David Randall-MacIver FBA (31 October 1873 – 30 April 1945) was a British-born
archaeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
, who later became an
American citizen. He is most famous for his excavations at
Great Zimbabwe which provided the first solid evidence that the site was built by
Shona peoples.
Work in Egypt at Abydos
Randall-MacIver was educated at
The Queens College, Oxford.
He graduated in 1896 with a first class degree''.'' He began his professional archaeological career in 1898 working for
Flinders Petrie in
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
, uncovering the mortuary temple of
Senwosret III at
Abydos. In 1906 he was appointed as Curator of the Egyptian Section at the
Penn Museum,
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
, taking charge of the collection following
Sara Yorke Stevenson's resignation in 1905.
[Jenifer H Wegner, ''David Randall-MacIver: Explorer of Abydos and Curator of the Egyptian Section'', Penn Museum, vol 48, no. 2, pp. 13-14]
In 1901,
Nature Magazine
''Nature'' is a British weekly scientific journal founded and based in London, England. As a multidisciplinary publication, ''Nature'' features Peer review, peer-reviewed research from a variety of academic disciplines, mainly in science and t ...
were disconcerted, as the Egyptologist Randall-Maciver had suggested: "it is well worth considering whether the pre-dynastic race of Egypt is not in the main a blending in various proportions of
Semite and Negro."
Work in Nubia, in Great Zimbabwe, and in Karanog
With funding from Eckley B. Coxe Jr., Randall-MacIver initiated research into the relationship between Egypt and
Nubia
Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...
, uncovering some of the earliest evidence of ancient Nubian culture, dating back to 3100 BCE. Between 1905 and 1906 Randall-MacIver conducted the first detailed study of Great Zimbabwe. The absence of any artefacts of non-African origin led him to conclude that the structure was built by local people. Earlier scholars had speculated that the structure had been built by Arab or
Phoenicia
Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...
n traders. Between 1907 and 1910 he excavated the site of
Karanog
Karanog ( Meroitic: ''Nalote'') was a Kushite town in Lower Nubia on the west bank of the Nile (near Qasr Ibrim). It was probably a provincial capital under its own (governor) in the second and third centuries AD. It was excavated between 1907 ...
, a former provincial capital of the
Kingdom of Kush
The Kingdom of Kush (; Egyptian language, Egyptian: 𓎡𓄿𓈙𓈉 ''kꜣš'', Akkadian language, Assyrian: ''Kûsi'', in LXX Χους or Αἰθιοπία; ''Ecōš''; ''Kūš''), also known as the Kushite Empire, or simply Kush, was an an ...
.
Activities in World War I and World War II
Randall-MacIver left the Penn Museum in 1911 following a disagreement with new Museum Director
George Byron Gordon, becoming librarian of the
American Geographical Society
The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are United States, Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows f ...
. In 1914 he left the AGS to work as a British intelligence officer in the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. In 1921 he moved to Italy to study
Etruscan archaeology. He remained in Italy during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, assisting the Allied forces
Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program, the famous "Monuments Men", to preserve historical monuments and cultural property.
Death and memorial
Randall-MacIver died in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
on 30 April 1945.
He is memorialised in the Parte Antica of the
Protestant Cemetery, Rome.
Books
*
*
*Randall-MacIver, David. ''Greek Cities in Italy and Sicily'', Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1931.
References
External links
*
1873 births
1945 deaths
19th-century British archaeologists
20th-century American archaeologists
20th-century American non-fiction writers
American Egyptologists
Fellows of the British Academy
Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
British emigrants to the United States
Great Zimbabwe
British intelligence operatives
British people of World War I
Monuments men
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