Day 1

Tuesday 19 November 2024

Dr. Zahi Hawass, Former Minister of Antiquities in Egypt, opened the conference with a stirring speech about how he came to archaeology thanks to an inspiring encounter with Reis Daktor from Quft. This was followed by a full day of presentations dedicated to the work of Egyptian archaeological technicians and foremen from Quft, beginning with the origins of their excavation craft in the 1890s up to the present day. These included opening presentations by the conference co-organizers, Marleen De Meyer (NVIC) and Wendy Doyon (EUME).

The full program is available in English and Arabic, as is the abstract booklet.

Photos by Yusef Mahfuz Imbarak, Wendy Doyon, and Marleen De Meyer

Coffee Breaks & Registration Day 1

Opening

Session 1: Who Was Who in Quft? (I)

Exciting new research and archival interventions from Fatma Keshk (IFAO/AUC), Youssef Abdel Aziz (AUC), Brendan Haug (Michigan), Neal Spencer (Cambridge), Joanne Rowland (Edinburgh), and Stephanie Boonstra (EES)

Lunch Day 1

Session 2: The Arabic Excavation Archive from Quft

This session was dedicated to the preliminary results of work on a unique collection of Arabic excavation diaries written by Egyptian foremen (ruyasa) from Quft in the first half of the 20th century, presented by Peter Der Manuelian (Harvard), Wendy Doyon (EUME), Liesbeth Zack (Amsterdam), Mostafa Tolba (FU Berlin), Aya Ibrahim (CU), Noha Mostafa (NVIC), and Marleen De Meyer (NVIC). More information about this project can be found here.

Keynote & Reception at the Embassy of the Netherlands

The first day ended with an excellent and vital keynote lecture by Hany Rashwan, Professor of Arabic Language and Literature at United Arab Emirates University and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham. Participants then made their way to the nearby gardens of the Embassy of the Netherlands for a lovely reception and dinner, enjoying good food, music, and a spontaneous round of Upper Egyptian tahtib stick-dancing.