author
George Andrew Reisner
1867–1942
A pioneering American archaeologist, he helped turn excavation into a more careful, systematic science through his work in Egypt, Nubia, and Palestine. He is especially remembered for major discoveries at Giza, including the tomb of Queen Hetepheres.
1 Audiobook
The Egyptian Conception of Immortality The Ingersoll Lecture, 1911
by George Andrew Reisner
About the author
Born in Indianapolis on November 5, 1867, George Andrew Reisner studied at Harvard and first trained in Semitic languages before moving into archaeology. He went on to become one of the leading Egyptologists of his era, with a career that joined scholarship, fieldwork, and museum research.
Reisner directed important excavations in Egypt and Nubia and became closely associated with the Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition. His work at Giza was especially influential, and he is widely noted for the discovery of the tomb of Queen Hetepheres, the mother of Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid. He also built a reputation for meticulous recording and methodical excavation, helping shape modern archaeological practice.
From 1914 until his death in 1942, he served as Professor of Egyptology at Harvard. He died in Egypt on June 6, 1942, after decades of work that left a lasting mark on the study of the ancient Nile world.