“Antiquities Inspection Tours to Upper Egypt and the Archive of Eduard Toda” Exhibition

28 May 2023 - 05 June 2023

Alexandria, Egypt, Egypt

Bibliotheca Alexandrina Conference Center, West Exhibition Hall

The Antiquities Museum affiliated to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Cultural Sector, in collaboration with the Embassy of Spain in Cairo, organizes an exhibition entitled “Antiquities Inspection Tours to Upper Egypt and the Archive of Eduard Toda”, from 28 May to 5 June 2023, at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Conference Center, West Exhibition Hall.

The Exhibition will present a collection of photographs collected by Eduard Toda y Güell (1852–1941), who worked as the Spanish Vice-Consul in Cairo during 1884–1886. The selected photographs are the masterpieces of Toda’s Collection; they present information about the methods used by the Egyptian Antiquities Authority in the field of archaeological documentation during the nineteenth century, specifically in the context of annual inspection tours to Upper Egypt.

The event begins at 12:00 noon with two lectures: the first lecture is entitled “The Archive of Eduard Toda and the Inspection Tours of Antiquities in the 19th Century” by Dr. Miguel Ángel Molinero and Dr. Andrea Rodriguez Valls from La Laguna University, Spain. They will introduce the Archive of Eduard Toda, and how its contents allowed us to reconstruct the way the Antiquities Authority worked in its inspection tours to Upper Egypt, during the 19th century. The second lecture is entitled “Sennedjem: The Life and Memories of a Great Artisan” by Dr. Maysara Abdullah Hussein from the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo. This lecture will tackle some aspects of the social life in Egypt through the archaeological findings of one of the most magnificent tombs in western Thebes (Luxor); the tomb of “Sennedjem”, an ancient Egyptian artisan, who lived during the reigns of the two kings “Seti I” and “Ramses II”. The two lectures will be followed by the opening of the Exhibition at 2:00 pm.

It is worth mentioning that Egyptology is one of the main pillars of the Spanish–Egyptian diplomatic relations and scientific cooperation. Twelve Spanish archaeological missions are currently performing their work in Egypt, in cooperation with researchers and officials from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.