The Transnational Excavation of Ancient Egypt and Palestine

Abstract

Sir Robert Mond’s intellectual and philanthropic interest in archeology predated his extensive support for the Infants’ Hospital. When Mond in the late 1890s spent the winter in Egypt, his interest in Egyptian history was born. From 1902 to his death, Sir Robert Mond figured as one of the most prominent supporters of British Egyptology. But he wanted to be more than just a financier who watched excavations. He desired to be part of it and to engage in archaeological field work. The Egyptologist Percy Newberry wrote in his obituary of Sir Robert Mond: “Ever ready to help in financing explorations in the field, he himself took the keenest pleasure in the actual work of excavating and enjoyed nothing better than being at the bottom of a tomb-shaft, sifting the sand with his own hands in the hope of finding some hidden treasure.”1 His archaeological interest grew with age and extended beyond Egypt. From 1902 to 1938, Sir Robert Mond funded and participated in many archeological excavations in Egypt, Palestine, and France (Fig. 6.1).