On February 12, 2020, the most eminent Egyptian Egyptologist and dean of Egyptian archaeologists, Dr. Ali Radwan, emeritus professor of Egyptology at Cairo University, passed away.
It is a great loss to the field of archaeology, Egyptology, and to us all in Egypt, the Arab world, and the whole world. Dr. Radwan had a long career in teaching Egyptology, archaeology and saving Egypt’s antiquities.
Dr. Radwan was one of my great teachers at the Cairo University Faculty of Archaeology for four amazing years. He taught me the prehistory of Egypt, the Ancient Near East, and the whole world.
Afterward, I started my M.A. in Egyptology about Nubia in the Neolithic period under his supervision. At the personal level, in addition to Dr. Zahi Hawass and Dr. Rainer Stadelmann, the late professor was one of the three important figures who wrote letters of recommendation for me in order to study for my Ph.D. in Egyptology and Near Eastern archaeology at Johns Hopkins University in the USA back in 2002.
When I was working at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC), I used to meet Dr. Radwan and learn from him each Tuesday because he was the head of the scientific committee of the NMEC display scenario.
Dr. Radwan was a very helpful, modest and smart man, great intellectual scholar and strong lover of Egypt and its antiquities. He had also a unique sense of humor.
Dr. Radwan was born in Tell El Kabir in the Ismailia Governorate. He graduated from the Department of Egyptology at the Faculty of Arts, Cairo University. He received his Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Munich in Germany in 1968.
He started his career as an inspector of antiquities of Fayyum and Beni Suef. Then later he joined the Faculty of Arts Department of Egyptology as an assistant professor of Egyptology. He became the chairperson of the Department of Egyptology at Cairo University from 1980 through 1987, and then the dean of the Faculty of Archaeology at Cairo University from 1987 through 1993.
Dr. Radwan carried out excavations at the most important site of Abusir, north of Saqqara, dating from early dynastic Egypt. His excavations there were very fruitful- it produced many significant artifacts and introduced new data on Egyptian funerary beliefs at that time.
He helped Egypt and the Arab world a lot in terms of studying and saving their monuments.
Dr. Radwan supervised many M.A. and Ph.D. dissertations at Egyptian universities. He was the founder and head of the Union of Arab Archaeologists until his death.
The late professor was an international and renowned scholar. He published widely on a wide range of Egyptology topics.
However, his most important expertise scholarly work was the art of ancient Egypt. He contributed extensively to this topic through his very important scholarly publications.
In brief, Dr. Radwan was gifted at all levels. He will be highly remembered for what he did to Egypt, the Arab World, and their antiquities as well as to his students all over Egypt and the Arab World.
His death is a great shock to Egyptology, archaeology and Egyptian and Arab Archaeologists everywhere.
All scholars all over the world are very sad for the loss of a most respected scholar, a highly appreciated scholar, and a wonderful human being.
Farewell to Dr. Ali Radwan. We all will miss you so much. All condolences to his great wife, two daughters, his family and to his students in Egypt and all over the world.
By Hussein Bassir, Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Antiquities Museum
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