Flinders Petrie
By Illa Vij

ONE of the great archaeologists who made archaeology from a pastime into a rewarding science was Flinders Petrie. Despite no formal schooling, Flinders was given a number of honorary degrees, elected a fellow of the Royal Society and became the author of many books on archaeology. He even became Professor of Egyptology at University College, London, and also managed the British School of Archaeology in Egypt!

Flinders Petrie was born on June 3, 1853, at Charlton in Kent. His father William Petrie, a civil engineer, was a surveyor by profession. His mother Anne was the daughter of a famous navigator and explorer, Mattew Flinders. She was greatly interested in scientific discoveries, fossils and natural minerals. She shared her knowledge with her son and together they enjoyed observing her rock collection. The study of minerals made Flinders interested in chemistry. He was encouraged to experiment and play around with bottles, minerals,

rocks etc. Minerology and chemistry became the main areas of his interest. His mother’s coin collection further motivated him to think of the past. He studied the designs and the metals inscriptions on them and tried to analyse what they all meant.

At the age of 13, Flinders was walking with his mother when they chanced to see a shop that sold old coins, instruments, furniture and antiquities. Petrie was inspired and then his visit to the British Museum further educated him in this field. He had no proper schooling, he learnt all that his parents taught him and gathered information and made

observations as and when he got the opportunity to do

so. Later he found work as a practical surveyor in southern England. In 1880, he made an excellent study of Stonehenge, which served as the basis of all the later discoveries made regarding that site. Next he got interested in pyramids. For the next 46 years he was in and out of Egypt. With limited funds and no official

backing, it wasn’t easy for him. But

all that followed was due to his parent’s encouragement and his own interest and determination. Initially, he was not allowed to dig, so he established himself in a tomb next to the Pyramid of Gizeh. He began with a careful external study of the pyramids, then studied the interiors. He cooked on a small stove and sat late into the night, writing down all his observations. Later he was given the permission to dig. The digging was done carefully and slowly. Unlike the earlier discoverers who worked on Egyptian sites, he examined every layer and shovelful of soil. Even the workers wondered how the man could be so patient. Howard Carter, one of his disciples, who found the Tutankhamen’s Tomb at Thebes in 1923, had learnt and adopted his technique.

Petrie excavated the Greek trading-city of Naucratis in the Egyptian delta. No building had survived but a lot of broken pottery was found which provided the basis for an Egyptian chronology.

Arab workers nick-named Petrie "the father of pots". The Egyptian graves that he disinterred brought out children’s toys, knitted woollen socks and mummies of two little girls. From 1892 to 1933 Petrie was Professor of Egyptology at University College, London. His honorary degrees followed and then he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society. In 1897, Petrie married Hilda Urlin, who always supported him and his work. He was knighted in 1932. In 1926, Sir Flinders Petrie was compelled to move to Jerusalem as the political condition in Egypt did not permit him to carry out his work. He founded the journal of Egyptian Archaeology in 1911. He wrote Stonehenge in 1880, Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh in 1883 Ten Year’s Digging in Egypt in 1892 and Egypt and Israel in 1911. Petrie died on July 28, 1942, in Jerusalem. He left behind a wealth of knowledge for the benefit of generations to come.