From Objects to Histories : Studies in Honour of John H. Taylor

John H. Taylor combines a great breadth of Egyptological knowledge and experience (shared by few museum curators) with a modest and unassuming personality. For three and a half decades his scholarship has provided an unsung underpinning to the British Museum’s Department of Egyptian Antiquities (now the Department of Egypt and Sudan). During this time he has maintained a determined continuity with the best traditions and aspirations of the past through his high academic standards.

The title of this book borrows unashamedly from a workshop held in John’s honour at the Museum in November 2022. Its theme, From Objects to Histories, encapsulates this curator’s combined talents—in the physical evaluation of an Egyptian artefact, and in the teasing out of its past history and modern relevance from archives and the records of early travellers and collectors.

John’s area of special interest is the study of funerary practices and funerary goods of Egypt’s New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period, above all the coffins in which he is today pre-eminent. He has published extensively and lectured widely on a range of fundamental topics. During the 1990s, he supervised the reinstallation of the ‘Mummy Galleries’ (among the most popular rooms in the British Museum), and since then has presented on aspects of ancient Egyptian funerary customs in a whole range of temporary exhibitions. Particularly celebrated is John’s pioneering work in the use of modern, non-destructive technologies for the investigation of mummified remains. His exhibitions on this theme, beginning with ‘Mummy: the Inside Story’, and offshoots of it, have travelled the world, further enhancing his reputation for successful research and intellectual rigour.

This volume contains the contributions of over sixty of his colleagues and friends who wanted to honour John’s achievements, and this reflects both the esteem in which he is held within Egyptology and the breadth of his interests.