George Andrew Reisner

George Andrew Reisner
George Andrew Reisner
Born	(1867-11-05)November 5, 1867 Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Died	June 6, 1942(1942-06-06) (aged 74) Giza, Egypt
Known for	Ancient Egypt
Spouse	Mary Putnam Bronson
Children	Mary B. Reisner
Parent(s)	Mary Elizabeth Mason George Andrew Reisner I

George Andrew Reisner Jr. (November 5, 1867 – June 6, 1942) was an American archaeologist of Ancient Egypt, Nubia and Palestine.

Biography

Reisner was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. His parents were George Andrew Reisner I and Mary Elizabeth Mason. His father's parents were of German descent.^[1] Reisner gained B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University, before becoming a travelling fellow.^[2]

He married Mary Putnam Bronson, with whom he had a daughter, also called Mary.

In 1889, Reisner was head football coach at Purdue University, coaching for one season and compiling a record of 2–1.

Archaeology career

Upon his studies at

He also created a list of Egyptian viceroys of Kush. He found the tomb of Queen Hetepheres I, the mother of King Khufu (Cheops in Greek) who built the Great Pyramid at Giza. During this time he also explored mastabas. Arthur Merton (London Times) remarked in 1936 in the aftermath of the Abuwtiyuw discovery that Reisner "enjoys an unrivalled position not only as the outstanding figure in present-day Egyptology, but also as a man whose soundness of judgement and extensive general knowledge are widely conceded."^[3]

In 1902 permission to excavate the Western cemetery in

In Egypt, Reisner developed a new archaeological technique which became a standard in the profession, combining the British methods of Petrie, the German methods of Dorpfeld and Koldewey, his own American practicality and his skill for large-scale organization. Despite later being recognised as a mark of good practice, this technique was at the time controversial, and was criticised as being overly elaborate.^[7]

In 1908, after a decade in Egypt, Reisner headed the Harvard excavation of Samaria.^[8]

In 1913 Reisner was tasked with training the young archaeologist

Reisner was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1914 and the American Philosophical Society in 1940.^[9][10]

Timeline

• 1897–1899: Classified Egyptology collection of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo
• 1899–1905: Led the Hearst Expedition of the University of California to explore burial grounds at and around Qift
• 1905: Edited
  The Hearst Medical Papyrus
• 1905–1914: Assistant professor of Egyptology at Harvard University
• 1907–1909: Directed archaeological survey of
  Nilotic Sudan
  ) for Egyptian government
• 1910–1942: Curator of Egyptian collections at the
  Boston Museum of Fine Arts
• 1914–1942: Professor of Egyptology at Harvard University
• 1916: Discovers in Jebel Barkal, in two separate caches, hard stone statues, representing
  Tanwetamani, Senkamanisken, Anlamani, and Aspelta
• 1916–1923: Explored pyramids of Meroë, dug out temple at Napata
• 1931: Wrote Mycerinus (alternative name of Menkaure)
• 1942: Published final work, A History of the Giza Necropolis

Published works

• Amulets. Cairo: Impr. de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale. 1907. (reprint
  ISBN 978-1-57898-718-4
  )
• Early dynastic cemeteries of Naga-ed-Dêr. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs. 1908.
• The Egyptian conception of immortality. Cambridge: The Riverside Press (Houghton Mifflin). 1912.
• Excavations at Kerma. Cambridge: Peabody Museum of Harvard University. 1923. (reprint
  ISBN 0-527-01028-6
  )
• Harvard excavations at Samaria, 1908-1910. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1924. (with Clarence Stanley Fisher and David Gordon Lyon)
• Mycerinus, the temples of the third pyramid at Giza. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1931.
• The development of the Egyptian tomb down to the accession of Cheops. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1936.
• A history of the Giza Necropolis. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1942.
• Canopics. Cairo: Impr. de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale. 1967. (completed by Mohammad Hassan Abd-ul-Rahman)

Head coaching record

References