Walking Among Pharaohs: The Spectacular Career of Archaeologist George Reisner in Egypt and Nubia
Peter Der Manuelian
Barbara Bell Professor of Egyptology
Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and Anthropology Departments, Harvard University
Director, Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East
Director, Giza Project
Walking Among Pharaohs: George Reisner and The Dawn of Modern Egyptology
The lecture examines the life and work of America’s greatest Egyptian archaeologist, George Reisner (1867-1942). His legacy of forty-three years of breathtakingly successful excavations at twenty-three different archaeological sites in Egypt and Sudan (ancient Nubia) included pyramids, colossal statues, gold jewelry, decorated tomb chapels, temples, settlements, fortresses, ceramics, furniture, stone vessels, and hieroglyphic inscriptions everywhere. Leading the Harvard University-Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition, Reisner put American Egyptology on the world stage. The talk presents Reisner’s undeniable impact and considers his life within the context of Western colonialism, racism, and nationalism. It will also explore new visualization technologies, particularly at the Giza Pyramids, that Reisner’s work makes possible today.
Online: please register here.