Archaeologists, Tourists, Interpreters: Exploring Egypt and the Near East in the Late 19th–Early 20th CenturiesIn the late 19th and early 20th centuries, growing numbers of tourists and scholars from Europe and America, fascinated by new discoveries, visited the Near East and Egypt – attracted by the riches and mysteries of the Land of the Bible. Almost all such visitors, no matter how esoteric or academic their pursuits, had to deal with the local authorities and the native workforce for their archaeological excavations. The vast majority of these visitors had to rely on interpreters, dragomans, translators and local guides. This study, based on published and unpublished travel memoirs, guidebooks, personal papers and archaeological reports of the British and American archaeologists, deals with the socio-political status and multi-faceted role of interpreters at the time. Those bi- or multi-lingual individuals frequently took on (or were forced to take on) much more than just interpreting. They often played the role of go-betweens, servants, bodyguards, pimps, diplomats, spies, messengers, managers and overseers, and had to mediate, scheme and often improvise, whether in an official or unofficial capacity. For the most part denied due credit and recognition, these interpreters are finally here given a new voice. An engrossing story emerges of how through their many and varied actions and roles, they had a crucial part to play in the introduction to Britain and America of these mysterious past cultures and civilizations. |
Contents
1 | |
11 | |
3 Archaeologists in the Field | 45 |
4 Americans in the Land of the Bible | 73 |
the Afterlife of an Interpreter | 91 |
A Dragoman and his Clients | 105 |
7 Conclusion | 129 |
135 | |
145 | |
Other editions - View all
Archaeologists, Tourists, Interpreters: Exploring Egypt and the Near East in ... Rachel Mairs No preview available - 2015 |
Archaeologists, Tourists, Interpreters: Exploring Egypt and the Near East in ... Rachel Mairs,Maya Muratov No preview available - 2015 |
Common terms and phrases
accounts Agatha Christie American ancient antiquities dealer Arabic language archaeological archaeologists Babylonian Baedeker Baghdad British Cairo camp campaign Carchemish century Cesnola Chapter Christie 2001c Christie Mallowan 1999 clients collection Constantinople Cook's cultural D’Athanasi Daniel Noorian Daniel Z director dragoman drogman arabe Egyptian English European excavations explorer Figure Floyd grammar Haj Wahid Harfouch Herodotus Hilprecht 1903 Holy Land Hotel interest interpreter Jaffa Jerusalem journey Kastamuni Kuchuk Hanem learn Arabic Leonard Woolley linguistic London Lord Dalrymple Mahmoud Max Mallowan mediator Metropolitan Museum Miss Miller native Nile Nippur Noorian Odeh officers Oriental Ottoman Oxford Palestine party Peters Petrie photographs practical preter published Quirke Rachel Mairs recommendation role Self-Taught servant Solomon Negima spoke story Syria T. E. Lawrence tablets testimonial book Testimonial letter Thomas Cook took tour tourists translate Turkish University of Pennsylvania vocabulary Ward Western William Hayes Ward Wolfe Expedition words workmen wrote York