Dan Harlow

Archaeologist William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853-1942) is known as the father of Egyptian Archeology as well as being the real life inspiration for the fictional Indiana Jones. Though Petrie never had to jump from a Nazi airship, escape pits of poisonous snakes and outrun giant stone boulders, he did contribute significantly to our understanding of ancient Egypt. He is most famous discovery was that of the Merneptah Stele, a granite slab containing the earliest known reference to Isrir, better known as Israel.

Petrie was also the founder of London’s Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology (always name a museum after yourself, by the way) which is home to some of the most important Egyptian artifacts ever found. A portion of the collection is on tour in the United States and is currently on display at the New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe. The exhibit features 221 of Petrie’s finds and will run from Sep 01, 2007 - Jan 06, 2008.

Being that I live in Colorado I am thinking about making the trip down there for a day or two. Over the years I’ve been to New Mexico quite a few times and I’ve always had a great time. Santa Fe (and Taos) are beautiful cities and I highly recommend traveling there if you ever get the chance.

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