A. J. Arkell
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 | This article needs attention from an expert in Biography. The specific problem is: a central fact of the article was found to be inaccurate—a misattributed quote was removed this date—and so, absent any sourcing, the content of the article has to be judged with suspicion, until an expert can review it, add sources to reliable material, and remove any further unreliable material it might contain. See the talk page for details. (February 2017) |
A. J. Arkell | |
|---|---|
| Born | 29 July 1898 Hinxhill, Kent, England[not verified in body] |
| Died | 26 February 1980 (aged 81) |
| Nationality | British |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Archaeology, foreign service (colonial administration) |
Anthony John Arkell (29 July 1898 – 26 February 1980), known as A. J. Arkell, was a British archaeologist and colonial administrator noted for his work in the Sudan and Egypt.[not verified in body]
Early life and education
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion with: standard biographical content, including sourcing, to support place and date of birth, aspects of family, and education prior to beginning career. You can help by adding to it. (February 2017) |
Anthony John Arkell was born on 29 July 1898 in Hinxhill, Kent, England.[citation needed]
Career
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Arkel saw service with the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force in World War I. He joined the Sudan Political Service in 1920. He built a reputation as an archaeologist, and as a colonial administrator working in the Sudan and Egypt. As former official of the British colonial government, Arkell was able to conduct several surveys, documenting among other things the existence of massive iron works in Meroe and the extensive pre-dynastic culture of Egypt, notably the Badarians. Arkell was instrumental in ending the slave trade between the Sudan and Ethiopia, and in establishing villages for the freed slaves, who named themselves "the Sons of Arkell". In 1938, he was appointed commissioner for archaeology and anthropology and undertook a series of digs that revealed information about Sudanese prehistory for the first time. In 1948, he became the curator of the Flinders Petrie Collection of Egyptian Antiquities and professor of Egyptology at University College, University of London, where he catalogued the collection and wrote his History of the Sudan (1955).[full citation needed]
Arkell and Afrocentrism
| This section contains weasel words: vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information. (February 2017) |
Arkell's work has received recent attention resulting from the debate over Afrocentrism.[citation needed] Some[weasel words] have criticised Arkell's conclusions, alleging that he divided Sudanic areas into vaguely defined populations including a superior "Brown" race (Arab or Semitic) and "Negro" races, and that he held that progress among the Negro aborigines was due to Egyptianisation, rather than to independent development. Others[weasel words] point, however, to Arkell's surveys as proof against what they consider to be racist assumptions about Africa, namely that any significant cultural or technological development is due to the outside influence of Caucasoid invaders or migrants.[citation needed]
Personal life
Arkell retired in 1963 and was ordained a minister.[citation needed] He died in Chelmsford on 26 February 1980, at the age of eighty-one.[citation needed]
