Persona

Habachi, Labib

1906-1984

Egyptian Egyptologist; he was born in Salamun near Mansura, 18 April 1906, son of Habachi Ibrahim, a merchant, and his wife Mauna; he was educated at the Coptic School in Mansura and later at the Maronite School in Cairo; in 1924 he began the study of mathematics at Fuad I (later Cairo) University but transferred in 1925 to the Egyptology Section, BA, 1928; in 1930 he was appointed as an inspector in the Egyptian Antiquities Service; he held posts throughout the country at Aswan, 1930-2, Luxor, Cairo, Edfu, Fayum, Abydos, Sohag, Zagazig and Tanta; in 1944 he was appointed Chief Inspector of Upper Egypt until 1946, was at Saqqara, 1950-1, and was reassigned to Upper Egypt, 1951-58; in 1958 he was promoted to sub-director of field work which post he held until his resignation from the Service in August 1960; he was then appointed archaeological consultant of the Nubian expedition of the Oriental Institute of Chicago, December 1960-63; Labib Habachi was the leading Egyptian archaeologist of his generation and undertook excavations throughout Egypt notably at the Heqaib complex at Aswan, at Karnak where he discovered the Kamose stela, and at Bubastis and Qantir in the Delta; he travelled abroad extensively to visit collections in other museums and to deliver lectures which served to popularize Egyptology; he was chosen a member of the German Archaeological Institute, Berlin 1953, a member of the Institut d'Égypte in 1964, an honorary member of the Egyptological Institute of Charles University, Prague in 1965, and of the Société Française d'Égyptologie in 1983; he was awarded the State Prize of Egypt and the decoration First Class for Arts and Sciences in 1959, the Italian Order of Merit in 1973, the French Légion d'honneur 1979, and the Austrian Order of Merit 1980; on 1 May 1966 the honorary degree of doctor was conferred upon him by New York University; he was elected permanent Honorary President of the International Association for Coptic Studies, 1978; he married in 1961 Attiya Hanim Kamil Ayad (d. 1987); on his 75th birthday a Festschrift with articles by 70 Egyptologists was prepared in MDAIK 37; he himself wrote over 170 articles, books, and notes on Egyptological subjects; the most notable were Tell Basta, 1957; Features of the Deification of Ramesses II, 1969; The Second Kamose Stela and his Struggle against the Hyksos Ruler and his Capital, 1972; The Obelisks of Egypt, 1977; Tavole d'Offerta, Are e Bacili da Libagione, 1977; Le Tombeau de Nay à Gournet Murei (with P. Anus), 1977; Sixteen Studies on Lower Nubia, 1981; Untersuchungen im Totentempel Amenophis' III, with H. Ricke and G. Haeny, 1981; and Elephantine IV. The Sanctuary of Heqaib, 1985; Studies on the Middle Kingdom. Studia Aegyptiaca X, 1987; he died in Cairo, 18 February 1984 and was buried at Deir el-Moharreb near Luxor.

• Who Was Who in Egyptology (5th ed. 2019), 201 fig. (portrait).