Passions of Petrie

Heritage Key (Paula Veiga)

William Flinders Petrie (1853-1942) was a man “of great physical and intellectual energy” as Percy Newberry said. Once considered too frail to attend school, he went on to become a teen sensation and one of the most intrepid archaeologists of the early years of Egyptology. He was so intelligent (or at least thought so) he donated his brain to medical research. His is the name behind London's Petrie Museum, and considered to be the father of archaeology. His name has become something of a trademark for Egypology, but what passions drove this remarkable archaeologist?

The consistent and continuous features, subjects and people in his life that made him so popular can be listed, as since he was a child until his death, he revealed enjoying some more than other. In a chronological and logical order, from earlier to later; from less important to most important; from a subject further or closer to Egyptology; from subjects he pursued in England to abroad; from green pastures to ochre sand dunes, all of these were present in Petrie’s life and can be traced back to the travels he made, the writings he left us and the memoirs his family must share.