Sir William Matthews Flinders Petrie

Connected Sites: 3

Sir William Matthews Flinders Petrie (1853 -1942) "was an English Egyptologist and a pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology and preservation of artifacts. He held the first chair of Egyptology in the United Kingdom, and excavated at many of the most important archaeological sites in Egypt" (Wiki)

Connected Sites

  • Stonehenge and Avebury
    Inscribed: 1986
    3.74
    429
    18
    In 1874 and 1877 Petrie surveyed Stonehenge in detail, and "devised the numbering system for the stones that is still in use today" (See link). Published, at 24, his first book "Stonehenge: Plans, Description, and Theories"
    See www.stonehenge.co.uk
  • Pyramids (Memphis)
    Inscribed: 1979
    4.51
    314
    12
    Was the first properly to investigate how the Pyramids "were constructed (many theories had been advanced on this, and Petrie read them all, but none were based on first hand observation or logic). Petrie's published report of this triangulation survey, and his analysis of the architecture of Giza therein, was exemplary in its methodology and accuracy, and still provides much of the basic data regarding the pyramid plateau to this day." (Wiki)
  • Ancient Thebes
    Inscribed: 1979
    4.38
    256
    11
    Discovered and interpeted the Merneptah Stele at Luxor in 1896. Though primarily about Libya, the inscription also refers to a people who Mernaptah had "smitten" during a military campaign in Canaan (c 1208 BC) which has been widely interpreted as specifying "Israel" ("Israel is laid waste and his seed is not") and is thus considered to be the "first probable instance of the name "Israel" in the historical record" (Wiki)