Main entry:

Usick, Patricia.

Title & Author:

Adventures in Egypt and Nubia : the travels of William John Bankes (1786-1855) / Patricia Usick.

Publication:

London : British Museum Press, 2002.

Description:

224 pages : illustrations (some color), maps, portraits (some color) ; 26 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Prologue -- The unexpected heir : trifling and study -- The pyramids in sight : Alexandria, Cairo, and Sinai -- Calm, heat, and crocodiles : the first Nubian voyage -- Ruins, inscriptions, and semiramis : Syria, Greece, and Asia Minor -- The traveller who leaves nothing unexplored : Jerusalem, Petra, and the Dead Sea -- The secret of the obelisk : return to Egypt -- The Nubian explorer : Dabod to Quban -- Vestiges of antiquity : Wadi es-Sebua to the Second Cataract -- Robbery and obstruction : the end of the journey -- Return to Europe : projects and plagiarism -- The Meroe Expedition and the outlaw -- A collection and a legacy -- Chronology.

Summary:

"Adventures in Egypt and Nubia tells the story of the pioneer Egyptologist William John Bankes (1786-l855). A brilliant and volatile man, Bankes was the unexpected heir of the Kingston Lacy estate in Dorset, whose passion for exploration and discovery was surpassed only by his energy in investigating and recording." "Handsome, rich, and confident, Bankes studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he met Byron who became a lifelong friend, before setting out on the Grand Tour. A period spent in Spain and Portugal was followed by travels in the Near East, where a chance encounter with the Swiss explorer J. L. Burckhardt would inspire Bankes with a desire for serious archaeological research, far beyond the more leisurely pursuits of the average gentleman-traveller." "During the years 1815-19 Bankes criss-crossed Egypt and the Near East amassing a vast portfolio of notes and manuscripts, as well as drawings by his own hand and the artists who accompanied him on his novels. The accuracy and detail of Bankes's collection makes it an invaluable record of ancient monuments now lost or damaged. His extraordinary discoveries were a revelation to contemporary scholars and proved instrumental in the race to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics."--BOOK JACKET.

ISBN:

0714118036
9780714118031

Subject:

Bankes, William John, 1786-1855 Travel Nubia.
Bankes, William John, 1786-1855 Travel Egypt.
Bankes, William John, 1786-1855
Bankes, William John 1786-1855
Bankes, William John.
Egyptology Great Britain.
Égyptologie Grande-Bretagne.
Egyptology.
Travel.
Egyptologie.
Africa Nubia.
Egypt.
Great Britain.
Ägypten

Form/genre:

Reisebericht 1815-1819.
History.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 228242
Call No.: DT53 .U85 2002
Status: Available