Iorwerth Eiddon Stephen Edwards, (21 July 1909 – 24 September 1996) — known as I. E. S. Edwards— was an English

Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , ''-logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end ...

and curator, considered to be a leading expert on the

pyramids A pyramid () is a Nonbuilding structure, structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a Pyramid (geometry), pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid ca ...

Biography

Born in London, he was the son of Edward Edwards (1870–1944) of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, and his wife Ellen Jane Higgs. He attended Merchant Taylors' School, where he studied Hebrew, and then

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...

, gaining a first class in Oriental Languages. He was awarded the William Wright studentship in Arabic and received his doctorate in 1933. In 1934, Edwards joined the British Museum as Assistant Keeper in the Department of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities. He published ''Hieroglyphic Texts for Egyptian Stelae'' in 1939. During World War II, he was sent to Egypt on military duty. In 1946, he wrote ''The Pyramids of Egypt'', which was published by

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

in 1947. In 1955, he was appointed the Keeper of Egyptian Antiquities at the British Museum and organized the

Tutankhamun Tutankhamun or Tutankhamen, (; ), was an Egyptian pharaoh who ruled during the late Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt. Born Tutankhaten, he instituted the restoration of the traditional polytheistic form of an ...

exhibition in 1972. He remained there until his retirement in 1974. On leaving the British Museum, he worked with

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

during the rescue of the temple complex at

Philae The Philae temple complex (; , , Egyptian: ''p3-jw-rķ' or 'pA-jw-rq''; , ) is an island-based temple complex in the reservoir of the Aswan Low Dam, downstream of the Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser, Egypt. Originally, the temple complex was ...

. He was also Vice-President of the Egypt Exploration Society, a Fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

(1962) and was appointed a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1968 for his services to the British Museum.

Family

Edwards married Elizabeth Lisle in 1938. They had a daughter and a son.

References

1909 births 1996 deaths Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Employees of the British Museum Fellows of the British Academy English archaeologists English Egyptologists People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood {{Egyptologist-stub

Biography

Family

See also

References