Dows Dunham Recollections of an Egyptologist

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Meroë. Excavating at the West Cemetery. 25
Meroe. Excavating at the West Cemetery. The workmen’s huts are at right. place while we were working in the Sudan. A young man who had been recently employed was seen by the older men to pick up a small gold object in the course of the digging and secrete it in his clothing. The older men promptly took it away from him and then reported to Reisner, saying “This new boy has been caught stealing from the ‘Company’ (as they called the expedition). What is your pleasure?” Reisner simply asked to which family the boy belonged, and when they told him, he said, “This is your affair. You decide what to do.” The next day the boy was discharged by his own family and given a railroad ticket back to the village, which was a four-day journey from the camp. The elders of his family sent a telegram to the village, saying that the boy had been discharged for stealing from the expedition. When he got home, he was completely ostracized - no one would speak to him or give him anything to eat - and presently he went out into the desert and killed himself. This was certainly drastic action, but it was undertaken by the boy’s own people. There is little wonder that under this system theft by our regular men was unknown. While we were in the Sudan, we employed local people for the heavier dirt lifting. The expedition never allowed these men to take part in the laying bare of valuable finds and as far as possible kept them away when there was a likelihood of important objects being discovered. The clearing of tombs likely to yield objects of value was done solely by our trained Qufti workers and by ourselves, for there was always the chance that, with a large body of local people about, their cupidity might get the better of them. I recall one example of such a situation while we were excavating the great West Cemetery at Meroe in the winter of 1923. One day I was surveying the site, with a couple of local boys as helpers. Several small groups of our Egyptian diggers were working on tombs in scattered places nearby. Presently Said Ahmed walked over to me and said in Arabic “We have found some lemon peel.” I looked at him in surprise and received from him a very definite wink. He then walked away without another word, looking back at me over his shoulder. I realized that something was up, and making one more entry in the survey book, I dismissed my helpers, saying that would be all for the day. 26
Page 1 and 2: Recollections of an Egyptologist Do
Page 3 and 4: Recollections of an Egyptologist DO
Page 5 and 6: To the memory of William Stevenson
Page 7 and 8: Preface These reminiscences of the
Page 9 and 10: than with Reisner. On the basis of
Page 11 and 12: Harvard Camp, 1914 In the spring of
Page 13 and 14: Riding at the pyramids. Giza, West
Page 15 and 16: Said Ahmed and son. Gammai Toward t
Page 18 and 19: Gebel Barkal. The Great Temple of A
Page 20 and 21: Excavating in the Sudan During my f
Page 22 and 23: Pyramids at Nuri, looking northwest
Page 26 and 27: Meroe. Deposit of the queen's jewel
Page 28 and 29: was working at Naga-ed-Dêr; it wel
Page 30 and 31: country police, without uniforms bu
Page 32 and 33: just sit on this box, I will explai
Page 34 and 35: the complete skeleton of any partic
Page 36 and 37: time being. Poor Mrs. Steindorff wa
Page 38 and 39: as to continuing the Harvard-Boston
Page 41 and 42: Kerma, the western Defufa. post at
Page 43 and 44: several days in Arkell’s house wh
Page 46 and 47: The Egyptian Department, Gallery E7
Page 48 and 49: Bronze aegis. Ca. Dynasty 22. 31.19
Page 50 and 51: a voice said “Tiens, il y a quelq
Page 52 and 53: We used to get a number of callers
Page 54: The visitor and I parted presently

Dows Dunham Recollections of an Egyptologist

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