About Flinders Petrie
Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie ((1853-06-03)3 June 1853 – (1942-07-29)29 July 1942), commonly known as simply Sir Flinders Petrie, was an English Egyptologist and a pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology and the preservation of artefacts. He held the first chair of Egyptology in the United Kingdom, and excavated many of the most important archaeological sites in Egypt in conjunction with his Irish-born wife, Hilda Urlin. Some consider his most famous discovery that of the Merneptah Stele, an opinion with which Petrie himself concurred. Undoubtedly at least as important is his 1905 discovery and correct identification of the character of the Proto-Sinaitic script, the ancestor of almost all alphabetic scripts. Petrie developed the system of dating layers based on pottery and ceramic findings. Petrie has been denounced for his pro-eugenics views; he was a dedicated believer in the superiority of the Northern peoples over the Latinate and Southern peoples. He has been referred to as the "father of Egyptian archaeology". He also ventured his first archaeological opinion aged eight, when friends visiting the Petrie family were describing the unearthing of the Brading Roman Villa in the Isle of Wight. Petrie's supporter since 1880, Edwards had instructed that he should be its first incumbent. Some consider his most famous discovery to be that of the Merneptah Stele, an opinion with which Petrie himself concurred.
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