the conservation efforts and report on the grand re-opening of the house scheduled for November of this year, on the actual centennial of Carter opening the tomb on the 4th of November, 1922. Media Tour In June, ARCE hosted a special media tour to highlight ARCE Antiquities Endowment Fund (AEF) projects, Research Supporting Member projects, and past USAID-funded projects in Cairo. The tour included a visit to the Great Pyramid to see the results of the Ancient Egypt Research Associate’s (AERA) AEF-funded project to record and better-protect Khufu’s Mortuary Temple. The most visible change is the installation of a new access walkway encircling the remains of the temple’s formidable black basalt pavement, which should provide a more secure and less damaging path from which to see the surviving monumental remains. The tour also visited the Fatimid-era Bab Zuwayla gate, one of three surviving entrances that controlled access to the fortified medieval city of Old Cairo, where from 1998-2003, ARCE spearheaded an intense conservation project, with support from USAID and under the supervision of Nairy Hampikian, to remove, restore, and re-install the Bab Zuwayla’s sizable wood and iron doors. The final site visited was the Church of the blessed Virgin Mary, Saint George, and Abu Sefein to see some of the many Coptic icons that that were restored thanks to conservation efforts led by ARCE between 1998-2004. It is so important to revisit these successful projects in conjunction with the media and our colleagues from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. They show just how great an impact the USAID grants, member donations, and endowments funds have ‘in the field’.