Dig Houses of the West Bank

The West Bank of Luxor is largely notable for its ancient monuments and striking geological formations. The desert landscape is marked by several necropoleis, such as the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens and Western Wadis, the tombs of the nobles, temples and chapels, and settlements that date to various periods of Egypt’s ancient past. It is here that many archaeologists of early Egyptology worked and made world-changing discoveries. Annually spending several months at a time supervising excavations meant that living “on site” became a necessity. At the turn of the twentieth century, foreign archaeologists began constructing “dig houses,” that is, houses in which archaeologists lived and studied, at or near excavation sites throughout Egypt. In Luxor, other houses, like Wilkinson House and Bayt Madinah, were repurposed ancient Egyptian tombs. Over time, several dig houses were built, modified, and occasionally torn down on the West Bank of Luxor, and some houses are still used today as dig houses or as museums, like Carter House.

The Dig Houses of the West Bank explores several historic dig houses: Carter House, Metropolitan House, German House, Old Chicago House, Waseda House, Stoppelaere House, Mond and Davies House, Wilkinson House, Theodore Davis House, and Bayt Madinah. Their rich histories include not only the excavation lives of the pioneers of Egyptology, but also visits from elite international guests. Most of the dig houses are built within the archaeological landscape of Luxor, amid tombs and temples, integrating ancient and modern as reminders that the modern history of Egypt and Egyptology is deeply embedded in the history of ancient Egypt.

Each Dig House page contains a history of activity in the houses including construction, teams that used the houses as headquarters during excavation, and expansion projects. In some cases, like at Bayt Madinah, or the French House, there are records of frivolity that bring charming life to the history of archaeology. Egyptologists did not just work at these sites; they also had fun!

Moreover, the dig houses serve as monuments of Egypt’s modern architectural achievements. Many of the dig houses incorporate features of Coptic and Islamic architecture, as well as revitalize the use of mud brick that was popularized by architects Hassan Fathy and Somers Clarke. Domes characterize several of the dig houses, which are prevalent in both Coptic and Islamic architecture, and some houses include exquisite mashrabiya, an intricate latticework found in Islamic architecture.

Created by: Briana C. Jackson (Digital Humanities Postdoctoral Fellow 2023-2025)

With contributions by: Dr. Kent Weeks

A large set of the archival material used for the building of this database was shared with the Theban Mapping Project by Marcel Maessen and Monica Maessen of the T3.wy Foundation, to whom the TMP is most grateful. Special thanks are also given to the following institutions for their generous collaboration: Griffith Institute, the Egyptian Museum in Turin, Tarek Waly Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Waseda University, the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures - University of Chicago (ISAC), the Schweizerisches Institut (Swiss Archaeological Institute), the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut (DAI), and the Peggy Joy Egyptology Library.