Auguste Mariette was a 19th-century French Egyptologist and adventurer, recognised as one of the founders of Egyptology; and yet, despite his significant contributions to the field, he remains largely overlooked. This article examines the extraordinary and highly improbable journey of a man who, although not predestined to walk such a path, left a substantial legacy to both Egypt and France.
Early life
François-Auguste-Ferdinand, more commonly known just as Auguste, was born on 11 February 1821, in Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France. His father, François-Paulin Mariette, came from a line of lawyers, sailors, and scholars, but it appears that Auguste inherited his taste for adventure from his grandfather Guillaume, who served as a privateer under the French kings Louis XV and Louis XVI.
Described by his classmates as full of enthusiasm, tempestuous, and sometimes impulsive, the young Mariette was bursting with curiosity, and showed an early interest in history and archaeology. As a teenager, he and his younger brother Charles often explored the underground passages of the Castle of Boulogne- sur-Mer, in search of a legendary secret passage leading from the rampart galleries to the neighbouring town of Ostrohove. Ernest Deseille, a friend of the family and biographer of Mariette, highlighted his determination:
Excavating Lincolnshire