"The first consideration on reaching Egypt was where to be housed. In those days there was no luxurious close to the ; if any one needed to live there, they must either live in a tomb or in the Arab village. As an English engineer had left a tomb fitted with door and shutters I was glad to get such accommodation. When I say a tomb, it must be understood to be the upper chamber where the Egyptian fed his ancestors with offerings, not the actual sepulchre. And I had three rooms, which had belonged to separate tombs originally ; the thin walls of rock which the economical Egyptian left between his cuttings, had been broken away, and so I had a doorway in the middle into my living-room, a window on one side for my bedroom, and another window opposite for a store-room. I resided here for a great part of two years; and often when in draughty houses, or chilly tents, I have wished myself back in my tomb. No place is so equable in heat and cold, as a room cut out in solid rock ; it seems as good as a fire in cold weather, and deliciously cool in the heat."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Academics from EnglandArchaeologists from EnglandFellows of the Royal SocietyNon-fiction authors from EnglandFellows of the British Academy
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
(1st edition 1892)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Flinders_Petrie
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Flinders Petrie
(or Sir Flinders Petrie) , (3 June 1853 – 28 July 1942) was a British and a famous pioneer of systematic methods in archaeology and the preservation of . He is sometimes called the "father of Egyptian archaeology". He was knighted in July 1923.
8 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Flinders Petrie →
Related Quotes
"In 1893-1894 I went to to search for remains of the dynastic race, which presumably had entered Egypt at that point f…"
"In few kinds of work are the results so directly dependent on the personality of the worker as they are in excavating…"
"To the Egyptian the gods might be mortal; even , the sun-god, is said to have grown old and feeble, was slain, and , …"
"From the ' diggers, I secured a lot of seventy-five Attic s in perfect condition, which served to show the accuracy o…"
"He found archaeology in Egypt a treasure hunt; he left it a science."
"Flinders Petrie had no school or university training. His mother was the only child of , a naval officer who served u…"
"In 1880 … Petrie set out on an expedition to Egypt long contemplated and prepared for, but delayed in the fruitless h…"
"The more I thought about it, the more obsessed I became with the idea of a swimming journey. I started to dream ever …"
"From water level, I observed the mating joined in flight like refuelling aircraft, and the random progress of the clo…"
"It is through trees that we see and hear the wind: woodland people can tell the species of a tree from the sound it m…"