NOTABLE ARCHAEOLOGISTS William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853–1942)

NOTABLE ARCHAEOLOGISTS William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853–1942)

Petrie, who received no formal education, was taught surveying and geometry by his father.

He first visited Egypt in 1880 to survey the Great Pyramid at Giza and then excavated for the Egypt Exploration Fund from 1884 to 1886. His considerable talent and ability were recognized by the novelist Amelia B. Edwards, one of the founders of the Egypt Exploration Fund (now known as the Egypt Exploration Society).

She endowed the first chair in Egyptology in Britain, which was held by Petrie from 1892 until 1933.

Petrie developed the principles of scientific archaeology and made many famous discoveries, including the existence of a predynastic culture in Egypt, the royal jewelry of the Middle Kingdom, and Tell el-Amarna, the capital city of King Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV).

Petrie was the author of more than 1,000 books, reviews, and articles.