Ahmed Kamāl ( ar, أحمد كمال, July 29, 1849 – August 5, 1923, also known as Ahmed Kamal Bey (Pasha)) was

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

’s first

Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...

and pioneer in his own country. Kamal was of Turkish origin.

Research

He trained under the German

Heinrich Brugsch Heinrich Karl Brugsch (also ''Brugsch-Pasha'') (18 February 18279 September 1894) was a German Egyptologist. He was associated with Auguste Mariette in his excavations at Memphis. He became director of the School of Egyptology at Cairo, producin ...

. He was a curator at the

Egyptian Museum The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum or the Cairo Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display a ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

and a staff member of the

Supreme Council of Antiquities The Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) was a department of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture from 1994 to 2011. It was the government body responsible for the conservation, protection and regulation of all antiquities and archaeological excavatio ...

. He was jointly responsible for the Egyptian collections’ classification and significantly involved in the museum's removal from both

Boulaq Boulaq ( ar, بولاق, Būlāq from "guard, customs post"), is a district of Cairo, in Egypt. It neighbours Downtown Cairo, Azbakeya, and the River Nile. History The westward shift of the Nile, especially between 1050 and 1350, made land ava ...

Giza Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah'' arz, الجيزة ' ) is the second-largest city in Egypt after Cairo and fourth-largest city in Africa after Kinshasa, Lagos and Cairo. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 9.2 ...

and Giza to the

Tahrir Square Tahrir Square ( ar, ميدان التحرير ', , English language, English: Liberation Square), also known as "Martyr Square", is a major public town square in downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square has been the location and focus for political dem ...

at Cairo's city center. He took part in several excavations at Dayr al-Barsha, Gabal at-Tayr, Tihna el-Gebel, Gamhud,

Atfih Atfih ( ar, أطفيح ' , ''Tpeh or Tpēh'') is a town in Middle Egypt. It was part of the now defunct Helwan Governorate from April 2008 to April 2011, after which it was reincorporated into the Giza Governorate. As of 2001, it has a pop ...

Mayr Mayr is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Andrea Mayr (born 1979), Austrian female long-distance runner * Ernst Mayr (1904–2005), German American evolutionary biologist * Georg Mayr (1564–1623), Bavarian Jesuit pri ...

, El-Sheikh Sa'id,

Asyut AsyutAlso spelled ''Assiout'' or ''Assiut'' ( ar, أسيوط ' , from ' ) is the capital of the modern Asyut Governorate in Egypt. It was built close to the ancient city of the same name, which is situated nearby. The modern city is located at , ...

Dara Dara is a given name used for both males and females, with more than one origin. Dara is found in the Bible's Old Testament Books of Chronicles. Dara �רעwas a descendant of Judah (son of Jacob). (The Bible. 1 Chronicles 2:6). Dara (also known ...

Amarna Amarna (; ar, العمارنة, al-ʿamārnah) is an extensive Egyptian archaeological site containing the remains of what was the capital city of the late Eighteenth Dynasty. The city was established in 1346 BC, built at the direction of the Ph ...

as well as in the

Nile Valley The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest rive ...

. In Dara, he discovered the only known attestation of pharaoh Khui.

Important publications

* Kamal, Ahmed, ''Stèles ptolémaiques et romaines'', two volumes, Le Caire, 1904–1905, (Catalogue général des antiquités égyptiennes du Musée du Caire). * Kamal, Ahmed, ''Tables d'offrandes'', two volumes, Le Caire, 1906, 1909, (Catalogue général des antiquités égyptiennes du Musée du Caire). *

References

* Abou-Ghazi, Dia', ''Ahmed Kamal. 1849–1923'', Annales du Service des Antiquités de l'Égypte, volume 64 (1981), pp. 1 – 5, portrait plate. * Dawson, Warren R. ; Uphill, Eric P. ; Bierbrier, M. L., ''Who was who in Egyptology'', London : The Egypt Exploration Society, 1995 (3rd edition), p. 224. 1849 births 1923 deaths Egyptian people of Turkish descent Egyptian Egyptologists {{Egyptologist-stub