Jack Plumley

Jack Plumley (2 September 1910 – 2 July 1999) was an egyptologist and a priest in the Church of England. He was Sir Herbert Thompson Professor of Egyptology at the University of Cambridge from 1957 to 1977.

Career

Plumley attended Merchant Taylors' School, studied theology at St John's College, Durham, and took an MA at King's College, Cambridge. He was ordained a deacon at St Paul's Cathedral in 1933, and became a curate in London.

While in London, Plumley began taking classes in egyptology with Stephen Glanville at University College London. After the War, Glanville was appointed Sir Herbert Thompson Professor of Egyptology in Cambridge; Plumley became his assistant, and, on Glanville's death in 1956, his successor. He was chairman of the Department of Egyptology from 1957 until 1977. Plumley wrote numerous books, articles, and essays, and oversaw excavations including those at Qasr Ibrim ahead of the flooding caused by the Aswan Dam. He was elected a member of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1966. From 1978 to 1982 he was president of the International Society for Nubian Studies. He died in Cambridge on 2 July 1999.