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Ägypten durch die Augen von Ahmed Fakhry - Egypt through the eyes of Ahmed Fakhry - مصر بعيون أحمد فخري

im DAIK Archiv - in the DAIK archives - في أرشيف المعهد الألماني للآثار بالقاهرة

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erste Ausgrabungen – first excavation work –حفائره الأولي : Giza 1932-1933

“L’intérieur des tombeaux était presque entièrement rempli de sable et de debris; à la lumière d’une bougie, je copiai les textes visible et fis un croquis des plans. […]. Le Service des Antiquités, voyant l’importance de la découverte, consacra une somme de L.E. 10 à déblayer les tombes. Comme Hakim Eff. était très occupé et n’avait pas le temps nécessaire pour surveiller un chantier, je fus chargé de ce travail par le Service.”

A. Fakhry, Sept tombeaux à l’Est de la Grande Pyramide de Guizeh, 1935, p. 2.

02
Inspektor in Theben, Mittelägypten und Oasen – Inspector in Thebes, Middle Egypt and the Oases – مفتش آثار بطيبة ومصر الوسطي والواحات: 1936-1932 und 1942-1944

"The Theban Necropolis has witnessed recently one of its worst periods of destruction. For six years the mutilators of the tombs carried out secretly their illicit digging and cut out some of the best preserved scenes from the walls."

A. Fakhry, A note on the tomb of Kheruef at Thebes, ASAE 42, 1943, p. 449.

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erste Rettungsmissionen – first rescue missions –مهمات الإنقاذ الأولي : Nubien 1934-1935

“This tomb was known to some […]. No one, however, seems to have had sufficient interest to publish it before the destruction of many walls […]. Most unfortunately, owing to the second heightening of the Aswân dam, it will be flooded this year and consequently ruined." […] "The German Institute in Cairo knowing, after my return from Nubia, of the imminent danger to the tomb, sent Dr. A. Hermann to take all the possible photographs, and he spent a few days at the site. I was glad to meet Dr. Hermann in Luxor before he went to Nubia and to put all my information at his disposal as well as to assist him in his arrangements.” 

A. Fakhry, The tomb of Nakht-Min at Dehmît, ASAE 35, 1935,  p. 52, 61.

04
zurück zum Geburtsort – back to the birthplace – العودة إلي محل الميلاد: Fayyum 1936-1944

“Illicit diggers have left it in a very deplorable condition; and above it there is a break in the rock escarpment through which torrents of rainwater rush down from time to time carrying with them quantities of sand and gravel which cover a great part of the site to a depth of two meters in some places.”

Fakhry, A fortnight’s digging at Medinet Qûta, ASAE 40, 1940, p. 898.

05
die Oasen - the oases -الواحات: Dakhla 1937, 1947 and 1968-1972

“If I have to make any comment I can only add that during the thirty-five years during which I was greatly concerned with the study of the desert antiquities, I had never dreamt that such material would come to light from this remote spot in Dakhla. In any case it is a good example and an instructive lesson for those who want to go out into the desert and excavate its sites. Let us hope that the time has come when the sands of the oases will reveal to us what they kept as their secret for so many centuries.”   

A. Fakhry, The search for texts in the western desert, In S. Sauneron (ed.), Textes et langages de l’Égypte pharaonique: cent cinquante années de recherches 1822–1972. Hommage à Jean-François Champollion, II, 1973, p. 221–222.

06
die Oasen - the oases - الواحات : Kharga 1937-1939 und zwischen 1942 und 1972

“The northern route has practically fallen out of use now owing to the spreading of a series of sand-dunes for fifteen kilometres which make the march very difficult for both men and animals. […]. This pass is a very difficult one, tiresome in both ascent and descent. We all had to dismount and lead our camels, we could only walk in single file and it took us an hour and a half to surmount its difficulty. The southern route (Darb El-Ghûbari) is now used by both caravans and motorcars; it is an excellent one but there is no water between the village of Kharga and Teneida.”

A. Fakhry, A roman temple between Kharga and Dakhla, ASAE  40, 1940, p. 761.

07
die Oasen - the oases - الواحات: Siwa 1938, 1941, 1970-1971

“I am afraid that in a few decades, Siwa will lose many of its customs and so they must be completely recorded and studied before it is too late. In spite of the signs of ‘modernism’, Siwa is a place of great interest, it is a real oasis full of beautiful scenery and romance. It is full of ancient monuments and its history is full of important events because it played an important part formerly and its name was well known all over the ancient world.”

A. Fakhry, Siwa Oasis: its history and antiquities, 1944, p. 20.

“When I compare life in Siwa nowadays with what I saw in the year 1938, I can hardly believe the rapidity of the change which has taken place. The boys and girls who used to play in the streets of the quiet town, wearing their traditional clothes, have disappeared. The great majority are now dressed like the children of other places, such as Marsā Matrūh, or the Egyptian villages. Whenever a Siwan is reminded of a tradition or one of the old customs, he merely smiles and says that this used to happen a long time ago, as if such traditions were a sign of backwardness. Only the elderly people still adhere to ancient customs and speak of them with restricted pride.”

A. Fakhry, The Oases of Egypt, I: Siwa Oasis, 1973, p. 37-38.

08
die Oasen - the oases - الواحات: Bahariya und Farafra 1938-1949

“It was clear to me that here, at Bahrīyah, there was opportunity for pioneer work in the oasis. But aside from archeology I grew to love the people as they are, unsophisticated and unspoilt, with all their faults. Bahrīyah, I decided, would be given the priority in my research work.” 

A. Fakhry, The Oases of Egypt, II: Bahriyah and Farafra Oases, 1974, p. 20.

09
zurück zu den Pyramiden - back to the pyramids - العودة إلي الأهرامات : Dahschur und Saqqara 1951-1955

“When I was appointed in 1951 as Director of the Pyramid Research Project, I realized that there was no pyramid site in Egypt which needed investigation more than Dahshur.”

A. Fakhry, The Pyramids, 1961, p. 76.

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... mit seinen eigenen Worten - in his own words – كلماته الخاصة عن نفسه: Ahmed Fakhry 1905-1973

Blick zum Nil vom Haus Ahmed Fakhrys [?]
Fotograf unbekannt, D-DAI-KAI-A-FAK-050-001-024, © DAI Kairo

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die Ausstellung 2023 - the exhibition 2023 - المعرض 2023