Help transcribe financial lists of donors to the Egypt Exploration Fund in 1901-1902

The Egypt Exploration Fund was set up in 1882 by Amelia Edwards, a travel writer, and Samuel Birch of the British Museum. Through this Fund, individuals and private organisations could donate money towards the Egyptian excavations, enabling artefacts to be brought back to Britain's museums and leading to the regional museum growth of the late-19th century.

This project is focused on who was donating to the EEF from 1899-1907 and is part of a wider project looking at donors from 1885-1923. These donors are listed in the reports from the Annual General Meetings of the EEF, allowing us to see who was donating, what they were donating and their link to the fund. With this information we can begin to understand patterns in donors and suggest why they may have donated.

The period of 1901-1902 was an exciting time for Egyptology. Despite the wide spread of cholera throughout Egypt, increasing interest in classical studies enabled major excavations to take place, including the excavation of the Royal Tombs in Abydos and the conclusion of the work at Deir el Bahari, excavated by teams of Egyptians under the direction of Flinders Petrie and Edouard Naville. Key finds at Abydos included abundant pottery, bronze tools and amulets, of which the British Museum in London and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford were the main recipients. American donors to the Fund were still critical to its success, however disagreements lead to crises of administration in the Boston branch. The Fund was very popular there as it enabled Egyptian antiquities to enter American museums. Throughout this period, Flinders Petrie was an important figure, becoming Chief of Expeditions for the fund and having his finds exhibited at University College.

The Fund was a way for people, particularly women, to increase their social standing. As Egyptology wasn't yet a discipline, there were less boundaries limiting those who could be involved and thus large numbers of women took on the role of local honorary secretaries and campaigned locally for the EEF. This project will be able to identify more of these individuals and their roles.

It is worth noting that the EEF's annual report from 1900-1901 has not yet been digitised (and due to the current climate is impossible to do so), however with the remaining 7 reports from this critical period we can begin to understand the people involved. This cannot be done without the transcribing of the lists of donors that will enable data collection and analysis.