Kent Weeks Interview (page: 2 / 7) Living Legend of Egyptology	Print Interview

Dr. Weeks, did you always know what you wanted to do with your life, or did it just happen?

Kent Weeks: No, you know, I've never had any doubt at all.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. I knew when I was eight years old that I wanted to be an archeologist. I knew when I was nine years old that I wanted to focus on ancient Egypt. I'll be darned if I can tell you what the reason is. I don't know what the cause was, whether it was a movie I saw or a book I read. But by the luck of the draw, I had a series of teachers throughout grade school who not only encouraged this interest in ancient Egypt, but kept pushing books on me and saying, "Read this, read that." And I grew up almost feeling that Egypt was a part of my life, from the age of eight onward. Never had any doubts at all, except once. That was when I entered college. In my freshman year I panicked. "How on earth am I ever going to make a living being an Egyptologist? I mean, I don't even know exactly what an Egyptologist does. But I've sure never met one. I've never heard of any university around here that offers a job in Egyptology." I panicked, went down and changed my major from archeologist to architecture. I lasted four days. Talked to the adviser, read through the list of courses I would have to take, sat in on two lectures and decided I'd rather die of starvation. It's going to be Egyptology or it's going to be nothing. And that was it. I just continued on with Egyptology from then on.

[ Key to Success ] Passion

You mean you have no explanation for such a commitment, for such passion?

Kent Weeks: No, I really don't. It's strange. So many people have asked this question, in the last couple of years especially. I have racked my brain trying to go back to my childhood to figure out what it was. I was born and raised in Seattle, maybe it was an intense dislike of rain, dark nights, that caused me to move towards the desert. Maybe it was Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy, which I did see at about that age too. I don't know what exactly it was, but I've never had any doubt.

Were there any other events or books or experiences that inspired you as a kid?

Kent Weeks: Well again, I don't know what the initial cause was. I can tell you a lot of things that reinforced this decision throughout elementary school, junior high, high school. First and foremost, a series of wonderful, wonderful teachers to whom I owe virtually everything.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. I have always had the greatest admiration for elementary school teachers. They've got a hard job to do, and these people really did it extremely well. If it hadn't been for them, I might well be out selling shoes or insurance today, I don't know. In any case, it was reading the books that they offered, it was talking to them. When I was about 12, discovering that there were places in America that taught Egyptology, I wrote off to various universities. I said, "Excuse me for interrupting, Professor sir, but I'm a 12-year-old. I want to become an Egyptologist. What should I do?" And without exception, every one of those people wrote back long letters. "You should study this... languages are important... get some history. A good liberal arts education is the basic foundation for anything you decide to go into. Keep in mind that you're never going to be rich. Keep in mind that you may not get a job..." because even today, in 1996, we've got probably 350 professional Egyptologists in the world, and that's it. And many of those are not gainfully employed doing Egyptology. There aren't enough museums, there aren't enough universities around to keep them employed. So it's a dicey business. But fortunately, because of the letters I got, the advice I got, I think I structured my high school career and my college career in such a way that I could finally get into the field.

[ Key to Success ] Preparation

Get the Flash Player to see this video. I went to the University of Washington as an undergraduate. They didn't offer any Egyptology at all. So I did archeology, but they didn't offer much of that. And I thought, "Well, I'm interested in the history of medicine. Why not take anatomy and pathology and all the med school courses?" And I went down and conned my way into all of those. Did a whole series of things on medicine as an undergraduate, which paid big dividends, because when I finally was accepted to graduate school at Yale, my parents couldn't afford to send me there. I needed to get a fellowship. Fellowships were hard to come by, and I thought, "Wait. I think I know what I can do." So I made an application to the National Institutes of Mental Health and said, "I want to study ancient Egyptian medicine at Yale," and I got a four-year scholarship to do it. Did my doctoral thesis, finally, on the representation of the human figure in ancient Egyptian art and the anatomical terminology in ancient Egyptian medical texts. I think I'm the only person in the world ever to get a degree in Egyptology on an NIMH fellowship. But gosh, without that... I mean it's almost like kismet, in some ways. All of these things just falling together and allowing me to continue what could be a rather narrow, difficult path. I've been very lucky.

[ Key to Success ] Perseverance

What did your parents think of all this, when you were a kid and were so immersed in Egyptology? What did they think when you said that's what you wanted to do with your life, at the age of eight and nine?

Get the Flash Player to see this video. Kent Weeks: Well, when I said it at the age of eight or nine, my mother said, "That's nice, dear." My father turned the page of the paper and said, "Umm." When they realized I was getting serious about this they were very encouraging. But I must admit at the same time they were rather concerned. "How's this kid going to make a living? Are we going to have him around here at the age of 45?" I had an aunt who was very pragmatic. She said, "How dare you consider squandering your parents' money by doing something so stupid at university? Why don't you go into engineering, or maybe business? There's all kinds of things you can do in marketing." After I got my doctorate, I got my first job at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. I was there for two years. And then I was hired by the University of Chicago. Even after that, while I was married, we had two kids, I was teaching at the University of Chicago, I would go back to Seattle, my aunt would say, 'Well, have you come home? Are you finally going to settle down and get a real job? Are you through with all this silliness?" Not very helpful. But the teachers, yes. My parents, yes.

[ Key to Success ] Perseverance

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