Excavations of the Late Roman and Early Byzantine Sites in the Kharga Oasis
The Records of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Excavations of the Late Roman and Early Byzantine Sites in the Kharga Oasis collection comprises administrative paperwork; concession papers; correspondence; field notes; glass plate negatives; large-scale architectural drawings, site plans, and tracings; photographs (attached to boards and loose); and sketches documenting The Met’s excavations of late Roman and early Byzantine sites (primarily the Bagawat necropolis, Ain et-Turba, and later construction at the Temple of Amun at Hibis) in the northern district of the Kharga Oasis.
In 1907, the Antiquities Service of the Egyptian Government granted the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Egyptian Expedition a concession to survey and excavate in the northern district of the Kharga Oasis, located about 400 miles southwest of Cairo and 120 miles west of Thebes. The Kharga concession included multiple sites of interest —the well-known Hibis and Nadura temples and the Bagawat necropolis as well as numerous Roman and Early Byzantine structures. It was this concentration of sites dating to the later periods of Egyptian history that attracted The Met. Writing in the May 1908 Bulletin (vol. 3, no. 5), Albert M. Lythgoe (1868–1934), The Met’s first curator of Egyptian art and director of the Egyptian Expedition, stated that the concession was sought "in order to take advantage of the favorable conditions…for the investigation of the remains of the later period—Greco-Roman and Early Christian" (p. 84).
Click here to view the finding aid for the collection. Some material is not yet available online.
Series III: Photographs 1907-1932
[not yet available; digitization in progress]
Series IV: Oversize Materials 1907-1932
[not yet available]
Form of citation:
[Title of item], [date of item], Box [number], Folder [number], Records of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Excavations of the Late Roman and Early Byzantine Sites in the Kharga Oasis, The Metropolitan Museum Department of Medieval Art.
For the digital versions of items in the archive, add the collection URL: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/libraries-and-research-centers/watson-digital-collections-zodiac/manuscript-collections/excavations-of-the-late-roman-and-early-byzantine-sites-in-the-kharga-oasis.
At top: Bagawat: Tomb Chapel LXVI, 1907-08.