The American Petrie: George Reisner

The American archaeologist George Andrew Reisner (1867-1942) represents one of the true greats from the so-called ‘Golden Age’ of Egyptology. Indeed, he remains, as Sir Alan H Gardiner described him over 80 years ago, ‘one of the greatest and most successful excavators Egypt has ever known’. By the end of his career, George Reisner had excavated 23 sites in both Egypt and northern Sudan, as a result making some famous and spectacular discoveries. He also carried out excavations at the ancient Levantine site of Sebastia – biblical Samaria.  A pencil drawing of George Reisner by J B Potter. Image: Wellcome Images, CC 4.0 Founding father Reisner is rightly renowned, too,