Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (10.1998(1999))

OBITUARY

Jack Plumley
1910-1999


“Jack Martin Plumley was a large man with a powerful voice and a warm hearth, who succeeded
in the astonishing feat of combining a love of the parish ministry with leadership in the study of the
language and archaeology of ancient Christian Egypt” wrote the British “Times” of Professor
Plumley, who died on July 2, 1999' It is a succinct summing up of a long and active life of the
Reverend Professor, whose ties with the Polish scholarly community were those of special friendship
and archaeological cooperation.
Jack Martin Plumley was born at Peverell, near Plymouth, on September 2, 1910, and spent
his youth in London. He read Theology at St.John's College, Durham, where he also studied Hebrew
and Syriac. Ordained a priest (Church of England) in 1934, he continued to develop his interest in
Egyptology, and especially the Coptic language, at the inspiration of eminent Egyptologist Jaroslav
Cerny. The outcome of these studies was the excellent “Introductory Coptic Grammar”, which he pub-
lished in 1948. In 1955, he was offered the Chair of Egyptology at Cambridge and held it until
his retirement. Liked and respected by members of the Coptic Church hierarchy in Egypt, he was also
held in great affection by his students, from Britain and abroad, and a regular stream came from
Egypt and Sudan to work with him. One of his important scholarly venues was the work on B iblical

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