Iorwerth Eiddon Stephen Edwards, (21 July 1909 – 24 September 1996) — known as I. E. S. Edwards— was an English

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 religiou ...

and curator, considered to be a leading expert on the

pyramids A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilate ...

Biography

Born in London, he was the son of Edward Edwards (1870–1944) of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, and his wife Ellen Jane Higgs. He attended Merchant Taylors' School, where he studied Hebrew, and then

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of t ...

, gaining a first class in Oriental Languages. He was awarded the William Wright studentship in Arabic and received his doctorate in 1933. In 1934 Edwards joined the British Museum as Assistant Keeper in the Department of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities. He published ''Hieroglyphic Texts for Egyptian Stelae'' in 1939. During World War II he was sent to Egypt on military duty. In 1946 he wrote ''The Pyramids of Egypt'', which was published by

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Tutankhamun Tutankhamun (, egy, twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn), Egyptological pronunciation Tutankhamen () (), sometimes referred to as King Tut, was an Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty (ruled ...

exhibition in 1972. He remained there until his retirement in 1974. On leaving the British Museum he worked with

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

during the rescue of the temple complex at

Philae ; ar, فيلة; cop, ⲡⲓⲗⲁⲕ , alternate_name = , image = File:File, Asuán, Egipto, 2022-04-01, DD 93.jpg , alt = , caption = The temple of Isis from Philae at its current location on Agilkia Island in Lake Nasse ...

. He was also Vice-President of the

Egypt Exploration Society The Egypt Exploration Society (EES) is a British non-profit organization. The society was founded in 1882 by Amelia Edwards and Reginald Stuart Poole in order to examine and excavate in the areas of Egypt and Sudan. The intent was to study and ana ...

, a Fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars s ...

(1962) and was appointed a CBE in 1968 for his services to the British Museum.

Family

Edwards married Elizabeth Lisle in 1938. They had a daughter and a son.

References

1909 births 1996 deaths Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Employees of the British Museum Fellows of the British Academy English archaeologists English Egyptologists People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood {{Egyptologist-stub

Biography

Family

See also

References