Jean-Philippe Lauer (7 May 1902 – 15 May 2001) was a French
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
and
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 ...
. He was considered to be the foremost expert on pyramid construction techniques and methods.
Biography
Arrival in Egypt
He was born in the
8th arrondissement of Paris
The 8th arrondissement of Paris (''VIIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, the arrondissement is colloquially referred to as ''le huitième'' ().
The ar ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
to a wealthy family of
Alsacian origins. He studied architecture, but his cousin Jacques Hardy, an architect working in Egypt, advised him to come to Egypt due to the poor prospects for young architects in post
World-War France. Lauer thus arrived 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 ...
in 1926 where
Pierre Lacau, then head of
Supreme Council of Antiquities
The Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA; ) was established in 1994, responsible for the conservation, protection, and regulation of all antiquities and archaeological excavations in Egypt. From 1994 to 2011, the SCA was a department of the Egyptia ...
, gave him an 8-month position assisting
Cecil Mallaby Firth's work on
Djoser
Djoser (also read as Djeser and Zoser) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 3rd Dynasty during the Old Kingdom, and was the founder of that epoch. He is also known by his Hellenized names Tosorthros (from Manetho) and Sesorthos (from Euse ...
's
Step Pyramid.
Work in Egypt

His collaboration with Firth working very well, Lauer's position was regularly renewed, and by 1928, he was still in Saqqara. There he met Marguerite Jouguet, the daughter of the renowned Hellenist
Pierre Jouguet
Pierre Jouguet (14 May 1869 – 9 July 1949) was a French Egyptologist and classical philologist. In 1890 he studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, obtaining his agrégation for grammar in 1893. For three years thereafter he was asso ...
, who had been appointed 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 ...
. Monsieur Jouguet had published translations of many Greek papyri found in Egypt, and was a professor of ancient history and papyrology at Lille. J.P. Lauer married Marguerite on 1 October 1929 in the
6th arrondissement of Paris
The 6th arrondissement of Paris (''VIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ''le sixième''.
The arrondissement, called Luxembourg in ...
.
Firth died in 1931 and was subsequently replaced by
James E. Quibell
James Edward Quibell (11 November 1867 – 5 June 1935) was a British Egyptology, Egyptologist.
Life
Quibell was born in Newport, Shropshire. He married the Scottish artist and archaeologist Annie Abernethie Pirie Quibell, Annie Abernethie Pirie ...
. Five years later in 1936, less than a year after Quibell's death, Lauer's position was not renewed, yet he decided to stay in Egypt. In the 1950s, J. P. Lauer worked in close association with his friend
Zakaria Goneim
Muhammed Zakaria Goneim (زكريا غنيم) (alt. spelling: Muhammad Zakarīya Ghunaim, 1905–1959) was an Egyptian archaeologist, known for his discoveries in and around Saqqara. He is best known for discovering the Step Pyramid of Sek ...
on the
step pyramid of
Sekhemkhet
Sekhemkhet (also read as Sechemchet) was an ancient Egyptian king (pharaoh) of the Third Dynasty of Egypt, 3rd Dynasty during the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom. His reign is thought to have been from about 2648 BC until 2640 BC. He is also kn ...
. Later, in 1959, he helped Goneim clear his name on allegations that he had smuggled a vessel discovered by Lauer and Quibell out of Egypt.
In 1963, together with
Jean Leclant, he founded the
Mission Archéologique Française de SaqqâraWebsite of the Mission Archéologique Française de Saqqâra
/ref> which is still active to this day. From his arrival in 1926 until his death in 2001, J. P. Lauer worked in numerous excavations and restorations projects on the Saqqara plateau, stopping only for a short time when Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...
assumed power in Egypt. Aged more than 90 and still working onsite he was nicknamed "the forgotten of God" by Egyptian workers.
Lauer's main work during his 75 years in Saqqara was the restoration of Djoser's mortuary complex in particular the serdab
A serdab (), which became a loanword in Arabic for 'cellar', is an ancient Egyptian tomb structure that served as a chamber for the ka statue of a deceased individual. Used during the Old Kingdom, the serdab was a sealed chamber with a small sli ...
and the enclosure wall. He is also known for his excavations of the subterranean chambers of the step pyramid and the discovery of the three blue faience chambers.
He died aged 99 in 15th arrondissement of Paris
The 15th arrondissement of Paris () is one of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ('the fifteenth').
The 15th arrondissement, called , is situated on the Rive ...
.
File:Djoser Pyramid - Blue faience chambers 1.jpg
File:Djoser Pyramid - Blue faience chambers 2.jpg
File:Djoser Pyramid - Blue faience chambers 3.jpg
Honors
J. P. Lauer received many honors, he was :
* Grand Officer of the French Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
,
* Commander
Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...
of the Ordre national du Mérite
The (; ) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ...
,
* Commander of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques
A suite, in Western classical music, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes; and grew in scope so that by the early 17th century it comprised up to ...
,
* Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...
,
* Grand Officer of the Order of the Nile
The Order of the Nile (''Kiladat El Nil'') was established in 1915 and was one of the Kingdom of Egypt's principal orders until the monarchy was abolished in 1953. It was then reconstituted as the Republic of Egypt's highest state honor.
