Egyptology & Nile travel in the so-called 'Golden Age' of archaeology in Egypt, recorded in the diaries of Mrs. Emma B. Andrews between 1889-1913.
Welcome to the Emma B. Andrews Diary Project!
Our team is lead by Dr. Sarah Ketchley of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization at the University of Washington, with collaborative contributions from our fantastic student interns. Sarah’s research focuses on Nile travel in the so-called ‘Golden Age’ of Egyptology at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, begi
06/19/2025
"Here, as everywhere else, great numbers of Arabs were busy excavating, digging into the great mounds of brick and rubbish, which had filled and overflowed the temple enclosure and walls." Emma B. Andrews, February 24th, 1902
06/10/2025
"What a spectacle we have presented today! The men turned out on the sand this morning all their wet clothes and blankets - hung about the boat our wet rugs and cushions, and we had the look of a much bedraggled carpet bazaar." Emma B. Andrews, January 6th, 1893
06/05/2025
"We heard the sweet warbling of the crested lark about us - and dozens of the pretty things were flying about the rocks - and numbers of strange little birds with brown and gray plumage and red bills were so tame they would hardly move out of the path before us."
Emma B. Andrews, January 21st, 1890
09/25/2024
Our Project Director, Dr Sarah Ketchley, is giving a talk at 7pm PT tomorrow (9/26), co-hosted by the ARCE-Oregon Chapter, American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) - Northwest Chapter and ARCE- American Research Center in Egypt Vancouver Chapter
It's free and online! Register here https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMld-Cvpz4rHtc65nZ250iCntns74FhcfSC #/registration
01/30/2024
"I was glad to see the garden, and Mary delighted to pick oranges and lemons for herself. I have never seen such magnificent lemons - and the oranges were very large and sweet, and we brought away two baskets filled with them...We got too, some huge stalks of Pampas grass - and some trailing branches of the Loofa - a cucurbitous plant, the fruit producing the fibrous sponges know so well in commerce." Emma B. Andrews, January 30th, 1890, Erment
01/25/2024
We're hard at work here at the University of Washington finalizing an updated website for our project work! We're excited to provide a new resource that will aggregate the research we've been doing for the past decade. We'll be releasing new databases, including searchable Thomas Cook & Sons passenger lists, and an immersive online reader for the diaries written by Emma B. Andrews.
We're hoping to find a few volunteers to review the updates and provide feedback on the user experience - please email [email protected] if you might be interested! We'll be scheduling Zoom conversations in 3-4 weeks' time.
And if you're on Instagram, please follow our page!
01/25/2024
"The downward progress of a dahabeah on the river is a most absurd and humiliating one. Unless when rowed, or the unusual south wind fills the sail, the boat drifts, apparently helpless - and we have been amused and exasperated today to see the Nubia almost putting her nose into the mud bank on one side, then backing with her stern into the opposite shore, or going stern first down the river, or standing foolishly across it! and the points of the compass become hopelessly confused in your mind..."
Emma B. Andrews, January 25th, 1890