(1797-1875)
Early nineteenth-century Egyptologist who was the first British scholar to make a serious study of Egyptian antiquities. The son of the Reverend John Wilkinson and Marv. Anne Gardner, he was born in Hardendale, Westmorland. W'hile he was still a young boy, both of his parents died and the Reverend Dr Yates was appointed as his guardian. He was educated at Harrow School and Exeter
Pori rail of Sir folin Gardner Wilkinson in Oriental dress, by Henry Wyndham Phillips. (REPRODl d'.D C. OL RTESY OF THE GRIFFITH IXSTITCTF.)
College, Oxford, but in 1820, as a result of poor health, he travelled to Italy. There he met Sir Wfilliam Gell, a Classical archaeologist, who persuaded him to undertake a career in Egyptological research.
In 1821 the twenty-four-year-old Gardner Wilkinson arrived in Egypt. Based in Cairo, he was to spend the next twelve years travelling through Egypt and, Nubia. Along with other intrepid scholars of the same period, such as James Burton, Robert Hay and the Fourth Duke of Northumberland, he rediscovered numerous ancient sites and undertook some of the earliest surveys and scientific excavations at such sites as karnak, the ai. i.i a OF riiE KINGS and the ancient Nubian capital of Gebel Baikal (see napata). He was the first archaeologist to produce a detailed plan of the ancient capital city of Akhenaten at el-Amarna, and his map of the 'Eheban temples and tombs was undoubtedly the first comprehensive survey of the region. The records of his excavations and epigraphy at T]ii;m;s arc still an invaluable source of information for modern Egyptologists. He also conducted the first excavations at the Greco-Roman settlement of Berenice, on the Red Sea coast, which had been discovered by gK) a i bf, i./.oi.
W hen he returned to Britain in 183.S, his copious notes and drawings and his diverse collection of antiquities provided the basis for his most famous book. The manners and eii. s-tonis of the ancient Egyptians., which was to earn him a knighthood in 1839. He undertook two further seasons of studv in Egvpt, in 1842 and 1848-9, and in 1849-50 he studied the 'I'lrin ROVAI, CANON, publishing a detailed facsimile of this important RING LIST.
J. G. Whi. KiN. sON, Topography of Thebes and genera! view of Egypt (London, 1835).
—, The fragments of the hieratic papyrus at Jiirin. containing the names of Egyptian kings, with the hieratic inscription at the back, 2 vols (I. ondon, 1851).
—, The manners and customs of the ancient Egyptians, 3 voLs (London, 1837; rev. 1878).
J. Tiionu'.son, Sir Gardner llUkinson and his circle (Austin, 1992).
World History
