Set of 27 re-touched photographs of HSW and excavations at Jebel Moya; also 1 file of smaller original and copy prints, some mounted. Photographs probably relate to Kitchener's visit on 26 February 1912. Latest possible date is 1914.
Includes the following, which had been previously catalogued individually as piece records:
WA/HSW/AR/Jeb/29/1: Henry Wellcome, staff and boys, at the Jebel Moya excavations. M0013043. Previous caption: For Wellcome, the excavations at Jebel Moya were always designed to be a combination of philanthropy and archaeology. However, he quickly realised the concept of paid employment was an alien one to the local population. Wellcome slowly gained their confidence and accustomed them to the idea of working for wages. No local person who wanted work was to be turned away - as long as they took agreed to stop drinking 'merissa', the local millet-seed beer. Those who abstained from this drink for over six weeks were made a member of the Order of the Peacock Feather (into which they would be inducted with great ceremony and receive a peacock feather). Over 2,000 local men were inducted into this creation of Wellcome's, therefore guaranteeing a healthy workforce. With its notions of good works, temperance and physical exertion, there is a rather missionary aspect to Wellcome's philanthropy at Jebel Moya. Although never a strong Christian in his adult life, Wellcome was the son of a Church Minister and the influence of his father - and of other strong Christians he came into contact with, like Dr Barnardo and William Duncan - can be seen in his actions in the Sudan during this period.
WA/HSW/AR/Jeb/29/2: The Jebel Moya camp. M0008635. Previous caption: This image captures the regimented, orderly fashion of the Jebel Moya camp. The camp was run under strict conditions: the working day was regulated by bugle-calls and a Camp Commandant and Sergeant made sure instructions were carried out. Henry Wellcome is visible in the front row, dressed in colonial white and holding a stick.
WA/HSW/AR/Jeb/29/3: 'Hauling a boulder' at Jebel Moya, Sudan. M0008640. Previous caption: During the Jebel Moya excavations, Wellcome employed any of the local male population who wished to work. As not everyone could be put to work on the digs, other projects had to be created to give the locals the benefits of paid work. The most taxing of these was the building of the 'House of Boulders', which was to be Wellcome's headquarters at Jebel Moya (in fact, it was only finished just before Wellcome left for the last time in 1914). The construction of this building was - as seen here - a tiring and strength-sapping exercise. The House of Boulders was href="http://archaeography.com/photoblog/archives/2005/10/archaeology_of_archaeology_2.shtml" target="_blank">still standing at the beginning of the 21st century.
WA/HSW/AR/Jeb/29/4: Henry Wellcome at Jebel Moya with the Sultans of Socota. M0008634. Previous caption: As show here, Wellcome's personal involvement with the Jebel Moya excavations were one of the rare occasions in which he had face-to-face encounters with other cultures. The digs at Jebel Moya took place at the same time that Wellcome was collecting items from the world's cultures for his Historical Medical Museum, so it is interesting to speculate if the time Wellcome spent in the Sudan between 1911 and 1914 had any effect on his attitude to societies and cultures which were different to his own.
WA/HSW/AR/Jeb/29/5: Image from Henry Wellcome's visit to Segadi, near Jebel Moya. M0008642. Previous caption: Our papers on the Jebel Moya excavations also include atmospheric photographs - such as this one - of the surrounding landscape. Wellcome was convinced the site he had chosen for his excavations was a prehistoric site of great antiquity. In 1912, at an address to the archaeological section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in Dundee, Wellcome said: "It has been suggested that here [Jebel Moya] also we should seek the veritable birthplace of human civilization itself. Do the sands of this land of enigmas still hide within their depths an answer to the eternal enigma of man's beginnings and a record of his steps upon the pathway of knowledge?" Wellcome's hopes were unfounded, but it shows how important he felt these excavations could be and so explains why he committed so much of his time and money to the project.
WA/HSW/AR/Jeb/29/6: View of the excavated remains of an ancient Christian church at Segadi, near Jebel Moya. M0008632.
WA/HSW/AR/Jeb/29/7: Henry Wellcome and his medical officer Dr Ray, with a party of sheiks, inspecting the excavations at Segadi, near Jebel Moya. M0013044.
WA/HSW/AR/Jeb/29/8: View of Jebel Moya camp taken from the roof of the 'House of Boulders'. M0001532. Previous caption: The image shows local workers on the site waiting to receive their wages. In the first excavation in 1911, about 500 men were employed. By the time of the last dig in 1914, this figure had risen to around 4,000.![view [Photographs, Sir Henry Wellcome at Jebel Moya]](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/thumbs/b18628576_WA_HSW_AR_JEB_29_0001.jp2/full/!200,200/0/default.jpg)