Flash Talk | From Qift to Karanis: Egyptian Laborers in Michigan's Fayum Excavations

This Flash Talk centers on a small handful of Arabic documents from Michigan's excavations at Karanis preserved in U-M's Bentley Historical Library. The texts open a rare window into the socioeconomic life of the Egyptian laborers employed by Michigan in the 1920s and 1930s. Most of these workers were not Fayum locals but were instead migrants from the town of Qift some 300 miles south, where they had acquired considerable archaeological expertise on digs led by the famous British Egyptologist William Flinders Petrie. These documents thus shed light on Michigan's dependence on the networks of labor and expertise created by European colonialism in Egypt, and hint at some of the difficulties these migrant laborers faced when far from home.

Kelsey Museum Flash Talks are 15-minute Zoom lectures by Kelsey curators, staff members, researchers, and graduate students talking about their recent research or current projects. Each presentation is followed by 15 minutes of Q&A. Flash Talks are free and open to all visitors. They take place at noon on the first Friday of every month.

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