Meydum, Egypt expedition records

Alan Rowe, born in Hornchurch, Essex, England in 1891 spent his life not only in his homeland but in Australia, Egypt, Palestine and Libya in pursuit of the study of Egyptology. Rowe was introduced to Egypt as a child when he was captivated by the collection of antiquities at the Whitechapel Museum. He was employed initially as a journalist and emigrated to Australia where he volunteered in Museums and gave lectures in history at the University of Adelaide.

Rowe's first field work came as an assistant to C.S.Fisher on the 1922 expedition to Palestine (Beth Shan). Following this experience, Rowe served as the chief archaeological assistant to George Reisner on the joint Harvard-Boston Museum of Fine Art expedition to Giza. While Reisner was away in America, Rowe discovered the tomb of Hetep-heres, a discovery of great import. Rowe continued to work on other sites in Egypt including Meydum for the University of Pennsylvania Museum and the minor site of Gezer. He was appointed curator of the Graeco-Roman Museum in Alexandria where he served from 1940 to 1949. During WWII, Rowe twice reported on the state of the monuments in Cyrenaica to the British War Office in Cairo.

Rowe turned to academia in 1950, working as a special lecturer in Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Manchester until 1952. His last four expeditions were to the tombs and cemeteries in Cyrene.

Rowe published several books and many articles based on his work. Unfortunately, he was unable to find a publisher for his Meydum manuscript, a goal he pursued until 1955.

Alan Rowe, born in Hornchurch, Essex, England in 1891 spent his life not only in his homeland but in Australia, Egypt, Palestine and Libya in pursuit of the study of Egyptology. He excavated with C.S. Fisher at Beth Shan and George Reisner at Giza before serving as Field Director of the University of Pennsylvania Museum Expedition to Meydum, Egypt.

In addition to his expeditions, Rowe lectured in history at the University of Adelaide, Australia and in Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Manchester.

The Meydum, Egypt Expedition records consist of twelve archival boxes plus oversize materials. The majority consist of correspondence, reports, and preparation for publication. The collection is divided into twelve series. In addition to the correspondence, field reports, notebooks and publication materials are financial reoords, various lists and photographs. The group is completed by other graphic materials such as plans, maps and squeezes.

The records had been reviewed and box lists made prior to processing. The order of the records was largely maintained with re-organization of some of the correspondence and publication records needed for clarity. For example, many of the communications with Museum Director Horace Jayne were interspersed with materials from other series.

Rowe detailed his work in lengthy letters to Horace Jayne and former director Battiscombe Gunn, in field notebooks and diaries. He wrote often to his researchers to obtain information about translations, grafitti and coins. The materials are rich in information. He maintained typed copies of much of the research findings for publication purposes. Additional communications with Battiscombe Gunn are found in the publications series.

Rowe displayed his photographs in three hardback albums with a corresponding register and indexes by year. The large groups of plans and maps reflect Rowe's prganization by publication volume, topography, location, structure and/or type of find.

Publication Information: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives, 7/25/2016

Finding Aid Author:

Use Restrictions:

Form(s)/Genre(s)

• Card catalogs
• Diaries
• Manuscripts for publication
• Maps
• Photographs

Geographic Name(s)

• Egypt

Personal Name(s)

• Cerny, Jaroslav, 1898-1970
• Crum, W.E. (Walter Ewing), 1865-1944
• FitzGerald, Gerald Milnes, 1882-1978
• Gunn, Battiscombe G., 1883-1950
• Jayne, Horace Howard Furness, 1898-1975
• Moss, Rosalind L.B., 1890-1990
• Reisner, George Andrew, 1867-1942
• Rowe, Alan, 1892-1968

Subject(s)

• Archaeology--Burials
• Plans and drawings