Septuagenarian Archaeology

AbstractThis chapter describes Egypt through the eyes of aspiring Egyptology and MFA assistant curator Betty Eaton, who traveled to Egypt for the first time. Pierre Lacau was succeeded by Etienne Drioton as head of the Antiquities Service. Reisner kept new MFA director Harold Edgell informed, particularly about negotiations for an Anglo-Egyptian peace treaty. Edgell in turn negotiated with Harvard to grant Reisner an honorary degree at commencement. Joseph and Corinna Lindon Smith continued their visits to Egypt, and Smith enjoyed annual exhibitions of his work at Harvard Camp. In March 1937 they visited Quft, the hometown of most of the workmen. The HU–MFA Expedition pared back due to Depression-era budget cuts. Reisner’s volume on tomb development appeared, as he continued writing chapters for his magnum opus on the Giza Necropolis. One new addition was Russian draftsman Nicholas Melnikoff. In addition, he had Hansmartin Handrick, Alexander Floroff, William Stevenson Smith, Evelyn Perkins, and the sons of reis Said Ahmed, Mohamed and Mahmud Said. He also participated in an international conference in Cairo on excavations. In Boston Dows Dunham prepared for a future without George Reisner in the field, wondering how to deal with the backlog of shipped artifacts, the publications obligations, and the general lack of space. The chapter ends with the surprise seventieth birthday party for Reisner at Harvard Camp, which included the gift of a repeater watch, whose bells allowed him to discern the time, day or night, despite his blindness.