Helen Jacquet-Gordon, born Helen Wall-Gordon (born February 7, 1918 in New York, US; died April 26, 2013 in Carouge, Switzerland) was an American Egyptologist.W. Raymond Johnson Director, Epigraphic Survey Oriental Institute, University of Chicago Chicago House, Luxor Helen Jacquet-Gordon, 1918–2013 Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, Vol.49 (2013) Helen Jacquet-Gordon, 7 February 1918 - 26 April 2013Helen-Jacquet-Gordon (1918-2013), BIFAO 113, 2013, pp.1-9
Scholarly training Her mother was a painter, and her father, who died in 1939, was a musician. Her interest in history was sparked as a teenager, and she soon devoured, by her own account, almost everything she could find on the subject in the city libraries. In 1936, she enrolled at Barnard College in New York and later transferred to Columbia University, where she received a diploma in history in 1940 and a master's degree in 1942 for a dissertation on Gertrude Bell. After initially working in a low-paying position at an industrial confectionery, she served in the United States Army Intelligence during World War II, where she was responsible for encrypting and decrypting classified messages.P. Collombert, F. Schuler: Helen Jacquet-Gordon (1918–2013). Kairo 2013, S. 1.
After World War II, Gordon turned to Egyptology. She wanted to deepen her knowledge in this field and introduced herself to Nora Scott, who, in her capacity as curator at the Metropolitan Museum, recommended her to the Assyriologist Adolf Leo Oppenheim. Oppenheim agreed to give her two hours of lessons a week. Gordon quickly became familiar with Alan Gardiner's grammar and sign system, which led Oppenheim to ask her if she would like to become an Egyptologist. Nora Scott then took over her training, giving her private lessons, which were later continued by the Egyptologist Walter Federn at the University of Vienna. In September 1949, Gordon finally went to France, where she followed her future husband, Jean Jacquet, who had initially studied architecture in Geneva and was now training as a musician at the Paris Conservatoire. However, the couple separated after three months. P. Collombert, F. Schuler: Helen Jacquet-Gordon (1918–2013). Kairo 2013, S. 2.
During her "Paris years," she initially applied with letters of recommendation from Oppenheim to Christiane Desroches Noblecourt and Jean Sainte-Fare Garnot, who accepted her into their seminars at the École pratique des hautes études, section de sciences religieuses. At the same time, she attended lectures by Georges Posener and Michel Malinine at the Section des sciences historiques et philologiques and listened to lectures by Jacques Vandier and Pierre du Bourguet at the Institut Catholique de Paris. During these years, she met Jean Yoyotte and Serge Sauneron and, in the summer of 1950, embarked on a journey through Europe from Paris on a bicycle that Jean Yoyotte had given her. In November 1953, she completed her studies at the École pratique des hautes études, graduating with a diploma in Egyptology. In her thesis Les Noms des domaines funéraires sous l’Ancien Empire, she thematically represented a thesis which was published in 1962 by the Institut français d’archéologie orientale Helen Jacquet-Gordon: Les noms des domaines funéraires sous l’ancien empire égyptien (= Bibliothèque d'étude. Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale. Band 34). Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, Kairo 1962. and quickly gained acceptance within Egyptological circles.
Career After another year of studies at the École pratique, Gordon received a scholarship from the International Federation of University Women, which enabled her to conduct her own fieldwork in Egypt for the first time.Helen Wall-Gordon: A New Kingdom Libation Basin Dedicated to Ptah. Second Part. The Inscriptions. In: Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo. Band 16, 1958, S. 168 Footnote 1 On September 21, 1955, she arrived in Alexandria and went first to Cairo, where she stayed with Bernard Bothmer. From there, she visited numerous tombs in Saqqara and Giza that had not yet been explored and became acquainted with Ahmed Fakhry. Above all, however, she used her time in Egypt for a stay in Luxor, where she copied the graffiti and inscriptions from the 22nd and 23rd Dynasties on the roof of the Temple of Khonsu in the Karnak Precinct of Amun. Helen K. Wall: A first glimpse of Egypt. In: Newsletter of the American Research Center in Egypt. Nr. 22, 30. Juni 1956, 1956, S. 22–23. These three months of studies on the Third Intermediate Period of Egypt subsequently became her professional specialization and culminated in a 2003 publication entitled The temple of Khonsu, Vol. 3. The graffiti of the Khonsu Temple roof at Karnak: a manifestation of personal piety.Helen Jacquet-Gordon, The temple of Khonsu, Vol. 3. The graffiti of the Khonsu Temple roof at Karnak: a manifestation of personal piety Oriental Institute Publications, 2003
From the beginning of April to June 1956, she also participated as a research assistant with Jean Yoyotte in an expedition led by Rudolf Anthes, which aimed to excavate the ruins of Mit Rahina, the second oldest capital of Ancient Egypt, located not far from Memphis.Rudolf Anthes: Mit Rahineh 1956. Report with contributions by Ibrahim Abdel Aziz, Hasan S. K. Bakry, Henry G. Fischer, Labib Habachi, Jean Jacquet, William K. Simpson and Jean Yoyotte. University of Pennsylvania Museum Monographs, Philadelphia 1965, S. 71–72 Here Gordon was able to prove herself for the first time and, together with William Kelly Simpson, was responsible for preparing the discovered faience, votive offerings, and other objects, as well as copying and compiling the most important inscriptions found there. Rudolf Anthes: Mit Rahineh 1956. Report … Philadelphia 1965, S. 71–75. While Gordon's achievements at Mit Rahina were truly impressive,Rudolf Anthes: Mit Rahineh 1956. Report … Philadelphia 1965, S. 72–75. she also had the good fortune to meet her long-time friend Jean Jacquet there again. In 1955, in his capacity as an architect, he decided to continue the officially concluded first campaign with his own crew in the area of the small temple of Ramses II and its forecourt. Under extremely adverse conditions, he was able to unearth a stone libation vessel and a series of votive tablets in honor of the god Ptah, as well as statuettes of the goddess Taweret, within eight weeks. These were among the most significant finds of the entire mission. Rudolf Anthes: Mit Rahineh 1956. Report with contributions by Ibrahim Abdel Aziz … Philadelphia 1965, S. 1–4 u. S. 71–75 Gordon then assisted him with a translation and interpretation of the inscription on the libation vessel and the publication of his findings.
