Walking Among Pharaohs George Reisner and the Dawn of Modern Egyptology

In this expansive new biography of George Reisner, Egyptologist Peter Der Manuelian examines the life and work of America's greatest archaeologist. Manuelian presents Reisner's undeniable impact and considers his life within the context of Western colonialism, racism, and nationalism.

Pyramids with hidden burial chambers. Colossal royal statues and minuscule gold jewelry. Decorated tomb chapels, temples, settlements, fortresses, ceramics, furniture, stone vessels, and hieroglyphic inscriptions everywhere. This is the legacy of forty-three years of breathtakingly successful excavations at twenty-three different archaeological sites in Egypt and Sudan (ancient Nubia). George Reisner (1867-1942) discovered all this and more during a remarkable career that revolutionized archaeological method in both the Old World and the New. Leading the Harvard University-Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition, Reisner put American Egyptology on the world stage. His uniquely American success story unfolded despite British control of Egyptian politics, French control of Egyptian antiquities, and an Egypt 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. It also intersects powerfully with aspects of colonialism, racism, and nationalism, as Western powers imposed their influence on Egypt especially during the two World Wars. The wholesale export of dynastic Egypt's treasures to European and American museums also raised issues of repatriation and cultural patrimony long before they became the hot topics they are today. Walking Among Pharaohs, by distinguished Egyptologist Peter Der Manuelian, gathers unpublished documents from all over the world to present a fascinating and intimate biography of one of the founding fathers of modern Egyptology and one of America's greatest archaeologists.

Peter Der Manuelian is Barbara Bell Professor of Egyptology in both the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and the Anthropology Departments at Harvard University, and director of the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East. He was previously on the curatorial staff of the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston. His Giza Project aims to collect and present online all past, present, and future archaeological activity at the Giza Pyramids. His research and teaching interests include visualization and digital humanities approaches to the ancient world. He is the author of numerous scholarly and
childrens books on ancient Egypt.

Preface
List of Illustrations

Introduction
Chapter 1. Midwestern Beginnings and Endings (1867-1885)
Chapter 2. Go East, Young Man (1885-1893)
Chapter 3. Conversion in Germany (1893-1896)
Chapter 4. "Somebody Needed an Archaeologist" (1897-1899)
Chapter 5. The Road Taken (1899-1902)
Chapter 6. Chance of a Lifetime: Giza (1903-1904)
Chapter 7. Devastation and Realignment (1904-1905)
Chapter 8. Multitasking across Cultures (1905-1908)
Chapter 9. King Menkaure and the Pestiferous Sheikhs of Palestine (1909-1910)
Chapter 10. Back to the Classroom (1911-1912)
Chapter 11. Reserve Heads, Deffufas, and Tumuli (1912-1914)
Chapter 12. War Years I (19140-1916)
Chapter 13. War Years II (1916-1918)
Chapter 14. "Work wins": Nubian and Egyptian Discoveries (1919-1921)
Chapter 15. Teaching, Tonnage, and Tut (1921-1924)
Chapter 16. Secrets of a Giza Queen (1925-1928)
Chapter 17. Hoisting Sarcophagi (1927-1932)
Chapter 18. Publications Race (1932-1937)
Chapter 19. Virtual and Actual Homecomings (1938-1942)
Chapter 20. Transformations: The HU--MFA Expedition (1942-1947)
Chapter 21. Epilogue: Revered or Reviled? Reisner and his Archaeological Impact

Endnotes
Acknowledgments
Reisner Bibliography
General Bibliography
Index