The history of Egypt fascinates many. Kazimierz Michałowski was an outstanding researcher of it. He was also the founder of nubiology, otherwise known as Sudanese archaeology.

Egyptomania and scientific discoveries in Egypt
Egypt tempted already in ancient times with an aura of uniqueness, the legacy of the civilisation lasting several thousands of years and the legend of the great resource of the hidden and secret knowledge. On the other hand, it was not so distant as an arena of universal history, thanks to the famous Library of Alexandria (one of the main intellectual centres of the era) and the Roman conquest (who has not heard of Cleopatra's relations with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony). In the Middle Ages and early modern period, Egypt was not forgotten, although interest in it was sometimes quite eccentric (e.g. powdered mummies as medicine or aphrodisiacs).

The perception of Egypt changed at the end of the modern age, when the Egyptomania - the phenomenon of the fascination with the culture of ancient Egypt which continues to this day - entered our minds for good. It came about thanks to scientific discoveries in the 18th and 19th centuries and Napoleon's expedition to Egypt (1798-1801).

At first, it was the domain of aristocrats, passionately becoming amateur researchers. Then, with the birth of modern tourism, visitors. Then, as the object of study of fledgling modern archaeology. It took on a new dimension when countries began to compete through sponsored archaeologists: who would discover more valuable monuments. Just as space exploration benefited from the Cold War, so Egyptology developed when digging was not only for science, but also for the glory of the ruler or homeland.

Conducting one's own excavations in Egypt became a sui generis measure of a country's level of culture. The Republic of Poland, reborn in 1918 The Republic of Poland joined this race late for obvious reasons, but until now it has remained a country of importance in Egyptological yesterday and today. Although Poles, in the person of Jan Potocki (1761-1815), were represented at the beginning of Egyptology, the unrivalled figure among our compatriots remains Kazimierz Michałowski (1901-1981).

Commemoration of Kazimierz Michałowski in Cairo
At the opening ceremony of the 8th International Congress of Egyptologists in Cairo on 28 March 2000, the Egyptian Minister of Culture, Faruk Hosni, presented seven honorary medals to the most outstanding Egyptian and foreign Egyptologists - three of them posthumous, including Kazimierz Michałowski.

In 2007, during the celebration of the 70th anniversary of Polish archaeologists' activities in Egypt, the Egyptian side took the initiative to place a bust of a Polish researcher in the gardens of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, in the pantheon of the world's most eminent Egyptologists. It was unveiled on 21 October 2007, accompanied by a commemorative publication and an exhibition at the Museum.

So let us learn the story of how Kazimierz Michalowski became interested in archaeology, became an eminent Egyptologist and created a new field of archaeology - nubiology.

Kazimierz Michałowski's youth and early career
Kazimierz Józef Marian Michałowski is a world-renowned scientist. He was born on 14 December 1901 in Ternopil (modern Ukraine). Having completed gymnasium in his native Ternopil (1918), he joined the resurgent Polish Army. In autumn 1919, he was granted a three-month leave to study at the Faculty of Philosophy (the first time he crossed the university's threshold in uniform). He returned to the army at the beginning of 1920, and to his studies in January 1921.

. History claimed him again in 1939, when, as a lieutenant, he fought in the 5th Infantry Regiment of the Vilnius Legions (awarded the Silver Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari). In the oflag, he lectured his fellow prisoners on elements of archaeology and Egyptology as the 'rector' of the informal 'Woldenberg University', which educated in a dozen subjects.

Founder of the Polish school of Mediterranean archaeology
. He graduated in art history and philosophy at the Jan Kazimierz University in Lviv. He then chose Mediterranean archaeology, for curiosity of the world and for patriotic reasons. For he knew that this science did not yet exist in Poland, but was one of the attributes of highly developed countries.
He moved abroad to broaden his knowledge and returned to Lwów (Ph.D. in Philosophy 1926), before joining the University of Warsaw. Here, in 1930, he created the Department of Mediterranean Archaeology, a discipline that integrated classical archaeology with Egyptology. It was an innovative formula: the creation of an interdisciplinary team of specialists from different fields gave the possibility of simultaneous archaeological and conservation work, covering a wide spectrum of testimonies from the past. Thanks to his participation in the French excavations at Delphi and at Tasos and Delos, he wrote his habilitation thesis and, with its publication, declared his accession to the world's leading archaeology.

Professor Kazimierz Michałowski - the Polish Indiana Jones in Egypt
In the course of his further prolific career, he led excavations in Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Crimea, Sudan and Syria, among others. About the work in Egypt, however, he used to say: "Poland cannot afford not to excavate in that country (...). Poland cannot afford not to dig anywhere.".

Kazimierz Michałowski's life work is the Faras Gallery in the National Museum in Warsaw, which bears his name - one of the world's largest exhibitions of Christian Nubian art. Among the Gallery's rich collections on display are paintings and architectural elements from the Faras Cathedral (8th century), discovered in 1960-1964 by a Polish archaeological mission led by Kazimierz Michałowski. The excavation site was flooded by the waters of Lake Naser after the completion of the Great Aswan Dam in the Nile Valley.

As a testimony to international recognition, Michałowski was entrusted with the chairmanship of the International Committee of Experts for the Rescue of the Rock Temples of Abu Simbel (1961-1970), which was established by UNESCO in connection with the planned construction of the Aswan High Dam (1970) and the flooding of the vast area around the Nile.

Kazimierz Michalowski's excavations and nubiology
Kazimierz Michałowski was also an active populariser of archaeology and Egyptology, e.g. he organised exhibitions, was the author and translator of popular science publications, and was a consultant on the film Faraon (1966) by Jerzy Kawalerowicz. He left behind a large number of disciples, through whom Polish archaeology is still developing today. He created a new field, nubiology (which deals with ancient Nubia, today's Sudan) - it has borne such rich fruit to this day that I don't think the Professor himself would have predicted it.

Kazimierz Michałowski's modesty and kindness towards everyone, including excavation workers, have passed into legend. When he greeted them with a handshake, he shocked the majority of foreigners - who presented, so to speak, a colonial attitude.

After the war, although devastated by the sight of Warsaw in ruins (reminding him of the not yet fully excavated ruins of some ancient city), he did not accept the professorship offered to him in Paris, but actively joined the work of rebuilding Polish culture and science.

He was deputy director of the National Museum in Warsaw, where he created the Faras Gallery, which has been open since 1972. He also led to the opening of the University's Mediterranean Archaeology Station in Cairo, which he directed until his death.

Professor Michałowski died on 1 January 1981 in Warsaw, and his grave is in Brwinów.