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In this expansive new biography of George Reisner, Egyptologist Peter Der Manuelian examines the life and work of America's greatest archaeologist. Manuelian presents Reisner's undeniable impact and considers his life within the context of Western colonialism, racism, and nationalism.
List of contents
- Preface
- Egyptian Chronology and Nubian Comparative Chart
- Map
- Introduction
- I. Early Years (1867-1899)
- 1: Midwestern Beginnings and Endings
- 2: Go East, Young Man
- 3: Conversion in Germany
- 4: "Somebody Needed an Archaeologist"
- II. The Path to the Pyramids (1899-1905)
- 5: The Road Taken
- 6: Chance of a Lifetime: Giza
- 7: Devastation and Realignment: The Birth of the HU-MFA Expedition (1904-1905)
- III. Egypt, Palestine, Nubia, America (1905-1913)
- 8: Multitasking across Cultures
- 9: King Menkaure versus the "Pestiferous Sheikhs" of Palestine
- 10: Back to the Classroom
- 11: Giza Politics, Giza Discoveries
- IV. War Years (1913-1918)
- 12: Focus on Nubia: The Kerma Kingdom
- 13: Archaeology in Wartime: Kerma, Gammai, Deir el-Bersha
- 14: A Mystery Solved: The Nubian Pyramids of Gebel Barkal and Nuri
- 15: The Near-Destruction of Two American Expeditions
- V. Archaeology and Politics (1919-1926)
- 16: "The Work is his God:" Gebel Barkal, el-Kurru, and Meroe
- 17: (Mis)interpreting the Nubians in the Shadow of Tutankhamun
- 18: Secrets of a Giza Queen
- 19: Excursus: Showdown with Breasted over Egyptian Archaeology
- VI. Nubian Fortresses and Giza Tombs (1927-1937)
- 20: Hoisting Sarcophagi
- 21: Looking Back and Taking Stock
- 22: Septuagenarian Archaeology
- VII. Legacies at Home and Abroad (1938-1947)
- 23: Virtual and Actual Homecomings
- 24: Finale
- 25: Endgame: Transforming The HU-MFA Expedition
- 26: Epilogue: Revered or Reviled? Reisner and his Archaeological Impact
- Endnotes
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- Reisner Bibliography
- General Bibliography
- Abbreviations
- Expedition Chronology and Staff
- Glossary of Arabic and other Foreign Words
- Index
About the author
Peter Der Manuelian is Barbara Bell Professor of Egyptology in both the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and the Anthropology Departments at Harvard University, and director of the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East. He is Director of the Giza Project, which aims to collect and present online all past, present, and future archaeological activity at the Giza Pyramids. Among his numerous scholarly and children's books on ancient Egypt are Digital Giza: Visualizing the Pyramids, Slab Stelae of the Giza Necropolis, and 30-Second Ancient Egypt.
Summary
In this expansive new biography of George Reisner, Egyptologist Peter Der Manuelian examines the life and work of America's greatest archaeologist. Manuelian presents Reisner's undeniable impact and considers his life within the context of Western colonialism, racism, and nationalism.
Pyramids with hidden burial chambers. Colossal royal statues and minuscule gold jewelry. Decorated tomb chapels, temples, settlements, fortresses, ceramics, furniture, stone vessels, and hieroglyphic inscriptions everywhere. This is the legacy of forty-three years of breathtakingly successful excavations at twenty-three different archaeological sites in Egypt and Sudan (ancient Nubia). George Reisner (1867-1942) discovered all this and more during a remarkable career that revolutionized archaeological method in both the Old World and the New. Leading the Harvard University-Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition, Reisner put American Egyptology on the world stage. His uniquely American success story unfolded despite British control of Egyptian politics, French control of Egyptian antiquities, and an Egypt yearning for independence, all while his Egyptian teams achieved the fieldwork results and mastered the arts of recording and documentation.
Reisner's lifespan covers the birth of modern archaeology. It also intersects powerfully with aspects of colonialism, racism, and nationalism, as Western powers imposed their influence on Egypt especially during the two World Wars. The wholesale export of dynastic Egypt's treasures to European and American museums also raised issues of repatriation and cultural patrimony long before they became the hot topics they are today. Walking Among Pharaohs, by distinguished Egyptologist Peter Der Manuelian, gathers unpublished documents from all over the world to present a fascinating and intimate biography of one of the founding fathers of modern Egyptology and one of America's greatest archaeologists.
Additional text
Walking Among Pharaohs, reflects the richness of that archival record in its marshalling of countless letters, several diaries, numerous proposals and reports, photographs, and other unpublished materials into a narrative.
