Rachel Mairs gives a seminar about Archaeologists and Language in Petrie

Rachel Mairs (University of Reading) will give a seminar jointly organised by the Institute's History of Archaeology Research Network and the UCL Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology on 19 November.

Abstract

This paper explores the engagement - or lack of engagement - of nineteenth and early twentieth century archaeologists in Egypt and Mesopotamia with the Arabic language.  From Flinders Petrie, who believed that anyone who couldn't pick up Arabic simply wasn't trying hard enough, to Max Mallowan, who had to deal with a junior colleague's excuse that he had 'lost his Arabic book', attitudes to language shaped archaeologists' experience of the Middle East - and the local population's experiences of them.

All welcome!

Any enquiries about the event may be directed to Amara Thornton.