The burial site at Abydos had been explored by locals for centuries prior to the arrival of European archaeologists, although there is no record available to show how they used or preserved the items they found.

It was a significant area, regarded by many ancient Egyptians as the final burial place of Osiris. Large numbers of contemporaries chose to be buried at the site or hoped to share in Osiris’s resurrection by building cenotaphs and setting up inscribed stones. 

Amelia worked with the first group of European archaeologists to organise the excavation and recording of the finds on behalf of the EEF. The excavations would have used local knowledge and people, with European archaeologists overseeing the operation – further demonstrating the imbalances of power that existed in this period. Over 200 objects at Bagshaw Museum are from Abydos.  

Whilst Amelia believed her work was helping to preserve the history of ancient Egypt, modern historians consider the ethical issues this raises, linked to colonial dynamics and focusing on the attitudes of the colonisers towards local Egyptians.

Many objects were removed from their intended final resting place in burial chambers, which were placed there to help the deceased in the afterlife. By removing them, Victorian explorers can be seen as disregarding the culture and beliefs of ancient Egyptians for their own personal interests, and wealth.

"Egyptian antiquities were domesticated within European frames of knowledge and appropriated as narratives of the development of Western civilization, while simultaneously subject to a cultural dislocation from the landscape and peoples of modern Egypt.” Heba Abd el-Gawad and Alice Stevenson, modern historian of ancient Egypt (2021) .

A long time ago, even in ancient Egypt, people thought it was very wrong to disturb or steal from graves. There were rules and stories that warned against robbing tombs, and it was considered a serious crime. Sadly, some tombs were broken into, and mummified bodies were taken. This means we can no longer know much about these people and their lives.

Although this happened a long time ago, it's important to remember that these were real people with their own stories and cultures. We should respect their history and their resting places.