For centuries, the ancient ruins of Egypt have fascinated explorers, antiquarians, treasure hunters, and archaeologists. From the earliest travelers, they were united by a sense of wonder at the beauty and majesty of the landscape: the remains of tombs cut into the natural rock, the temples and cities gently consumed by drift sand. Gripped by the urge to capture what they had seen, these early adventurers recorded their experiences in writings, sketches, paintings, and photographs.

Egyptologists' Notebooks brings together the intimate diaries and journals of those at the forefront of the Golden Age of Egyptology. Their authors include not only the scholars who directed the excavations but also the engineers, architects, photographers, and, not least, the Egyptian workers whose labor made them possible. They evoke a rich sense of time and place, transporting us back to a great age of discovery, and offering a glimpse of a very different history of Egyptology.