Robert Hay (Egyptologist)
Encyclopedia
- For other men with the same name, see Robert Hay (disambiguation)
Robert Hay (6 January 1799 – 4 November 1863) was a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
traveller, antiquarian, and early Egyptologist. He was born in Duns Castle
Duns Castle
Duns Castle, Duns, Berwickshire is a historic house in Scotland, the oldest part of which, the massive Norman Keep or Pele Tower, dates from 1320. The earlier house was transformed into a Gothic castle, 1818–22, by architect James Gillespie Graham. It is owned by the current Laird, Alexander Hay of...
, Berwickshire
Berwickshire
Berwickshire or the County of Berwick is a registration county, a committee area of the Scottish Borders Council, and a lieutenancy area of Scotland, on the border with England. The town after which it is named—Berwick-upon-Tweed—was lost by Scotland to England in 1482...
. During his service in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
he visited Alexandria, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, in 1818.
In 1824 he met Joseph Bonomi
Joseph Bonomi the Younger
Joseph Bonomi the Younger was an English sculptor, artist, Egyptologist and museum curator.-Early life:Bonomi was born in London into a family of architects...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, whom he hired as an artist and who accompanied Hay to Egypt. They stayed in Egypt from November 1824 until 1828, and 1829 to 1834, recording monuments and inscriptions, and making a large number of architectural plan
Architectural plan
An architectural plan is a plan for architecture, and the documentation of written and graphic descriptions of the architectural elements of a building project including sketches, drawings and details.- Overview :...
s. His manuscripts are now primarily in the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
, and many of his plaster casts in the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
.
In May 1828 Hay visited Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, where he married Kalitza Psaraki, the daughter of the chief magistrate of Apodhulo
Apoudoulou
Apodoulou is the archaeological site of an ancient Minoan mansion or ceremonial building.-Archaeology:Apodoulou was first excavated by Spyridon Marinatos in 1934....
, Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
; Hay had earlier rescued her from the slave market in Alexandria. After his death in East Lothian
East Lothian
East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....
, Scotland, in 1863, Hay's collection of Egyptian antiquities was sold to the British Museum, though some objects were purchased by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in 1872.