About the Griffith Institute
The Griffith Institute was established in 1939 as the centre for Egyptology at Oxford, although the genesis of core projects date back some 40 years earlier. Francis Llewellyn Griffith, the first Professor of Egyptology at the University of Oxford, bequeathed his estate for the creation of 'a permanent home or institute for the study of the ancient languages and antiquities of the Near East'.
The Griffith Institute is located in the Griffith Wing of the Art, Archaeology and Ancient World Library and is part of the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford. The Institute's unique combination of projects contributes to research and teaching at the highest level.
The Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Statues, Reliefs and Paintings (also known as Porter & Moss) is an essential reference resource for Egyptologists. The project comprehensively collects both published and unpublished information on ancient Egyptian monuments. The first seven volumes concisely describe the sites, structures, monuments, and objects in Egypt and beyond, including Nubia (southernmost modern Egypt and northern Sudan). Volume 8 addresses the vast corpus of material in museums and private collections without documented provenance.
The Online Egyptological Bibliography (OEB) is the successor of the Annual Egyptological Bibliography, formerly based in Leiden (Netherlands), integrated with Bibliographie Altägypten and, thanks to a generous grant from the Mellon Foundation (2011-2014), also with Aigyptos. The database covers literature in Egyptology from 1822 (the decipherment of hieroglyphs) to the present, with about 180,000 fully searchable references.
The Griffith Institute Archive evolved from Griffith's collection of manuscripts, including his extensive excavation records for Meroitic period sites in Nubia. Sir Alan Gardiner also generously donated many antiquarian manuscripts, further enriching the collection. The Archive now accommodates more than 160 substantial manuscript groups for Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, ranging from scholarly papers, early traveller accounts, nineteenth-century photographs, paintings, drawings, and negatives, to born-digital files. The complete original records for the discovery, excavation and clearance of the tomb of Tutankhamun form a core group.
Another of Griffith's legacies, the Griffith Institute Library (now part of the Art, Archaeology and Ancient World Library) is one of the most significant Egyptological and Ancient Near Eastern libraries in the world. The Library maintains a close relationship with the Institute's projects.
Teaching in Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies is provided by the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. The faculty offers a BA in Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, as well as graduate degrees in Egyptology and Assyriology. The archaeology and material culture of Egypt and the Near East are also studied at first hand in the rich collections of the Ashmolean Museum. Undergraduate and graduate students have the opportunity to volunteer on Griffith Institute projects to gain experience and develop skills, and contribute significantly to the work and outreach of the Institute.
(Last updated 29 May 2024)