Join Carl Graves (Egypt Exploration Society) and Anna Garnett (Petrie Museum) for an enlivened reading of 'A Thousand Miles Up the Nile'.About this Event
Groundbreakers: A reading of 'A Thousand Miles Up the Nile'
As part of the Groundbreakers: Women in Archaeology event programme, join Dr Carl Graves (Egypt Exploration Society) and Dr Anna Garnett (Petrie Museum) in this informal reading of A Thousand Miles Up the Nile by Amelia Edwards, first published in 1877, and republished as recently as 2022.
Delivered by representatives of the two organisations founded by Amelia Edwards, this reading will also consider her legacy today without shying away from important questions around the colonial roots of early British Egyptology and the impacts of artefact distribution on source communities.
As well as reading from the volume that kickstarted British Egyptology, Carl and Anna will also share additional anecdotes and quotes from Amelia’s life, offering a glimpse into her world and what motivated her to found the Egypt Exploration Society in 1882.
The talk will be preceded by a tour of the Petrie Museum that includes artefacts from Edwards’ personal collection. The tour is included with your in-person ticket booking.
This event will be hybrid, taking place at UCL's Institute of Archaeology and online. When booking your ticket please select 'General Admission' for in person attendance, or 'Online Ticket' if wanting to watch online. An invitation link will be sent to you closer to the date of the talk.
Petrie Museum Tour
This informal tour will offer insights into Amelia Edwards whose Egyptian archaeology collection founded the Petrie Museum. There will be two slots available on a first come basis.
- Tour 1 will start at 5.05pm - 5.35pm
- Tour 2 will start at 5.20pm - 5.50pm
Please queue outside the Petrie Museum on Malet Place and be ready to show your booking. Last entry to the Petrie Museum is at 4.45pm and the museum will be cleared for 5pm closure. We will reopen the doors at 5.00pm for the tour.
Main event
Groundbreakers: A reading of 'A Thousand Miles Up the Nile'
Room: Lecture Theatre G6 (Through the A.G. Leventis Gallery on the Ground floor)
Venue: Institute of Archaeology
Doors Open: 6.00pm
Event Start: 6.30pm
Event End: 8.00pm
Bios
Dr Carl Graves is Director of the Egypt Exploration Society, founded by Amelia Edwards in 1882. Carl co-authored an introduction to the 2022 reprint of A Thousand Miles Up the Nile with Dr Anna Garnett.
Dr Anna Garnett is Curator of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology at UCL which was founded thanks to a generous bequest of objects from Amelia Edwards’ personal collection on her death in 1892.
Groundbreakers: Women in Archaeology
This event is part of a public engagement project called Groundbreakers: Women in Archaeology. Led by the British International Research Institutes (BIRI) and the Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology, this project spotlights pioneering women in archaeology through the archives of the BIRI's nine institutes.
The project will consist of a small display at the Petrie Museum with an accompanying talks programme.
Groundbreakers is based on Women Transcending Boundaries: over a century of scholarship, fieldwork and friendship across the British International Research Institutes, an online research project created by the BIRI Digital Coordination and Strategy Project (2022-2026) and supported by the British Academy.
See here for more information about the BIRI.
Access
The Institute of Archaeology lecture theatre is located on the ground floor with step-free access into the building. For further information about the venue's accessibility, please visit UCL's Access Guide here.
Finding us
The Institute of Archaeology is located in Bloomsbury, in the heart of central London. The nearest tube stations are Euston (Northern Line, Victoria Line) and Euston Square (Metropolitan, Circle, Hammersmith & City Lines), and buses 18, 30, 73, 134 and 205 stop three to five minutes away on Euston Road. See here for more transportation information.
The Petrie Museum is a short walk away from the Institute of Archaeology. See here to plan your visit
Being Human festival
This event is part of Being Human Festival, the UK’s national festival of the humanities, taking place 5-14 November 2026. Led by the School of Advanced Study, University of London, in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy. For further information please see beinghumanfestival.org
Event venue
UCL Institute of Archaeology, lecture theatre G6, 31-34 Gordon Square, London, United Kingdom
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