Jean Vercoutter (20 January 1911 – 16 July 2000) was a French Egyptologist. One of the pioneers of archaeological research into

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

from 1953, he was Director of the

Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes c ...

from 1977 to 1981.

Biography

Born in Lambersart, Nord, Vercoutter attended the

Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

to learn about painting, but soon turned to

Egyptology Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Ancient Greek, Greek , ''wiktionary:-logia, -logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian History of Egypt, history, Egyptian language, language, Ancient Egypt ...

. In 1939, he graduated from the IVe section of the

École Pratique des Hautes Études École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

with a thesis on

ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

ian funerary objects and was appointed resident of the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology of Cairo (IFAO). He participated in excavations in

Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (), comprises a vast mix of temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construction at the complex began during the reign of Senusret I (reigned 1971–1926 BC) in the ...

and directed an excavation in El-Tod. Upon his return to France, he joined CNRS (1949–1955). During all these years, he pursued research on the relationship between Egyptians and pre-Hellenes, providing some firm conclusions on the relationship between these two great civilizations and the history of the ancient Aegean world. He was appointed professor at the University of Lille in 1960 and was one of the pioneers in archaeological research into

. Between 1960 and 1964, he concentrated on studying Kor and Aksha, where he had been working in part since 1953, as they were threatened by the construction of the new

Aswan Dam The Aswan Dam, or Aswan High Dam, is one of the world's largest embankment dams, which was built across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt, between 1960 and 1970. When it was completed, it was the tallest earthen dam in the world, surpassing the Chatuge D ...

. He excavated structures such as the temple of

Ramesses II Ramesses II (sometimes written Ramses or Rameses) (; , , ; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was an Pharaoh, Egyptian pharaoh. He was the third ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth Dynasty. Along with Thutmose III of th ...

, a Meroitic cemetery, as well as other small cemeteries. Vercoutter also excavated at the site of Saï. Between 1965 and 1967, together with Elena Cassin and Jean Bottéro, he was the editor of the three volumes of the (Fischer World History) devoted to the Ancient East. He was Director of the

from 1977 to 1981. Until his death in 2000, he was still active in the subject, publishing ''Les barrages pharaoniques. Leur raison d'être'' in 1994. He is the author of , first volume of the collection " Découvertes Gallimard", which was a bestseller in France, it has been translated into 22 languages and often reprinted.

Publications

* With Cyril Aldred, J.L. Cenival, F. Debono, Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, Jean-Philippe Lauer et Jean Leclant, ''Le temps des pyramides'', L'univers des formes, Gallimard, Paris, 1978. * With Ch. Desroches Noblecourt, ''Un siècle de fouilles françaises en Égypte 1880-1980'', à l'occasion du centenaire de l'école du Caire (IFAO), musée du Louvre, musée d'art et d'essai, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 21 mai / 15 octobre 1981, IFAO, Le Caire, 1981. * ''Essai sur les relations entre Égyptiens et pré-hellènes'', n°6, L'orient ancien illustré, A. Maisonneuve, Paris, 1954. * ''L'Égypte et le monde égéen pré-hellénique, étude critique des sources Égyptiennes du début de la Dynastie égyptienne XVIIIe à la fin de la XIXe dynastie égyptienne'', n° 22, BdE, IFAO, Le Caire, 1956. * ''L'Égypte ancienne'', Que sais-je ?, n° 247, PUF, Paris, 1960, 1982. * ''Institut français d'archéologie orientale du Caire, Livre du Centenaire (1880-1980)'', n° 104, MIFAO, Le Caire, 1980. * ''Les Affamés d'Ounas et le changement climatique de la fin de l'Ancien Empire'', MGEM, IFAO, Le Caire, 1985. * ''À la recherche de l'Égypte oubliée'', collection « Découvertes Gallimard » (nº 1), série Archéologie. Paris : Éditions Gallimard, 1986 (reprinted 1988, 1991, 1998, 2000 and new edition in 2007; translated into 22 languages with a total of 25 national editions). ** Translated into English by Ruth Sharman, US edition – '' The Search for Ancient Egypt'', "

Abrams Discoveries Abrams may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Abrams (surname), a list of notable people with the surname Places United States * Abrams, Wisconsin, a town * Abrams (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated community * Abrams Mountain, Colorado * Abr ...

" series. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1992. ** UK edition – ''The Search for Ancient Egypt'', '

New Horizons ''New Horizons'' is an Interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary space probe launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research Institut ...

' series. London: Thames & Hudson, 1992. * ''L'Égypte à la chambre noire : Francis Frith, photographe de l'Égypte retrouvée'', coll. « Découvertes Gallimard Albums », Paris : Éditions Gallimard, 1992. * ''L'Égypte et la vallée du Nil, des origines à la fin de l'ancien empire 12000-2000 Av. J.-C.'', Nouvelle Clio, PUF, Paris, 1992. **Translated into Russian by Nina Zhivlova (Н.Ю. Живлова) and Ivan Bogdanov (И.В. Богданов) – Египет и долина Нила, с древнейших времен до конца Древнего царства. 12000-2000 гг. до н.э. СПб.: Нестор-История, 2015. * ''Le déchiffrement des hiéroglyphes égyptiens 1680-1840'', pp. 579–586, The Intellectual Heritage of Egypt, Budapest, 1992. * ''La fin de l'Ancien Empire : un nouvel examen, Vol. 2,'' pp. 557–562, Atti del VI Congresso Internazionale di Egittologia, Turin, 1993. * ''Les barrages pharaoniques. Leur raison d'être'', pp. 315–326, Les problèmes institutionnels de l'eau en Égypte ancienne et dans l'Antiquité méditerranéenne, IFAO, Le Caire, 1994. * ''Étude des techniques de construction dans l'Égypte ancienne, 3, la décoration des parois, son principe et les dangers d'équivoques qu'elle peut entraîner en ce qui concerne la datation des édifices'', MGEM, IFAO, Le Caire, 1985.Longitude Books
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vercoutter, Jean 1911 births 2000 deaths People from Lambersart French Egyptologists Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Members of the Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale Académie Julian alumni School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences alumni Academic staff of the University of Lille Nord de France 20th-century French archaeologists