In 1873, the English writer
Amelia Edwards ventured to
Egypt to escape Britain's cold, rainy climate and sight-see. She and several friends traveled up the
Nile River, from
Cairo to
Abu Simbel. On her return in 1876, Edwards published her account of the trip as
A Thousand Miles Up the Nile. The book became renowned for its description of 19th-century Egypt and the largely un-excavated antiques she encountered. Appealing to both popular and scholarly audiences,
Edwards' book became a best seller. The attention and praise her work received prompted Edwards to continue her studies of ancient Egypt.
Second excavation During the second excavation, the Fund sent
Flinders Petrie, an English Egyptologist and 'father of
Egyptology', to
Tanis, a site linked to the Biblical city of
Zoan. Petrie focused much of his work on the ordinary dwellings of the site, presenting a new array of discoveries for the society. Petrie was among the first to look for more than just artefacts he found aesthetically pleasing, viewing every discovery as significant for increasing understanding of ancient Egyptian society. He developed new Archaeological techniques for cataloging everything found at a site in a scientific manner. At the end of his excavation, Petrie was able to bring back many valuable findings and items that he donated to the
British Museum. In October 1883, the society became one of the first to provide scientifically excavated objects from Petrie's expedition around
Britain and overseas, sending artefacts to museums in Boston, Geneva, Edinburgh, York and Sheffield.
Name change In 1919, the Egypt Exploration Fund changed its name to the Egypt Exploration Society to reflect the more active role the organization was taking in organizing and publishing findings from their excavations. == Repatriation effort ==