Ian Mathieson

His other great achievements were the methods he devised to survey and map large sites to discover what lay beneath the ground. In 2010 the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors awarded him The Richard Carter Prize for his outstanding contributions in geospatial engineering.

So the Saqqara Geophysical Survey Project was born, and ran until 2009. The project championed the use of non-destructive and cost-effective geophysical survey techniques in Egypt. Over the years, the project employed a number of methods, but the two used most often were magnetometry and ground-penetrating radar.

He first volunteered his services to Harry Smith and David Jeffreys at Memphis and Barry Kemp at Tel el Amarna where he developed his experience in the use of the resistivity meter and the proton magnetometer. Then in 1990 he successfully applied to the Egyptian Antiquities organisation for a concession at Saqqara, the great necropolis of the ancient capital of Memphis. Although numerous sites on the plateau had been examined by different parties in the 19th and 20th centuries, there had never been a comprehensive survey of the entire area.

Mathieson had long had an interest in archaeology, having visited many Roman sites in Scotland. He devised non-intrusive excavation methods using his experience in geology and civil engineering. However, it was while working in Egypt that he developed a passion for the ancient history of that land. From that point on, especially after he retired from full-time work in 1986, Ancient Egypt would be the focus of his attention.

Mathieson’s other interests included amateur dramatics, through which he met his wife, Padi, whom he married in 1958. He was actively involved in the Edinburgh University Dramatic Society and later with the Edinburgh Graduate Theatre Group. He served on the board of directors of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society in the 1970s. He also enjoyed fly-fishing on the rivers and lochs of the Scottish Borders and Highlands.

Mathieson first applied his surveying and geological skills with the National Coal Board. In 1956 he joined Hunting Surveys hoping to be part of a survey team in Antarctica that year. Instead, he found himself mapping the valley of the Euphrates River in Iraq. At home and abroad, his projects with the company included working on the location of the Tay Road Bridge and the Severn Bridge, the building of the Dez Dam in Iran, and the mapping of the Five Rivers Canal System in Pakistan and India. In 1965-66, he was in a party that crossed the great Nafud Desert in Saudi Arabia, travelling in convoy and navigating by the sun and stars. In 1972 he became a partner and technical director with Survey and Development Services, Edinburgh, subsequently establishing offices in Saudi Arabia and in Egypt.

Ian James Mathieson (23 May 1927 – 24 June 2010) was a Scottish Egyptologist and Land Surveyor. He pioneered various methods of surveying and mapping of large archaeological sites avoiding the expense or intrusion of excavation.