Ricardo Caminos’s life bridged Argentine roots and Egyptian scholarship
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Ricardo Augusto Caminos, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1915, dedicated his life to the study of ancient Egypt.
He received his early education in history at the University of Buenos Aires, developing a passion for literature and the arts. In 1941, Caminos moved to the University of Chicago to focus on Egyptology, earning a scholarship from the Institute of International Education and later a Rockefeller Foundation Scholarship to study at the University of Oxford.
At Oxford, Caminos connected with prominent Egyptologists Battiscombe Gunn and Alan Gardiner, becoming integrated into British Egyptological communities. He then returned to Chicago and trained with the Epigraphic Survey in Luxor, learning techniques from the Chicago House. This led to his 1955 appointment as Director of an epigraphic survey of Gebel el-Silsila for the Egypt Exploration Society’s Archaeological Survey of Egypt. The Archaeological Survey of Egypt, founded in 1889, aimed to comprehensively document Egyptian monuments.
Caminos joined a distinguished group of epigraphers, including Percy Newberry and Howard Carter, who contributed to the Survey’s work across the Nile valley. He continued this work until his death in 1992, leaving behind a legacy as a key figure in Egyptological recording.
