Hello, my name is Stacey Anne Bagdi!
I currently live and work in Harrow, London. My role is Collections & Exhibitions Officer (Curator) at Headstone Manor & Museum. As well as holding a museum background, I am first and foremost, an Archaeologist and Egyptologist. I graduated with a BA in Archaeology and Ancient History from the University of Birmingham. I obtained my MA in Egyptology from the University of Leiden. Currently I am a PhD Egyptology candidate at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. As well as working on archaeology in London, I excavate at least once a year in Egypt at the site of Tell Timai, in the Egyptian Delta - find out more about my work in Egypt below!
In Harrow, I am responsible for the care of our historic buildings which forms part of an ancient monument site as well as our Museum and Archival collections. My role includes managing the exhibitions programme, researching our collections as well as outreach. We hold over 20,000 objects in our Museum's collections. The majority of the collection is objects relating to social history (from the people and places of Harrow) but we also have material relating to fine art, past industries in Harrow, textiles, maps and archaeology. We have a sizeable collection of archaeological material from pre-historic to Medieval. A small portion of our archaeological collections is on display in our Grade II listed Small Barn. These objects help us to share the story of Headstone Manor's beginnings before the initial construction of the house in 1310.
We're in the process of understanding and digitalising our archaeological collections so we can use them for further research, exhibitions and outreach work. Most recently, Oxford Archaeology excavated at the site and we look forward to sharing their research and archaeological archives with you as they will form part of our permanent collections. We hope to share our progress with you all so follow us on social media to stay tuned for more.
When I am not knee deep in archaeological material in Harrow, I am physically knee deep in Egyptian mud excavating in the Nile Delta at the Graeco-Roman ancient city of Thmuis, known as Tell Timai. In 2017, I joined the Tell Timai team, an American/Russian mission who have been excavating at the site for over 10 years now. I have been extremely lucky to have continued to work there every year, usually in the winter when it is much cooler in Egypt!
On site in Egypt, it is a very different environment to British archaeological norms but the essentials of archaeology are just the same. We start our day early to beat the Egyptian sun and generally I move from team to team assisting with everything from on-site archaeology to documentation to finds organisation. Our day usually finishes early around 2pm and after a nice Egyptian lunch, we set to work in the afternoon cleaning our finds and writing up our reports. We have a fantastic team supported by Egyptian inspectors, local workmen and a family of Egyptian ""Quftis"". The Quftis are highly skilled Egyptian archaeologists from the village of Quft, Luxor, whose past family generations once excavated alongside Flinders Petrie. Our Quftis are like our family. I learn all my archaeological skills from our fantastic supervisiors and the Quftis. Each year yields fascinating artefacts and structures which brings us a little closer to the ancient city of Thmouis - I look forward to getting back out there soon!
Recently, I was awarded funding from the American Research Centre in Egypt to lead a project to help celebrate the work we have been doing at Tell Timai and create a new open-air exhibition at the Mansoura Storage Museum in Mendes, near to our excavation site. I hope to bring my curatorial knowledge to the project and led on a community engagement and outreach programme on site so we can attract more tourists and local communities to the area.
Archaeology is a big part of my world, whether it is in London or Egypt - I love being an Archaeologist.
To find out more about my work in London and Egypt, follow me on Twitter @StaceyAnneBagdi
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