In March 1958, Helen Gordon and Jean Jacquet embarked on a research trip to Luxor, where they married on June 23, 1958, at the Chicago House of the Oriental Institute. From that day forward, the paths of these two researchers never diverged. In 1960, Helen Jacquet-Gordon followed her husband to Abu Simbel, where he was preparing to relocate several monumental seated statues—colossal statues from the time of Ramesses II—which were threatened by flooding at their original location. Although not employed by the institute, she contributed to his work by producing numerous epigraphic studies on site, though these were not intended solely for publication. P. Collombert, F. Schuler: Helen Jacquet-Gordon (1918–2013). Kairo 2013, S. 3. Alain und Emmanuelle Arnaudiès: … In memoriam Jean Jacquet … Chicago 2016.
Out of interest in Meroitic culture, they participated in an expedition to Tabo from 1965 to 1977, led by Charles Maystre, where the temple of the god Amun was excavated and two colossal statues of the Meroitic king Natakamani were recovered. H. Jacquet-Gordon, C. Bonnet, J. Jacquet: Pnubs and the Temple of Tabo. In: The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. Band 55, 1969, S. 103–111. A total of nine excavation campaigns were carried out during this archaeological mission in the southern part of Argo Island. In 1967 and 1968, they also worked under the direction of Serge Sauneron on the exploration of Christian sites in the vicinity of Esna, but their main passion always remained the sites around the Karnak temples near Luxor. According to Philippe Collombert, the name of the Jacquet couple will remain inextricably linked to those archaeological sites in North Karnak to which they devoted themselves under the auspices of the IFAO between 1968 and 1977, and again between 1986 and 1992, in the district of Amun. P. Collombert, F. Schuler: Helen Jacquet-Gordon (1918–2013). Kairo 2013, S. 4. Alain u. Emmanuelle Arnaudiès: … In memoriam Jean Jacquet … Chicago 2016.
Among her most important discoveries in the temple precinct was certainly the excavation and identification of a treasury belonging to King Thutmose I and its storehouses. Fragments of furniture and inscribed stone blocks, 16 bronze figures, ivory tusks, faience and ceramics, fragments of statues and statuettes, fragments of signet rings and 163 seal impressions of officials from the Middle Kingdom of Egypt and the Second Intermediate Period, fragments of reliefs and stelae, flint objects, and other items were unearthed in the area of the Monthu Temple. Helen Jacquet-Gordon: Karnak-Nord VI: Le trésor de Thoutmosis I.: la décoration. 2 Bände, Kairo 1988; Helen Jacquet-Gordon: Karnak-Nord VIII: Le trésor de Thoutmosis I.: Statues, stèles et blocs réutilisés. Kairo 1999; Helen Jacquet-Gordon: Karnak-Nord X: Le trésor de Thoutmosis I.: La céramique. 2 Bände, Kairo 2012. Since the rich and diverse range of finds was often initially stored on-site in storage rooms, Irmgard Hein has been conducting a detailed inventory of the objects found there since 2013. Irmgard Hein, Rainer Pauer, Gerda Esche: Karnak-Nord (2022): Les dépôts et archives de Karnak-Nord: Étude du mobilier archéologique et des fragments de relief. In: Bulletin Archéologique des Écoles françaises à l'étranger. Kairo / Rom / Athen 2023, ISSN 2732-687X (Digitized; Irmgard Hein, Joanna Cabaj, Alexander Haidegger: Karnak-Nord (2023): Les dépôts et mobilier du trésor de Thoutmosis Ier. In: Bulletin Archéologique des Écoles françaises à l'étranger. Kairo / Rom / Athen 2024, ISSN 2732-687X