Harry Smith (1928-2024)
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Professor Henry Sidney (Harry) Smith who died on 8th September 2024 at the age of 96. Many of our supporters around the world will be familiar with Harry’s work and, in many instances, will have fond memories of Harry himself.
Harry became a member of the Egypt Exploration Society in 1949 before embarking on fieldwork in Nubia at the site of Buhen for the Society in 1959 under the direction of Prof Walter Bryan Emery. He would later go on to direct the Archaeological Survey of Egyptian Nubia for the Society during the UNESCO Salvage Campaign in advance of the flooding of Lake Nasser/Nubia. After this Harry went on to work with Bryan at Saqqara for the EES excavations at the Sacred Animal Necropolis where he eventually directed work following Bryan’s death in 1971. Harry continued to direct work on EES excavations across the capital zone (Saqqara and Memphis) until 1988 and his contributions to the Society’s work were recognized when he was elected as Vice-President, a role he held until his passing.
Harry Smith and Ali Hassan during the EES Archaeological Survey of Egyptian Nubia
The Archaeological Survey of Egyptian Nubia team outside Abu Simbel
Harry at a celebration on his 90th birthday held at UCL between the Friends of the Petrie Museum and the Egypt Exploration Society.
Harry will be greatly missed by everyone at the Society and our condolences go out to his many friends at this sad time.
Read more about Harry’s extraordinary career here: https://egyptology.christs.cam.ac.uk/person/prof-harry-smith/
