Person    | Male  Born 3/6/1853  Died 28/7/1942

Sir Flinders Petrie

Categories: History

Countries: Egypt, Israel/Palestine

Archaeologist specialising in Egypt. Born Charlton, near Greenwich.  His maternal grandfather was Captain Matthew Flinders.  Petrie was a self-taught surveyor with minimal university education. Started with a fascination with Stonehenge and then moved on to the pyramids. He brought a mathematical approach to archaeology and recognised the way in which history is laid down in layers and how pottery styles can be used to date the layers.  Worked in Palestine when the controls on archaeology in Egypt became too strict for his liking.  Died Jerusalem.

1896 he married Hilda, 18 years his junior.  For many years she joined him on all his expeditions and worked on the digs herself.   She had a dread of pregnancy but eventually, 7 years after marrying, produced two children.  Her involvement in archaeology was greatly reduced after that.

Petrie left his brain to research.  This resulted in his head not being buried in Jerusalem with the rest of his body.  When the war ended, 3 years after his death, Hilda flew the head back to England, in a hat box on her lap and it is now held by the Royal College of Surgeons, but not on display in their, already sufficiently creepy, Hunterian Museum.  The brain has never been examined.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Sir Flinders Petrie

Commemorated ati

Sir Flinders Petrie

London County Council Sir Flinders Petrie, 1853 - 1942, Egyptologist, lived ...

Read More

Other Subjects

Michael Ventris

Michael Ventris

Architect and decipherer of Linear B script.  While still at school he heard about the discovery of Knossos by Arthur Evans, and about the undeciphered Linear B script on the tablets. This mystery ...

Person, Architecture, History, Greece

1 memorial
The International Churchill Society

The International Churchill Society

A society set up to provide a forum to bring together all those with an interest in commemorating the life and advancing the legacy of British statesman Sir Winston Churchill.

Group, Community / Clubs, History

1 memorial
Department of National Heritage

Department of National Heritage

Created on 11 April 1992.  By 2013 it had become part of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport which sponsors English Heritage.

Group, History, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Sir Leonard Woolley

Sir Leonard Woolley

Archaeologist. Born at 13 Southwold Road, Hackney. He was one of the first modern archaeologists, who excavated in a methodical way, keeping careful records, and using them to reconstruct ancient l...

Person, Exploring, History, Iraq

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Fortune Theatre - WC2

Fortune Theatre - WC2

WC2, Russell Street

The SWET plaque is towards the left of the building. The blue plaque is over at the right, near the corner. The grand entrance with the ...

4 subjects commemorated