Excavating Ancient Egypt: Fifty Years of Archaeological Memories
By (author) Jeffrey Spencer
Paperback (Published)
(November 2025)
ISBN: 9781805831273
6.85 x 9.65 inches
Price: $42.00
In stock
This book shares discoveries and experiences from 50 years of archaeological fieldwork in Egypt. It offers a behind-the-scenes look at excavation life, key finds, and village culture, blending personal anecdotes with insights into Egypt’s history and the realities of field archaeology.
This book is an account of the discoveries, experiences and anecdotes from a half century of archaeological fieldwork in Egypt. As an alternative to the exclusively academic reports of excavations, it describes the background to operating an archaeological project, with the day-to-day preoccupations of administration, acquisition of equipment and provisions, organizing transport and arranging accommodation. The inclusion of these topics provides a wider view of what is involved in excavating in Egypt. The story begins with experiences as a student on an excavation in the 1970s, then illustrates the transition to directing projects, including a ten-year programme of fieldwork in Middle Egypt followed by a longer period in the Nile Delta. Mention of the key discoveries made over the years shows how evidence is recovered from the ground, with all the associated problems and procedures, to assemble new insight into the history of a site. Living in a small rural village for months and interacting with the local population reveals much about the nature of village life in the Nile Delta and the hospitality of the people, giving insight into the local culture.
Preface
Introduction
1. Beginnings at Saqqara
2. Townsite excavation at El-Ashmunein
3. In the Nile Delta
4. Out and about in Lower Egypt for the Delta Survey
5. Back to Basics
6. Dig-camps and village lodgings
7. Sharing Results: Delta workshops
,
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1. Beginnings at Saqqara
Chapter 2. Townsite excavation at El-Ashmunein
Chapter 3. In the Nile Delta
Chapter 4. Out and about in Lower Egypt for the Delta Survey
Chapter 5. Back to Basics
Chapter 6. Dig-camps and village lodgings
Chapter 7. Sharing Results: Delta workshops
Chapter 8. Five decades of change
- By (author) Jeffrey Spencer
Other Titles in this Series
A History of the Congress of Roman Frontier Studies 1949-2022
A Retrospective to mark the 25th Congress in Nijmegen
Aleksei P. Okladnikov: The Great Explorer of the Past. Volume I
A biography of a Soviet archaeologist (1900s - 1950s)
Well Met! Friends and Travelling Companions of Rev. Thomas Bowles
Journals of Travels in Egypt, Petra and the Near East, 1854
Lost Worlds of Ancient and Modern Greece
Gilbert Bagnani: The Adventures of a Young Italo-Canadian Archaeologist in Greece, 1921-1924
Aleksei P. Okladnikov: The Great Explorer of the Past. Volume 2
A biography of a Soviet archaeologist (1960s – 1980s)
Connecting the Dots: Counting, Writing, and the Beginnings of Civilization
The Secret Lives of Clay Tokens: A Memoir
Similar Books
Ancient Egypt in 50 Discoveries
Highlights from the first century of the Egypt Exploration Society
Volume 8
Archaeological Discoveries at the Temple of Ramesses II in Abydos
Vol. 1: Magazines, Animal Burials, and Miscellanea
Current Research in Egyptology 2024
Proceedings of the Twenty-Fourth Annual Symposium, Jointly Organised by the University of Liverpool, Swansea University, University of Birmingham, University of Oxford, and University of Wales Trinity Saint David, 2–6 September 2024
From Egypt to the Levant and Beyond
African Individuals and Groupsain Cuneiform Texts from the Late Bronze Age
Volume 133
Kom al-Ahmer — Kom Wasit III
The Archaeology of Two Ptolemaic Districts in the Western Nile Delta, Egypt
Language, Semantics, and Cognition in Ancient Egypt and Beyond
Proceedings of the International Conference, Yale University, April 16-18, 2021
Volume 14
Mortals, Deities and Divine Symbols: Rethinking Ancient Images from the Levant to Mesopotamia
Studies Offered to Tallay Ornan
Outward Appearance versus Inward Significance
Addressing Identities through Attire in the Ancient World
Volume 15
Sacredness at Deir El-Medina
Proceedings of the International Conference Florence, Italy 14-15 March 2024
Volume 7
The Village Gymnasium at Philoteris/Watfa in the Fayum
In Collaboration with Rita Hartmann. With Contributions by Cäcilia Fluck, Mary F. Ownby and Daniela Rosenow
Volume 10
Die Schlangensprüche als älteste semitische Textbelege?
Analyse und kritische Betrachtung von Richard C. Steiners „Early Northwest Semitic Serpent Spells in the Pyramid Texts“
Volume 140
Esna VII – Übersetzung
Die Inschriften der Außenwände des Pronaos von Esna. Esna-Studien V
Volume 46
Katalog der Berufstermini der Frauen in Ägypten im Spiegel dokumentarischer Papyri und Ostraka
Alter Orient und Altes Testament, Band 480.2
Volume 480.2
Transzendentales Ägypten
Jenseits, Himmel, Hölle und das Ende in antik-ägyptischen Diskursen
Volume 14
A Master of Secrets in the Chamber of Darkness
Egyptological Studies in Honor of Robert K. Ritner Presented on the Occasion of His Sixty-Eighth Birthday
Volume 3
A View from the Herd
Cattle, Sheep, Goats, and Pigs in Pharaonic Egypt: A Primer for Egyptologists and Archaeologists
Volume 5

La lustration des offrandes (sfsf 3w(.t))