Opérations scientifiques en cours
26383
INDUSTRIAL ARCHEOLOGY OF THE DELTA, ca. 1820-1960
INDUSTRIAL ARCHEOLOGY OF THE DELTA : PRODUCTION AND MOBILITY, 1820s-1960s
 | Antoinette Ferrand | IFAO | |
| | Amr Khairy | Environmental history, history of techniques, Post-doctorant | Ifao/Cedej |
This project intends to capture the history of modernity in Egypt by building knowledge around the history of modern technology, its introduction and development across the country from the 1820s to 1961.
A modest amount of research have been conducted on Egypt’s history of technology in modernity so far, and it shows the significance of historicizing technology to better understand labour history (Beinin and Lockman, 1987), rural-urban relations (Owen, 1984), and colonialism (Barak, 2020). However, only very recently, with the turn to studying material history, history of infrastructures, and the history of energy transitions in the 2010s - with rising concerns over global warming - did historical research bring insights that show the promise of such a research programme for better understanding lineages of modernity in Egypt.
This project, conducted in the form of a preparatory survey, aims at building the foundation of an extensive research programme. Collecting data on Egypt’s history of technology in production and mobility will contribute to the field of industrial archaeology and simultaneously connect it with existing historical knowledge fronts, such as: history of energy and technology, history of knowledge transfers and exchanges (Egypt-Europe, 19th century; Egypt-India, 20th century), history of high imperialism (1870s-1940s) and decolonisation, history of labour and social groups, environmental history, economic and financial history, etcetera.
It focuses on the industrial archaeology of the Delta, which witnessed abrupt modernisation and industrialisation starting in the 1860s and it remained central to the national economies and ecologies of production and mobility across the 20th century, as the producer of the country’s leading cash-crop; cotton (Shokr, 2025; Owen, 1969). The cotton industry single-handedly changed agricultural practices, introduced factories and a working class, and brought an extensive railway network. As such, the Delta is a potential rich zone for reconstructing material archives for the social history of technology, and the history of anthropization of the Delta rural and urban spaces during times of abrupt transitions and upheavals.
A modest amount of research have been conducted on Egypt’s history of technology in modernity so far, and it shows the significance of historicizing technology to better understand labour history (Beinin and Lockman, 1987), rural-urban relations (Owen, 1984), and colonialism (Barak, 2020). However, only very recently, with the turn to studying material history, history of infrastructures, and the history of energy transitions in the 2010s - with rising concerns over global warming - did historical research bring insights that show the promise of such a research programme for better understanding lineages of modernity in Egypt.
This project, conducted in the form of a preparatory survey, aims at building the foundation of an extensive research programme. Collecting data on Egypt’s history of technology in production and mobility will contribute to the field of industrial archaeology and simultaneously connect it with existing historical knowledge fronts, such as: history of energy and technology, history of knowledge transfers and exchanges (Egypt-Europe, 19th century; Egypt-India, 20th century), history of high imperialism (1870s-1940s) and decolonisation, history of labour and social groups, environmental history, economic and financial history, etcetera.
It focuses on the industrial archaeology of the Delta, which witnessed abrupt modernisation and industrialisation starting in the 1860s and it remained central to the national economies and ecologies of production and mobility across the 20th century, as the producer of the country’s leading cash-crop; cotton (Shokr, 2025; Owen, 1969). The cotton industry single-handedly changed agricultural practices, introduced factories and a working class, and brought an extensive railway network. As such, the Delta is a potential rich zone for reconstructing material archives for the social history of technology, and the history of anthropization of the Delta rural and urban spaces during times of abrupt transitions and upheavals.