Theodore Davis House

The American businessman, Theodore M. Davis (1837–1915), rose from modest beginnings. Largely self-educated, he built a successful legal career and amassed considerable wealth through business ventures during the American Civil War. Inspired by friends’ tales of Egypt’s ancient riches, he first travelled to the country in 1887, becoming convinced that countless treasures still lay hidden, awaiting only determination—and perhaps a measure of good fortune—to be found.

In 1897, Davis commissioned the construction of an opulent dahabiyeh, the Beduin, from which he began making regular journeys along the Nile, stopping at the major archaeological sites that lined its banks. The more time he spent in Egypt, and the more he listened to European archaeologists describe their discoveries, the more persuaded he became that Thebes offered the greatest promise for spectacular finds. By 1900 he had already begun to act on this conviction, financing at least one season of Percy Newberry’s work on private tombs in the Theban necropolis. Davis' strenghtening belief in the region’s archaeological promise laid the groundwork for his eventual and more ambitious support of excavations in the Valley of the Kings.

In 1902, Howard Carter—then serving as Chief Inspector of Antiquities for Upper Egypt—assumed official supervision of the excavations financed by Davis in the Valley of the Kings (KV). Although the two men had known each other socially since 1900, their professional collaboration only began two years later. Under Carter’s direction, Davis’s team achieved several early successes, including the discovery of the richly furnished tomb of Thutmes IV (KV 43) in 1903 and the clearance and publication of Thutmes I and Hatshepsut’s tomb (KV 20).

Carter’s role in the Valley came to an end in 1904, when he was transferred north by the Antiquities Service. His departure ushered in a period of transition during which oversight of Davis’ work passed first to James Quibell, Chief Inspector from November 1904 to March 1905, and then to Arthur Weigall, who arrived in Luxor in March and briefly overlapped with Quibell during the handover. It was during this transitory period that Davis’ workmen uncovered the unplundered tomb of Yuya and Thuyu (KV 46), parents of Amenhetep III. The clearance was supervised by Quibell and Weigall, and Quibell later produced the official publication. KV 46 was the most lavish tomb yet found in the Valley, a distinction it held until the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb (KV 62) seventeen years later.

Neither Quibell nor Weigall, however, was able to exercise the firm control over Davis’s excavations that Carter had once maintained. Quibell kept only a very general eye on operations, while Weigall later admitted that he struggled to prevent Davis from 'running the Tombs of the Kings as a social affair,' allowing the work to proceed with considerable independence. This situation persisted even after the Antiquities Service insisted that Davis hire a full-time, professionally trained archaeologist and, furthermore, limited his work to a single area at a time, requiring that each be fully cleared before he proceeded elsewhere. Ironically, in his continued pursuit of gold and treasure in the Valley, Davis chose the young Englishman Edward Ayrton—an archaeologist who held “treasure-hunting” in notably low regard. But, perhaps following Davis’ "nose for treasure," Ayrton found the so called “Gold Tomb” (KV 56), filled with 78 amulets, pendants, bracelets, and necklaces, all of gold, silver, and electrum. 'It would seem that I have more success than any other explorer,' Davis wrote, taking credit for its discovery, but his lack of concern for any of the objects not of gold and silver was commented on by several visiting Egyptologists. One described seeing Davis tear apart some recently discovered ancient floral collars made of papyrus and Faience beads to show lunch guests 'how strong they were.' Davis’s reputation as a benefactor of archaeology suffered greatly from this and other similar stories.

Early in his employment, Ayrton suggested that their work would benefit if its headquarters were in the field, close to the work, with cleaning and photographic facilities and living quarters. Davis agreed, and “Davis House” was built at the entrance to the West Valley of the Kings. The site was carefully chosen, doubtless at Ayrton’s suggestion, located so as not to interfere with the view of the Valley tourists first saw as they walked from their donkeys and horses. No one was associated with more discoveries in the Valley of the Kings than Theodore Davis—his crews uncovered nearly thirty tombs—and for a time he was the most famous excavator in the world. “Davis House” soon became part of his public persona, with tea at the house a sought-after social occasion and visits from J. P. Morgan, Theodore Roosevelt, and numerous other dignitaries. The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall even insisted that lunch with Davis at the house was an essential part of their Luxor itinerary.

In reality, however, the house was far less Davis’ residence than its name implies. Ayrton and the other members of the excavation team spent most of their time there, using it as their daily base during the digging seasons, while Davis and his companion, Emma Andrews, lived primarily aboard the Beduin, their luxurious dahabiyeh. Andrews, writing from the Beduin in January 1908, captured this dynamic when she observed - 'I heard the Duchess (of Cornwall) talking to Mr. Davis about how the Gorsts (the British Consul General Sir Eldon and his wife) enjoyed their lunch yesterday in the Valley House, and I know from what she said that she intended Theo should invite them also to lunch there, and I don’t think he will be able to escape it.' Over the years, the house was also modified and expanded to meet the needs of the excavation staff. In 1907, an artist’s studio was added for Harold Jones’ work, together with a kitchen staffed by a cook and houseboy. Since the building served as storage for excavation finds, two guards and a guards’ room were incorporated as well. In 1908, following Ayrton’s departure to work for the British Expedition at Abydos, Jones became Davis’ lead excavation supervisor. He was joined by Lancelot Crane, who was employed as an artist to draw the reliefs in the newly discovered tomb of Horemheb (KV 57). Jones' tenure as supervisor was unexpectedly brief —he died in the house in 1911 after a short illness. Harry Burton, who lived there while serving as photographer for Davis’ team, succeeded Jones and remained until 1914, after which he joined the Metropolitan Museum of Art Expedition and relocated to their house.

With scores of discoveries and worldwide fame, Davis’ life seems charmed. However, in 1914, age and ill health forced him to abandon his searches for treasure. He described the Valley of the Kings as being “exhausted,” and he returned to America, where he died in 1915, seven years before Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen. 

After 1914, the excavation concession for the Valley of the Kings was granted to Lord Carnarvon, with Howard Carter serving as director of the work. This transition marked the end of Davis' involvement in the Valley and the beginning of a new, more systematic phase of exploration. During this period, Carter converted Davis House into a store for the excavations, while continuing to live in his own residence, Carter House. Following this, the occupation history of the house remains unclear for several decades. It was not until 1978 that John Romer, as director of the Brooklyn Museum expedition to the Valley of the Kings, reoccupied the building during his work on the clearance of the tomb of Rameses XI (KV4). By this time, the house had seriously deteriorated, and Romer undertook its excavation and restoration. During this process, he uncovered a number of broken glass photographic negatives within the debris, adding an unexpected archival dimension to the site’s later history. Following the departure of Romer and his team, Davis House was later occupied by the Polish–Egyptian Tuthmosis III Temple Mission, directed by Professor Jadwiga Lipińska. From 1984–85 until 1996, the house served as the mission’s base of operations. During this period, it was cleaned, repainted, and refurnished, with new wooden furniture produced by the mission’s restorers, and a small garden established at the entrance, ensuring the continued use and maintenance of the building as a residential and working space.

From 1997 to the present, the house has been used by the Supreme Council of Antiquities and Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities as a residence and office for its inspectors. In this capacity, Davis House has continued to function as a working structure within the Valley of the Kings, reflecting a shift from private, foreign-led excavation headquarters to an institutional role embedded within Egypt’s own heritage administration.