Archaeologists, Tourists, Interpreters

"In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, growing numbers of tourists and scholars from Europe and America, fascinated by new discoveries, visited the Near East and Egypt - attracted by the riches and mysteries of the Lands of the Bible, the Pharaohs and the Arabian Nights. Almost all such visitors, no matter how esoteric or academic their pursuits, had to deal with the local authorities and the native people who would comprise the workforce for the archaeological excavations. Although a number of archaeologists we discuss eventually learned to speak the local languages (mostly Arabic), the majority of them had to rely on interpreters, dragomans, translators, and local guides. This study, based on the published travel memoirs, guidebooks, personal papers, and archaeological reports of the British and American archaeologists, deals with the socio-political status and multi-faceted role of interpreters at the time. Those bi- or multi-lingual individuals frequently took on (or were forced to take on) much more than just interpreting. The often played the role of go-betweens, servants, bodyguards, pimps, diplomats, spies, messengers, managers and overseers, and have had to mediate, scheme and often improvise, be that in their official or unofficial capacity. They have frequently, however, been denied credit and recognition for their part in undertaking all of these tasks."--Bloomsbury Publishing In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, growing numbers of tourists and scholars from Europe and America, fascinated by new discoveries, visited the Near East and Egypt - attracted by the riches and mysteries of the Land of the Bible. Almost all such visitors, no matter how esoteric or academic their pursuits, had to deal with the local authorities and the native workforce for their archaeological excavations. The vast majority of these visitors had to rely on interpreters, dragomans, translators and local guides. This study, based on published and unpublished travel memoirs, guidebooks, personal papers and archaeological reports of the British and American archaeologists, deals with the socio-political status and multi-faceted role of interpreters at the time. Those bi- or multi-lingual individuals frequently took on (or were forced to take on) much more than just interpreting. They often played the role of go-betweens, servants, bodyguards, pimps, diplomats, spies, messengers, managers and overseers, and had to mediate, scheme and often improvise, whe

Year

2015

Language

English

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Editions

5

Pages

176

ISBN

9781472588791

Data source: Wikidata