The last half-century has seen a great deal of change in Egyptology worldwide, and not just in the way that scientific and methodological tools have become incorporated into research methods as a matter of course. In Egypt itself there is a marked increase in the number of excavations taking place by countries not traditionally represented in the field, with teams from Mexico, Argentina and China now initiating projects, for example. There are also more co-directed projects (on the basis of both nation and institution), as well as more formal research (rather than rescue or conservation) excavations carried out by exclusively Egyptian teams, not just from the Ministry of Antiquities, but with a renaissance of those that are university based.

The first to take an interest in ancient Egypt were, of course, the ancient Egyptians themselves. Prince Khaemwaset, fourth son of Rameses II and high priest of Ptah at Memphis, is often held to have been the first ‘Egyptologist’. He certainly carried out what now might be called ‘heritage’ activities in the Memphite necropolis, (allegedly) restoring monuments and carving large texts identifying their owners on the exteriors of certain examples, including the pyramids of Unas, Userkaf, Menkaure, Djoser, Sahure, Isesi and Senwosret III, as well as the mastaba of Shepseskaf and the sun temple of Niuserre. The prince also dedicated an ancient statue of the Fourth Dynasty prince Kawab in the temple at Memphis. On the other hand, while Khaemwaset was seemingly conserving the memory and importance of these structures, other monuments (including those ancillary to the pyramids in question) were being exploited as stone quarries for his father’s projects. Indeed the ‘labelling’ may well have been a direct result of the demolitions and resulting loss of any external means of identification of the pyramids’ owners. The salvage of material from ancient monuments was of course a phenomenon stretching back into the earliest times, and would continue into the nineteenth century ad.

Writing a history of Egyptology ‘in Egypt’ is a daunting task as it involves describing the multiple histories of all the many nationalities, ethnicities and modes of government that operated within the framework of the Egyptian state, particularly from the time of the viceroy Mehmet Ali until the revolution of 1952. Politics and personalities, too, helped shape the discipline, though there are considerable lacunae in our knowledge of how the latter in particular affected the development of Egyptian Egyptology. Thus, the story of Egyptology in Egypt was actually written not only by Egyptians, but also by Turks, Armenians, French, Germans, British and Italians, as well as other nationalities, all of which worked for the different versions of the Antiquities Service and constituted the cosmopolitan population of Egypt. These various groups also responded to the antiquities in myriad ways, consciously or not, thus contributing to the different attitudes to the role that ancient Egypt played in their lives and Egyptian popular culture, sometimes influenced by Islamic attitudes to the pagan waqt al-jahilaya (time of ignorance), when anything prior to monotheism was not of interest.

Although the civilisation of the ancient Egyptians may have died thousands of years ago, modern cultures around the world continue to connect with it, from collections of antiquities, pyramids on US dollar bills and Egyptianising buildings, to Egypt-inspired motifs in clothing and the visual and plastic arts. Indeed, the Great Pyramid, Tutankhamun’s gold burial mask, hieroglyphs and even mummies are instantly recognisable as Egyptian by people from countries across the world. The familiarity that modern audiences have with the remnants of ancient Egyptian material culture and the Egyptian aesthetic are due to a well-established (and apparently endless) stream of books, articles, documentaries and touring museum exhibitions. Periods of what we call ‘Egyptomania’, when ancient Egypt has influenced popular, and even high, culture, have also contributed considerably to people’s interest and familiarity.

The oases of Kharga and Dakhla have been linked administratively from ancient times into the present. This chapter presents a study of the two main physical routes that connected the two oases: the Darb al-Ghubari and the Darb Ain Amur. Cairns, tracks, rock art, inscriptions, ceramics, and other small finds serve to identify the tracks and stopping points along the way. These paths, particularly the Darb Ain Amur, evolved over time, reflecting the changing environment and modes of transport that were used to make the journey from pharaonic to Roman times.