Mariette

NPC Description

Type: Quest

Quest: Mariette - Mummy's Curse (65) ;

Beyond Atlantica, history and legend:

François Auguste Ferdinand Mariette (February 11, 1821 – January 19, 1881) was a French scholar and archaeologist, one of the early pioneers of Egyptology. He became famous for his discoveries at Saqqara, the vast, ancient burial ground in Memphis, capital of Ancient Egypt. There he uncovered the Avenue of the Sphinxes and the Serapeum, an ancient temple and cemetery of the sacred Apis bulls. Although originally sent to Egypt under the auspices of the French government, and thus obliged to send his findings to France for display in the Louvre, Mariette believed that the findings should remain in Egypt. He accepted a permanent position in Egypt and spent the rest of his life there, securing a monopoly on excavation. He founded of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, which became the foremost repository of Egyptian antiquities. Mariette's work was significant in opening the field of Egyptology, bringing knowledge of this dominant, somewhat mysterious, early civilization to the West, while at the same time advocating for the right of the Egyptian nation to retain ownership of its own historical artifacts.

Source: New World Encyclopedia