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Adventures in Egypt and Nubia: The Travels of William John Bankes
William John Bankes (1786-1855) was a brilliant and remarkable man. In 1812 he went to Spain and Portugal to pursue a Bohemian lifestyle among the gypsies. This was followed by travels in the Near East. Bankes amassed a vast portfolio of notes, manuscripts and drawings by the artists who accompanied him on his Egyptian travels. Their extremely high degree of accuracy makes them a very valuable record of the ancient monuments, many of which have since been damaged or lost. His intuitive detective work and the many copies of hieroglyphic inscriptions he accumulated were instrumental in the struggle to decipher hieroglyphs. This book tells Bankes' story, describing his travels in detail and assessing his contribution to Egyptology.
- GenresTravel
224 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2002
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March 15, 2024
William John Bankes (1786-1855) was educated in Trinity College, Cambridge, where Lord Byron was a fellow student, who was to become Bankes’s lifelong friend. Bankes developed an interest in the history of the Near East, with an emphasis on Egypt. The general interest in Egypt had been catalysed by the Napoleonic invasion of Egypt at the end of the eighteenth century and the following 'exvasion' of numerous antiquities. Bankes went on several expeditions in Egypt, reaching as far as the second cataract, i.e. beyond the current Sudan border. In between two Egypt-travels he explored places like Jerusalem and Petra (now in Jordan).
So Bankes barely got further than the second cataract of the Nile. This was mainly due to opposition from local authorities or tribal leaders and sheikhs. The whole route so far must have been an El Dorado for him, every few kilometers he came across temples, obelisks, burial places etc. that were partially covered in sand. Overall his Near East travels and activities he made a great contribution to archeology and Egyptology, of which he was one the pioniers. The extremely precise copying of all kinds of inscriptions and the drawings and paintings he and his companions made in situ proofed worthful material. Gradually, all that material and what he wrote in his journals for explanation have become of increasing historical importance, especially due to looting and use of temple stones for buildings in the nineteenth century - many ancient buildings simply collapsed. And in the last century, the Egyptian government was not very careful, at least in its weighing of interests, it gave priority to economic progress or irrigation of fertile land at the expense of flooded temples. UNESCO had to carry out several fairly rigorous rescue operations, during which various buildings were sawn into pieces and rebuilt elsewhere, higher up, like the one at Abu Simbel.
Patricia Usick, with this book, has written a fine and accurate report of the travels of William John Banks, his family affairs and much more.
The author received a PhD in 1998 for her thesis on Bankes’s portfolio of manuscripts and drawings. She is secretary of ASTENE, the Association for the Study of Travel in Egypt and the Near East, and works on the archives of the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum. Se has published a number of articles on Bankes and other early travellers to Egypt. Information of 2002. JM
So Bankes barely got further than the second cataract of the Nile. This was mainly due to opposition from local authorities or tribal leaders and sheikhs. The whole route so far must have been an El Dorado for him, every few kilometers he came across temples, obelisks, burial places etc. that were partially covered in sand. Overall his Near East travels and activities he made a great contribution to archeology and Egyptology, of which he was one the pioniers. The extremely precise copying of all kinds of inscriptions and the drawings and paintings he and his companions made in situ proofed worthful material. Gradually, all that material and what he wrote in his journals for explanation have become of increasing historical importance, especially due to looting and use of temple stones for buildings in the nineteenth century - many ancient buildings simply collapsed. And in the last century, the Egyptian government was not very careful, at least in its weighing of interests, it gave priority to economic progress or irrigation of fertile land at the expense of flooded temples. UNESCO had to carry out several fairly rigorous rescue operations, during which various buildings were sawn into pieces and rebuilt elsewhere, higher up, like the one at Abu Simbel.
Patricia Usick, with this book, has written a fine and accurate report of the travels of William John Banks, his family affairs and much more.
The author received a PhD in 1998 for her thesis on Bankes’s portfolio of manuscripts and drawings. She is secretary of ASTENE, the Association for the Study of Travel in Egypt and the Near East, and works on the archives of the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum. Se has published a number of articles on Bankes and other early travellers to Egypt. Information of 2002. JM
Displaying 1 of 1 review