The 19th-century French archaeologist Charles-Théodule Devéria, while a member of the University of Alexandria in Egypt, participated in various excavations with renowned scholars. In 1858–1866, he collaborated with Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, and in 1859, he assisted him in studying the ruins of Memphis. Having mastered ancient languages, Devéria reread many papyri and became an expert in funerary texts. When the researcher died at the age of 39, many scholars of the time spoke of his death as a great loss for Egyptology.
Deveria left behind a large number of photographs and negatives from excavation sites. He took it upon himself to document the artifacts, writings, and ruins he found as accurately as possible. The quality of the photographs was not always satisfactory: some of the photographs taken using the calotype method indicate an insufficient level of skill. However, this did not stop the archaeologist, who continued to take pictures and make sketches during each trip. The photographs show dilapidated buildings, statues, and slabs with texts - many of the images are now kept in the Orsay Museum of Fine Arts in Paris (Musée d’Orsay).
From 1850 to 1866, Devéria made several trips, during which he visited Alexandria, Cairo, Damascus, Istanbul, and visited the Abu Simbel temples carved into the rocks during the reign of Ramses II. The archaeologist had free access to the Louvre, where he was taken to the Egyptian antiquities department. Studying the finds, Devéria published several works: a catalog of Egyptian manuscripts from the Louvre archives, the results of excavations in Thebes, etc.
Sources:
musee-orsay.fr
