George Andrew Reisner

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

Early life

Reisner was born on November 5, 1867, in Indianapolis. His parents were George Andrew Reisner Sr. and Mary Elizabeth Mason. His father's parents were of German descent.

Academic career

Reisner began his studies at Harvard University in 1885. There he gained a B.A. degree in 1889, followed by a M.A. in 1891 and a Ph.D. in Semitic Languages in 1893. With the support of his advisor, assyriologist David Gordon Lyon, he became a traveling fellow and started postdoctoral work in Berlin for three years. In Germany, Reisner studied hieroglyphics with Kurt Sethe and turned towards Egyptology as his main field.

Reisner was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1914 and the American Philosophical Society in 1940.

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

Archaeology career

On his return from Germany in 1899, Reisner organized his first archaeological expedition to Egypt (1899–1905), funded by philanthropist Phoebe Hearst. In subsequent seasons, he excavated the Middle Kingdom sites of Deir el-Ballas and El-Ahaiwah, where he developed an archaeological methodology that characterized his work from that moment on.

In 1902, permission to excavate the Western cemetery in Giza was granted by Gaston Maspero, director of the Egyptian Antiquities Service. The area was divided into three sections, and chosen by lot. The southern section was given to the Italians under Ernesto Schiaparelli, the northern strip to the Germans under Ludwig Borchardt, and the middle section to Andrew Reisner. He met Queen Marie of Romania in Giza. During this first expedition, Reisner gathered and catalogued approximately 17.000 objects.