Reisner, George Andrew

▪ American archaeologist

born , Nov. 5, 1867, Indianapolis, Ind., U.S.

died June 6, 1942, Cairo

      U.S. archaeologist who directed many excavations in Egypt and Nubia (Nilotic Sudan) and discovered the tomb of Queen Hetepheres, mother of King Khufu (Cheops), builder of the Great Pyramid at Giza.

      Reisner served with an international group of experts in classifying the great Egyptology collection of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (1897–99). From 1899 to 1905 he led the Hearst Expedition of the University of California, exploring predynastic and early dynastic burial grounds at Qift and elsewhere and editing The Hearst Medical Papyrus (1905). As assistant professor (1905–14) and professor (1914–42) of Egyptology at Harvard and curator of the Egyptian collection at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (1910–42), he conducted studies for both institutions.

      He also directed the archaeological survey of Nubia for the Egyptian government (1907–09). At Giza he explored mastaba (truncated-pyramid) tombs and the pyramid of Menkaure (Mycerinus), discovered many sculptures of the king, and wrote Mycerinus (1931). He and his staff were able to reconstruct numerous pieces of wooden furniture with gold and faience inlays from the tomb of Queen Hetepheres. In Nubia (1916–23) he explored the pyramids of Meroe and dug out the temple at Napata and the tombs of the 25th (Nubian) dynasty of Egypt. His final published work was A History of the Giza Necropolis (1942).

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