Amice Mary Calverley

1896 - 1956

Archaeologist

Key Dates

Lived 1896-1959

Relationship	People
Associated	Seti I

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 These drawings were published in four oversized volumes, with two other volumes remaining unpublished.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.

In 1949 she filmed the Greek Civil War and nursed the wounded during the pivotal Battle of Gramos. She retired to Oakville Canada to live the final years of life. She finished up her drawings and donated many of the artefacts that she had collected to the Royal Ontario Museum. She passed away in 1959.