Labib Habachi (لبيب حبشي) (April 18, 1906 – February 18, 1984) was an influential Coptic Egyptian

Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religiou ...

. Dr Habachi spent 30 years in the Antiquities Department of the Egyptian Government, ending his career as Chief inspector. During this period he spent an enormous amount of time in numerous dig sites in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

and the

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

. He left government work to accept a position at the Oriental Institute of the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

as an Archaeological Consultant to its Nubian Expedition.

Tell el-Dab'a

Between 1929 and 1939, Pierre Montet excavated at

Tanis Tanis ( grc, Τάνις or Τανέως ) or San al-Hagar ( ar, صان الحجر, Ṣān al-Ḥaǧar; egy, ḏꜥn.t ; ; cop, ϫⲁⲛⲓ or or ) is the Greek name for ancient Egyptian ''ḏꜥn.t'', an important archaeological site in the ...

, finding the royal necropolis of the Twenty-first and Twenty-second Dynasties — the finds there almost equalled that of

Tutankhamun Tutankhamun (, egy, twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn), Egyptological pronunciation Tutankhamen () (), sometimes referred to as King Tut, was an Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty (ruled ...

's tomb in the

Valley of the Kings The Valley of the Kings ( ar, وادي الملوك ; Late Coptic: ), also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings ( ar, وادي أبوا الملوك ), is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th ...

. He believed that he found the location of

Avaris Avaris (; Egyptian: ḥw.t wꜥr.t, sometimes ''hut-waret''; grc, Αὔαρις, Auaris; el, Άβαρις, Ávaris; ar, حوّارة, Hawwara) was the Hyksos capital of Egypt located at the modern site of Tell el-Dab'a in the northeastern ...

, and this opinion was widely accepted at the time. Yet Habachi was not convinced. In 1941-42 he worked at Tell el-Dab'a for the

Egyptian Antiquities Service The Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) was a department of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture from 1994 to 2011. It was the government body responsible for the conservation, protection and regulation of all antiquities and archaeological excavati ...

and came to the conclusion that this was in fact Avaris.

Works (selection)

* "Khata'na-Qantir: importance". ''Annales du Service des antiquités de l'Egypte'', Vol. LII,1 (1952), p. 443-562 * ''Tell Basta''. SASAE, cahier 22. Cairo, 1957 * with Henry Riad: ''Aswan: the town with a glorious past and a promising future''. Cairo, 1959 * ''Features of the deification of Ramesses II''. ADAIK, Vol. 5. Glückstadt, 1969 * ''The second Stela of Kamose and his struggle against the Hyksos ruler and his capital''. ADAIK, Vol. 8. Glückstadt, 1972 * ''The Obelisks of Egypt: Skyscrapers of the Past''. Scribner's Sons, 1977 * with Pierre Anus: ''Le tombeau de Naÿ à Gournet Marʻeï (no. 271)''. Cairo, 1977 * ''Sixteen studies on lower Nubia''. SASAE, cahier 23. Cairo, 1981 * ''Elephantine IV. The sanctuary of Heqaib'' (2 vols.). ADAIK, Vol. 33. Mainz, 1985 * ''Studies on the Middle Kingdom''. Studia Aegyptiaca, Vol. 10. Budapest, 1987 * with Zakī Tāwaḍrūs: في صحراء العرب والأديرة الشرقية. الحلقة الأولى. في الآثار الشرقية / تأليف لبيب حبشي، زكي تاوضروس (''Fī ṣaḥrāʼ al-ʻArab wa-al-adyirah al-sharqīyah: al-ḥalqah al-úlá fī al-āthār al-Qibṭīyah''). Maktabat Madbūlī (Cairo), 1993 Full bibliography in J. Kamil, ''Labib Habachi''.

Decorations and awards

* 1953 Member of the German Archaeological Institute * 1964 Member of the

Institut d'Égypte The Institut d'Égypte or Egyptian Scientific Institute is a learned society in Cairo specializing in Egyptology. It was established in 1798 by Napoleon Bonaparte to carry out research during his Egyptian campaign and is the oldest scientific inst ...

* 1965 the Egyptology Institute of

Charles University ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , under ...

in Prague * 1983 Honorary Member of the Société Française d'Egypte. * Egyptian state award and a medal for the first class in the humanities and natural sciences, * 1959

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-rankin ...

* 1973 Order of Merit of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleo ...

(France) * 1980

Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (german: Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian D ...

* 1966 Honorary doctorate from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

* 1978 Honorary President of the International Association of Coptic Studies * 1981 recipient of ''Festschrift'' (MDAIK 37), presented at the German Archaeological Institute

Notes

References

* Jill Kamil
''Labib Habachi: The Life and legacy of an Egyptologist.''
American University in Cairo Press, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Habachi, Labib 1906 births 1984 deaths People from Mansoura, Egypt Egyptian Egyptologists Egyptian Copts Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Recipients of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class