A correspondence with

the history of Egyptology

Patricia Usick, Honorary Archivist, Ancient
Egypt and Sudan, British Museum
he archive of the !epartment of Ancient Egypt and Sudan has
recently ac"uired a fascinating collection of letters from #oseph
Bonomi $%&'()%*&*+ to his friend and colleague Samuel Sharpe
$%&'')%**%+, Both men were important figures in early Egyptology
with close connections to the British Museum- their friendship and
interests are reflected in this lively, scholarly, and intimate
correspondence of %*.&)%*&*,
Bonomi/s contri0ution to Egyptology and his long and productive
career have not 0een sufficiently appreciated,
A horse)drawn van advertising #oseph Bonomi/s 1Panorama of Egypt/
e2hi0ited in 3ondon in %*4'
Bonomi, artist and sculptor, Egyptologist curator of Sir #ohn
Soane/s Museum, and Sharpe, Egyptologist and 0i0lical scholar,
first met in %*5& when Sharpe was pu0lishing inscriptions from the
British Museum, hey developed a close friendship while
colla0orating on the Egyptian 6ooms at the 7rystal Palace, and
numerous 0i0lical and Egyptian pu0lications, including the
ala0aster sarcophagus of Seti 8, which the architect and collector
#ohn Soane had purchased when the British Museum rustees,
alas, refused it,
Bonomi had 9oined 6o0ert Hay/s e2pedition to Egypt as his artist in
%*:4, producing drawings and helping to make the plaster casts of
Egyptian reliefs which are now in the British Museum along with
Hay/s collections, Bonomi su0se"uently spent nine years in Egypt
in the company of many of the eminent scholar)travellers of the
day, 8n England, Bonomi illustrated #ohn ;ardner <ilkinson/s
0ooks on Egypt, made drawings for a Panorama of Egypt, and
worked in the British Museum arranging e2hi0its, He designed the
first hieroglyphic font produced in England for Samuel Birch,
=eeper of >riental Anti"uities in the British Museum, and even
designed an Egyptian temple fa?ade for a fla2 mill in 3eeds, Birch
thought that, after ;ardner <ilkinson, Bonomi knew more a0out
Egypt than anyone of his time,
>ne of the Bonomi letters
he letters touch on many of the Egyptological issues of the day@
damage to Egyptian monuments, 0oth natural and the deli0erate
ancient effacement of the name and image of the god Amun- the
em0alming of animals- their 9oint pu0lication of the Soane
sarcophagus A and how well their pu0lications were selling-
the statue of =haemwaset $now EA '4&+, which Sharpe purchased
and presented to the British Museum- Schliemann/s discovery of
roy- the provenance of a disputed 0asalt stone in Bologna and a
fragment of a sarcophagus with the Asiatic Society- e2cavations at
the mortuary temple of Amenhotep 888 in he0es- the mathematical
papyrus 1in Birch/s room/ $he 6hind Papyrus P, BM %BB.*+- the
discovery of the famous Moa0ite Stone, the oldest Semitic
inscription then known- and the Museum/s paintings from the tom0
of Ce0amun,
Bonomi considered 6ev, 3ieder/s collection 1inferior much to Mr,
Hay/s/, though worth a visit, and Birch had 0ought 1:B pounds
worth/, 6ev, 6udolph heophilus 3ieder was a ;erman missionary
and collector who worked in 7airo for many years under the
7hurch Missionary Society and collected Egyptian anti"uities, 8n
%*(% 3ord Amherst purchased his collection of %*( items for D:BB,
the inventory of which is in the!epartment of Ancient Egypt and
Sudan archives, A glimpse of what must 0e 6ev 3ieder/s son in
%*(' is revealing- 18 found Mr 3ieder with eyes denoting neglected
ophthalmia hand trem0ling from much to0acco and perhaps
e2cess in wine, 8 knew him a little 0oy in 7airo as 8 then thought
much neglected 0y his mother/,
!espite tragedy in Bonomi/s private life A his four young children
died of whooping cough in one week in %*.: and he was left to
0ring up his four following children when his wife #essie, the
daughter of the painter #ohn Martin, died in %*.' aged 54 A his
output was enormous, and his humorous o0servations and
cheerful disposition 0ring a seminal figure to life,