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The Griffith Institute - University of Oxford
The Griffith Institute is the heart of Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, located at the University of Oxford for over eighty years.
It is home to two major research projects, the Topographical Bibliography (Porter & Moss) and the Online Egyptological Bibliography (OEB), and a collaborating partner on the AHRC-funded project Artefacts of Excavation. The Griffith Institute also houses an archive of 'wonderful things' containing the collective memory and life work of some of Egyptology's greatest scholars, including its founder Francis Llewellyn Griffith, as well as Sir Alan Gardiner and Jaroslav Černý. Perhaps the most famous are the records of Howard Carter whose name is synonymous with the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun. The Griffith Institute provides vital resources for the study of the history and culture of ancient Egypt and the Near East, which may be accessed directly, or online.
Griffith latest news
Jaromir Malek Memorial Lecture 2024
We are delighted to announce the inaugural lecture in memory of Dr Jaromir Malek (1943-2023) to be held on the evening of Thursday 17 October 2024 at the Shulman Auditorium in Queen's College, Oxford (directions to the venue can be found here).
The lecture titled "The Right Person in the Right Place: Jaromir and the Griffith Institute" will be given by Professor John Tait and commence at 5pm BST. This will be followed by a drinks reception.
This is a free event and all are very welcome to attend. Please register your attendance via Eventbrite.
We look forward to you joining us at this event to remember and honour our dear friend and colleague.
Update: You can view the lecture here.
Jaromir Malek (1943-2023)
It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our colleague the Czech/British Egyptologist Dr Jaromir Malek.Jaromir Malek first arrived in Oxford in Summer 1967, and joined the staff of the Griffith Institute in 1968, where he was first appointed to assist Dr Moss and Mrs Burney who were working on the second edition of volume 2 of the Topographical Bibliography [TopBib]. Upon Dr Moss’s retirement in 1970, he was appointed the Bibliography’s Editor, and directed the project for over forty years. The publication of the revised Memphite volume in 1981 marked a change of direction for the project, when Malek began to work with the significant body of material yet to be addressed, the monuments in museums and private collections with no documented provenance. This huge undertaking resulted in the publication of the four parts of volume 8 covering statues and stelae. Malek’s passion for the TopBib and the huge responsibility he felt for it, even in retirement, was inspired by Dr Moss’s own dedication to the project.
In 1980, Malek also assumed the role of Keeper of the Griffith Institute Archive. For over thirty years he initiated a program of development, communication, and outreach, beginning the reorganisation and description of its collections to modern standards. Malek was an early adopter of technology, recognising its potential for both the Archive and the TopBib’s future development. He was solely responsible for the creation and content of the Griffith Institute’s website, which was one of the first websites in the humanities. Perhaps his greatest achievement was the full online publication of the Tutankhamun Archive, known as “Tutankhamun: Anatomy of an Excavation”; working with a small budget, over 15,000 pages of documentation were created by Malek and his team, and he himself devoted many hundreds of hours of his own time to ensure the documentation was made freely accessible to everyone on the web.
Malek was also a regular member of the Egypt Exploration Society’s expedition teams working at the Ptah enclosure in Memphis and the Serapeum at Saqqara during the 1980s and early 1990s. He also produced an impressive number of publications, both for academic audiences and the general public, and he shared his love for felines with the highly successful The Cat in Ancient Egypt. He was invited to lecture all over the globe, inspiring enthusiasm and support for the Institute’s projects.
Jaromir’s breadth of knowledge was remarkable. He was a formidable personality, yet beneath the serious, and seemingly tough, persona, lay a very kind, warm, and generous heart. He was quick to assist anybody, possessed an admirable moral compass, and was always willing to share his time and expertise, especially with young students and colleagues. He was welcoming to all visitors to the Institute and was always delighted to receive Egyptian friends and colleagues. He will be much missed in our international discipline, but particularly here in Oxford.
Any messages of condolence may be sent to the Griffith Institute (griffith.institute@ames.ox.ac.uk), and we will forward them to Jaromir’s wife, Jane, and the family in due course.
Artworks from the Griffith Institute Archive on Art UK
The Griffith Institute Archive is home to an impressive collection of watercolours, paintings and drawings created between the mid-18th and early 20th centuries by artists, architects and archaeologists travelling, working and living in Egypt. Art prints of curated highlights from the archive are now available in the Griffith Institute’s Shop on Art UK. These include watercolours created by the French architect Hector Horeau in 1839 and the travel writer G. A. Hoskins between 1832 and 1861, as well as examples of photography from the mid-1850s through to the early 1900s. The Shop also offers the opportunity to own copies of early artworks produced by Howard Carter in the 1890s and early 1900s, including his spectacular painting of a Horus falcon, complemented by an illustration of a Nekhbet vulture by his brother Vernet Carter. Tutankhamun tomb images are also available, including Carter’s maps, plans and drawings and some of Harry Burton’s remarkable documentary photographs. Over sixty items are now available, and we are continually adding new artwork to our Art UK page and Shop.
Tutankhamun: Excavating the Archive
Centenary exhibition
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun. To celebrate the centenary, the Griffith Institute staff have been working with Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, and we are delighted to announce the launch of Tutankhamun: Excavating the Archive. This exhibition will display about 200 photographs, letters, plans, drawings and diaries from Carter's original excavation archive that was presented to the Griffith Institute after the excavator's death. The exhibition provides a view of the complexities of both the remarkably well-preserved ancient burial and the modern excavation, including the often-overlooked Egyptian members of the archaeological team and their crucial role in the discovery. The free exhibition will take place in the 'Treasury' gallery in the Weston Library, from 13 April 2022 to 5 February 2023. For further information visit the Weston Library website.
Jenny Lane's journals
On 6 February 2019 the Griffith Institute acquired at auction the journals of Jenny Lane, thanks to generous grants from the Friends of the National Libraries, the Friends of the Petrie Museum and a number of donations to the Griffith Institute Archive. Jenny Lane was lady's maid to Lucy Renshaw, travelling companion of Amelia A. B. Edwards; the journals describe their various trips, including the 1873-1874 journey through France, Italy and Egypt. The online publication of the journals was completed on 16 July 2019. See more.
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