ARCE Northern California: Dr. Donald P. Ryan – In the Footsteps of Belzoni and Carter in the Valley of the Kings

Lecture Information

The archaeological exploration of Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, the royal New Kingdom cemetery, offers a rich history of fascinating discoveries made by determined and often eccentric individuals. The Italian carnival performer-turned-antiquarian, Giovanni Belzoni, was responsible for the finding of the tomb of Seti I, among others, in the early 19th century, and Howard Carter was well involved in the Valley two decades before he encountered Tutankhamun.

In this lecture, Dr. Donald P. Ryan will describe some of his own work in the Valley of the Kings, during which he literally followed in the footsteps of both explorers, including the re-excavation of KV 21 (a Belzoni discovery) and three tombs discovered by Carter early in his career: KV 44, KV 45 and KV 60. The latter tomb is especially controversial with its occupant identified by some as the female ruler, Hatshepsut, after its rediscovery by Ryan.

Speaker Bio

Dr. Donald P. Ryan is an archaeologist affiliated with the College of Liberal Studies at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash., a Fellow of both the Explorers Club and the Royal Geographical Society, and a Research Associate of the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo, Norway. A veteran of many field expeditions, Ryan is also the author of numerous scientific and popular articles and several books on archaeological subjects.

Website: https://sites.google.com/plu.edu/donald-p-ryan/home

About ARCE-NC:

For more information, please visit https://www.youtube.com/@NorthernCaliforniaARCE, https://facebook.com/NorthernCaliforniaARCE/,  https://twitter.com/ARCENCPostings/, https://khentiamentiu.org/, and http://www.arce-nc.org. To join the chapter or renew your membership, please go to https://arce.org/membership/ and select “Berkeley, CA” as your chapter when you sign up.