Joseph Bonomi the Younger into debt and was eventually happy to accept a modestly paid commission to accompany Robert Hay on an expedition, via Malta, to Egypt in 1824. This began a lifelong interest in Egyptology. From 1824 to 1826, he was a member of Hay's expedition where he sketched many antiquities. At Abu Simbel in 1825, Bonomi – responding to Hay's demands for great accuracy – devised a drawing frame (a viewfinder-type device equipped with a sight and a string or wire grid) to help them draw the temples' interior decorations. The expedition then moved on to Kalabsha, where Bonomi laboured to produce
Lotfy El Tanbouli resident archaeologist during the transferring of the two temples of Abu Simbel to higher ground (1964–1968). He organized the first Negro festival in Dakar, the African art festival in Lagos, the exhibition of Ramses II in Paris (1976) and the ancient Egyptian Queens and Kings exhibition in Japan (1978). The Egyptian section of the military museum in Cairo and Port Said was organized by Tanbouli. Publications: The complete scientific publication collection: The small temple of Abu Simbel (two parts). The scientific collection of the temples: Garf Hussein Temple, the second, the third and the fourth parts. The scientific booklets collection: