There will never be another archaeologist like Amice Mary Calverley. She was a plane-flying, war-filming, desert-living Egyptologist, who created stunning drawings of the Temple of Seti I at Abydos.
With the onset of World War II she found herself fighting in a propaganda war against the Axis. However, one of the people who edited her Seti work, Egyptologist Hermann Junker, was aiding the Nazis. He did this even as he was still editing Calverley's work!
Born in Chelsea, London, UK in 1896, her drawings, financed by John Rockefeller Jr., were published in four oversized colour volumes. Her drawings were so good that her editors could find hieroglyphic errors made by the ancient Egyptians, but scarcely one made by her.
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They recognized that she had the rare ability to draw an ancient feature without taking any artistic license – she could make an exact copy
Seti I ruled Egypt ca. 1314-1304 BC and is well known for his building projects and military campaigns.
His mortuary temple at Abydos contains numerous architectural features - two vast courts, two hypostyle halls, a so called “butchery hall” and two Osiris halls, just to name a few. These contain numerous works of art.
It’s believed that Seti I’s son, Ramesses II, may have finished portions of the temple after his father died.
The temple is built mainly of limestone, although sandstone was used in some areas. The outer courts and there pylons are severely damaged, with little remaining of them.
Its first hypostyle hall was initially decorated with raised reliefs by Seti I. A raised relief is when the figure sticks out a bit from the walls. After Seti I’s death Ramesses II converted them to sunken reliefs and had them repainted.
The second hypostyle hall contains several bas reliefs - the figures are slightly above the surface while the background is completely flat. By Seti I’s death all the reliefs had been carved, although some had yet to be coloured.
Amice Mary Calverley was a Canadian Egyptologist who is best known for her drawings of the Temple of Seti I at Abydos.
Working with her friend Myrtle Broome, she drew full-colour drawings of almost ever feature of the temple. These drawings were published in four oversized volumes, with two other volumes remaining unpublished.
She had no formal education in Egyptology and her break came when she landed a job at the Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford. The professors at the museum, include Sir Leonard Woolley, recognized that she a special talent for archaeological drawing. She could copy an ancient drawing exactly, without taking any artistic license.
It took about 10 years of work to complete her drawings at the Temple of Seti. She lived at Abydos for long periods of time. She learned Arabic and learned the customs of the countryside well.
In 1948 she proposed to the Egyptian government that an ethnographic film be shot of life in contemporary Abydos. Her request was denied by the government, who was unhappy with her idea, and she was effectively declared persona non grata in Egypt.
There will never be another archaeologist like 
