Edward Russell Ayrton (17 December 1882 – 18 May 1914) was an English

Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , ''-logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end ...

and

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, ...

Early life

Ayrton was the son of William Scrope Ayrton (1849-1904), a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

consular official in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, and his wife Ellen Louisa McClatchie, and was born in

Wuhu Wuhu () is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Anhui province of China, province, China. Sitting on the southeast bank of the Yangtze River, Wuhu borders Xuancheng to the southeast, Chizhou and Tongling to the southwest, Hefei City to the n ...

, on 17 December 1882 (coincidentally, the same year as the formation of the Egypt Exploration Fund). His younger sister was the suffragist Phyllis Ayrton (1884-1975). The Ayrton family originated in Yorkshire. Edward's similarly-named forebear, Edward Ayrton (1698-1774), was mayor of

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Within the boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire, the ...

in 1760, laying the foundations for the family's subsequent prominence. The mayor's son was the leading organist and choirmaster, Dr. Edmund Ayrton (1734-1808) and his son in turn - the mayor's grandson and the great-grandfather of the archeologist - was the theatre-reviewer William Ayrton (1777-1858). Ayrton was educated at St Paul's School, in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Career

He began his career in Egyptology at the age of 20, assisting the pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology

William Matthew Flinders Petrie Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie ( – ), commonly known as simply Sir Flinders Petrie, was an English Egyptologist and a pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology and the preservation of artefacts. He held the first chair of ...

. He joined Petrie on the Egypt Exploration Fund excavations at Abydos (which began in 1899) from 1902 to 1904. Ayrton's first independent work was the excavation of the Second Dynasty site of Shunet ez Zebib (at Abydos). Later, he worked near Ghurab with William Leonard Stevenson Loat. In 1904–05, he excavated and recorded graves of several ancient princesses found in the funerary temple complex of king

Mentuhotep II Mentuhotep II (, meaning "Mentu is satisfied"), also known under his Prenomen (Ancient Egypt), prenomen Nebhepetre (, meaning "The Lord of the rudder is Ra"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the sixth ruler of the Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt, Elev ...

at Deir al-Bahari, as part of the expedition led by

Édouard Naville Henri Édouard Naville (14 June 1844 – 17 October 1926) was a Swiss archaeologist, Egyptologist and Biblical scholar. Born in Geneva, he studied at the University of Geneva, King's College, London, and the Universities of Bonn, Paris, an ...

and Henry Hall. Working for Theodore M. Davis 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 ...

Valley of the Kings The Valley of the Kings, also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings, is an area in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the Eighteenth Dynasty to the Twentieth Dynasty, rock-cut tombs were excavated for pharaohs and power ...

from 1905 to 1908, he discovered the following tombs: * KV47 (of the pharaoh

Siptah Akhenre Setepenre Siptah or Merneptah Siptah was the penultimate ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. His father's identity is currently unknown. Both Seti II and Amenmesse have been suggested although the fact that Siptah later changed hi ...

, in 1905) *

KV55 KV55 is a tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. It was discovered by Edward R. Ayrton in 1907 while he was working in the Valley for Theodore M. Davis. It has long been speculated, as well as much disputed, that the body found in this tomb ...

( Amarna Period, interment problematic, in 1907) * KV56 (of a royal child, in 1908) and * KV57 (of the pharaoh

Horemheb Horemheb, also spelled Horemhab, Haremheb or Haremhab (, meaning "Horus is in Jubilation"), was the last pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, 18th Dynasty of Egypt (1550–1292 BC). He ruled for at least 14 years between 1319 ...

, in 1908). He also led or participated in the excavation of the following tombs: * KV2, KV10, KV46, KV47, KV48, KV49, KV50, KV51, KV52, KV53, KV54, KV56, KV57, KV59, and KV60. Again working with Loat, in 1908-09 he excavated amongst the Sixth Dynasty tombs at Abydos and also the Predynastic cemetery at El Mahasna. In 1911, he accepted a position with the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon. On the 18 May 1914 he drowned while on a shooting expedition, in an accident on the Tissa Tank lake, Tissamaharama, in southern

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

(now

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

). ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' printed his obituary on the 23 May 1914; and his Probate Administration was published in 1915. The Estate of £457 18s 1d was left to his elder sister, Florence Margaret Ayrton.

Bibliography

* E. R. Ayrton, "Discovery of the tomb of Si-ptah in the Bibân el Molûk, Thebes", PSBA, 28, 1906. * Edward R. Ayrton and W. L. S. Loat, "Pre-dynastic cemetery at El Mahasna", 1911, London. * Edward R. Ayrton, "The Date of Buddhadasa of Ceylon from a Chinese Source". ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland'', 1911. * Edward R. Ayrton, "The Excavation of the Tomb of Queen Tîyi", ''The Tomb of Queen Tîyi'', ed. Nicholas Reeves, San Francisco, KMT Communications, 1990.

References

External links

* Obituary (by H.R. Hall) in ''The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology'', Vol. 2, No. 1 (Jan., 1915), pp. 20–23. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayrton, Edward 1882 births 1914 deaths English archaeologists English Egyptologists People educated at St Paul's School, London Deaths by drowning 20th-century British archaeologists Accidental deaths in Sri Lanka English expatriates in China