Sulta ...
,
* Officer of the Order of the Crown of Italy
The Order of the Crown of Italy ( or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate Italian unification, the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for ...
.
Works
* ''La pyramide à degrés, I et II, l'architecture, Fouilles à Saqqarah'', Service des antiquités de l'Égypte, Le Caire, 1936.
* ''La pyramide à degrés, III, compléments, Fouilles à Saqqarah'', Service des antiquités de l'Égypte, Le Caire, 1939.
* ''Le temple funéraire de Khéops à la grande pyramide de Guizèh'', n°46, ASAE, Le Caire, 1947.
* ''Études complémentaires sur les monuments du roi Djoser à Saqqarah'', cahier 9, Supplément, ASAE, Le Caire, 1948.
* ''Le problème des pyramides d'Égypte, traditions et légendes'', Bibliothèque historique, Payot, Paris, 1948.
* ''Note complémentaire sur le temple funéraire de Khéops'', n°49, ASAE, Le Caire, 1949.
* In collaboration with Ch. Picard, ''Les statues ptolémaïques du Sarapieion de Memphis'', n°3, Publications d'art et d'archéologie de l'université de Paris, PUF, Paris, 1955.
* ''Le temple haut de la pyramide du roi Ouserkaf à Saqqarah'', n°53, ASAE, Le Caire, 1956.
* In collaboration with Pierre Lacau, ''Fouilles à Saqqarah. La pyramide à degrés, IV, Inscriptions gravées sur les vases'', 2 fasc., PIFAO, Le Caire, 1959.
* ''Observations sur les pyramides'', Bibliothèque d'étude, n°30, IFAO, Le Caire, 1960.
* ''Histoire monumentale des pyramides d'Égypte, I, Les pyramides à degrés ( IIIe dynastie égyptienne)'', n°39, BdE, IFAO, Le Caire, 1962.
* In collaboration with Pierre Lacau, ''Fouilles à Saqqarah. La pyramide à degrés, V, Inscriptions à l'encre sur les vases'', PIFAO, Le Caire, 1965.
* ''Sur la pyramide de Meïdoum et les deux pyramides du roi Snéfrou à Dahshour'', n°36, Orientalia, Rome, 1967.
* ''Raison première et utilisation pratique de la grande galerie, dans la pyramide de Khéops'', n°12, Beiträge Bf, Festschrift ricke, Wiesbaden, 1971.
* In collaboration with Jean Leclant, ''Mission archéologique de Saqqarah, I, le temple haut du complexe funéraire du roi Téti'', bibliothèque d'étude, n°51, IFAO, Le Caire, 1972.
* ''Remarques sur la planification de la construction de la grande pyramide, à propos de : The investment process organization of the Cheops pyramids'', with W.Kozinnnski, n°73, BIFAO, Le Caire, 1973.
* ''Le Mystère des Pyramides'', éd. des Presses de la Cité, Paris, 1974,
* ''Nouvelles recherches à la pyramide de Mérenrê'', n°53 et n°54, BIE, Le Caire, 1974.
* In collaboration with Audran Labrousse and Jean Leclant, ''Mission archéologique de Saqqarah. II, Le temple haut du complexe funéraire du roi Ounas,'' n°73, BdE, IFAO, Le Caire, 1977.
* ''Les pyramides de Saqqarah'', bibliothèque générale, IFAO, Le Caire, 5e éd. 1977.
* In collaboration with A. Shoucair, ''Saqqarah, la nécropole royale de Memphis, quarante siècles d'histoire, cent vingt-cinq ans de recherches,'' Tallandier, Paris, 1977.
* In collaboration with Cyril Aldred, J.L. Cenival, F. Debono, Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, Jean Leclant and Jean Vercoutter, ''Le temps des pyramides'', L'univers des formes, Gallimard, Paris, 1978.
* ''À propos de l'invention de la pierre de taille par Imhotep pour la demeure d'éternité du roi Djoser'', MGEM, IFAO, Le Caire, 1985.
* ''Remarques sur l'époque possible du viol de la tombe de Khéops dans la Grande Pyramide'', pp. 385–386, The Intellectual Heritage of Egypt, Ulrich Luft, Budapest, 1992.
* In collaboration with Jean Leclant and Audran Labrousse, ''L'architecture des pyramides à textes, I, Saqqarah Nord,'' 2 vol., n°114, BdE, IFAO, Le Caire, 1996.
* In collaboration with Audran Labrousse, ''Les complexes funéraires d'Ouserkaf et de Néferhétepès'', n°130, 2 vol., BdE, IFAO, Le Caire, 2000.
* ''Saqqarah, une vie'', Payot, 2009
* ''Excavations at Saqqara : The Step pyramid'' / by Cecil M. Firth and J.E. Quibell, with plans by J.-P. Lauer .
* ''Cinquante années à Saqqarah de Jean-Philippe Lauer, architecte, archéologue : exposition organis'' / (text by Catherine Berger).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lauer, Jean-Philippe
1902 births
2001 deaths
Architects from Paris
French Egyptologists
20th-century French architects
Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour
Commandeurs of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques
Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
20th-century French archaeologists
Corresponding fellows of the British Academy