Recently featured by the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE), Harvard Anthropology Professor Peter Manuelian continues his work in commemorating George Reisner (1867-1942), American Archaeologist and Egyptologist.
Few, in the field of Egyptology, would claim not to know George Andrew Reisner.
A celebrated American archaeologist and Egyptologist, Reisner’s groundbreaking work on the Giza plateau, as well as in Nubia and Palestine, has impacted excavation methods to this day.
On February 17, 2024, under the auspices of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) and the Friends of the American Cemetery, an event was held at the American Cemetery in Cairo, where Reisner is buried, to commemorate his life and work, mark the restoration of his monument, and highlight his newly published biography (2023): Walking Among Pharaohs: George Reisner and the Dawn of Modern Egyptology.
Author Peter Der Manuelian, Harvard University Professor of Egyptology, outlined Reisner’s life and legacy, with readings from his new book. Following Der Manuelian’s talk, attendees were given a tour of the historic cemetery. For more information about the cemetery and ongoing efforts to restore and maintain it, please go to the American Cemetery in Cairo Annual Report.
Reisner’s monument at the cemetery had been restored in December 2022 under the direction of Dr. Nicholas Warner, ARCE Director for Cultural Heritage Projects, with financing by the Friends of the American Cemetery.
Peter Manuelian will be presenting a talk titled "Pennsylvania: “The View from “Harvard Camp:” George Reisner and the Giza Pyramids then and now” at ARCE Pennsylvania on March 23rd.
Leading the Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition, George Reisner (1867–1942) put American Egyptology on the world stage with forty-three years of breathtakingly successful excavations at twenty-three different archaeological sites in Egypt and Sudan. His uniquely American success story unfolded despite British control of Egyptian politics, French control of Egyptian antiquities, and an Egyptian 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, aspects of colonialism, racism, and nationalism, the history of Harvard and of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), and the issues of repatriation and cultural patrimony long before they became the “hot topics” they are today. In an illustrated lecture, Harvard University’s Peter Der Manuelian will recount the life of this uniquely successful, but also controversial, archaeologist and Egyptologist, as he lived and dug at the famous Giza Pyramids (and at many other sites) for more than four decades. This talk will summarize some of the great discoveries, their archaeological significance, and some of the fascinating personalities behind the Expedition working at the tombs and temples at Giza. Manuelian will also present virtual and immersive technological experiments for bringing old digs back to life for collaborative research and teaching.