"And then came the last and longed-for scene for which our months of toil had whetted our appetites- the unwrapping of Horuta! Bit, by bit, the layers of pitch and cloth were loosened, and row after row of magnificent amulets were disclosed, just as they were laid on in the distant past. The gold ring on the finger which bore his name and titles, the exquisitely inlaid gold birds, the chased gold figures, the Lazuli statuettes delicately wrought, the polished Lazuli and Beryl and Carnelian amulets finely engraved, all the wealth of Talismatic armory, rewarded our eyes with a sight which has never been surpassed to archaeological gaze. No such complete and rich a series of amulets has been seen intact before; and as one by one they were removed all their positions were recorded, and they may now be seen lying in their original order in the Gizah Museum."
-Sir Flinders Petrie
Flinders Petrie was a British Archaeologist and Egyptologist. Born on June 3rd, 1853 in Charlton, Kent. His full-born name is William Matthew Flinders Petrie after his father, a Civil Engineer and Professional Surveyor. Petrie's mother, Anne had a love for science, namely fossils and natural minerals. Both Anne and her husband encouraged their son's career interest.
Petrie taught himself trigonometry and geometry at a young age, with particular interest in varied standards of measurements. Petrie would go about England measuring Churches, buildings, and ancient megalithic ruins, such as Stonehenge. At thirteen, he read Piazzi Smyth’s Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramids; his interest flourished from this young age and Flinders convinced himself that he would one day see the pyramids for himself.
Flinders began as a Practical Surveyor in south England. During this time he reverted back to studying Stonehenge. He was able to determine the unit of measurement used for the construction of Stonehenge, so in 1880, at the age of 24, Flinders published his first book called Stonehenge: Plans, Description, and Theories; this book would become the basis for future discoveries at that site. That same year, he began his more than forty years of exploration and examination of Egypt and the Middle East.
From 1880 to 1883, Flinders studied and excavated The Great Pyramid of Giza. He was very meticulous and took his time during this excavation. He studied every shovelful of soil. In turn, Flinders' habits led him to be known as one of the great innovators of scientific method in excavation.
In 1884, Flinders discovered fragments of the statue of Ramses II during his excavation of the Temple of Tanis.
Petrie spent the next two years performing excavations of two Nile Delta sites at Naukratis and Daphnae. Here, he uncovered pottery and was able to prove that both of these sites were former ancient Greek trading posts. From this excavation he developed a sequential dating method that would enable him to determine the chronology of any civilization by pottery fragment comparison. Flinders Petrie was awarded the title of "The Father of Modern Archaeology."
Over the next forty years, Flinders explored and excavated over thirty sites in the Middle East. Of his most famous finds was a Stele of Mernepath at Thebes which contains the earliest known Egyptian references to Israel (1236-1223B.C.).
Although Flinders was primarily self-taught and had no formal schooling, he was made Edwards Professor of Egyptology at University College, London in 1892 and was also the founder of The Egyptian Research Account, in 1894 (which eventually became the British School of Archaeology in 1905). Flinders also wrote over 100 books and nearly 900 articles and reviews. A work of particular importance was entitled "Methods and Aims of Archaeology," published in 1904.
In 1927, Flinders Petrie returned to Palestine uncovering ruins and remained there until his death at the age of eighty-nine. He passed away in Jerusalem on July 28, 1942.
Interactive Multimedia Encyclopedia, Grolier, 1999
Jean Vercoutter. The Search for Ancient Egypt, Pgs 152-155
William Petrie http://www.pef.org.uk/Pages/Petrie.htm, (March, 2006)
Flinders Petrie, http://www.petrie.ucl.ac.uk/william_flanders_petrie.php, (March, 2006)
Colin Renfrew & Paul Bahn. Archaeology Methods and Practice, Pgs 116-1177
Written By: Holly Schwichtenberg, 2006