Mark Lehner (born 1950 in Dakota) is an American

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, ...

with more than 30 years of experience excavating 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 ...

. He is the director of Ancient Egypt Research Associates (AERA) and has appeared in numerous television documentaries.Lehner, Mark
''AERA. A Note from AERA's director''
/ref> His approach is to conduct interdisciplinary archaeological investigation.AERA
/ref> Every excavated object is examined by specialists to create an overall picture of an archaeological site—from the buildings down to the pollen spores. His international team currently runs the

Giza Plateau The Giza Plateau () is a limestone plateau in Giza, Egypt, the site of the Fourth Dynasty Giza pyramid complex, which includes the pyramids of Pyramid of Khufu, Khufu, Pyramid of Khafre, Khafre and Pyramid of Menkaure, Menkaure, the Great Sphinx o ...

Mapping Project, excavating and mapping the ancient city of the builders of the

Giza pyramid complex The Giza pyramid complex (also called the Giza necropolis) in Egypt is home to the Great Pyramid of Giza, Great Pyramid, the pyramid of Khafre, and the pyramid of Menkaure, along with their associated pyramid complexes and the Great Sphinx of G ...

, which dates to the fourth dynasty of Egypt. He discovered that Pyramid G1-a, one of the subsidiary pyramids of the Great Pyramid, belonged to Hetepheres I; it was originally thought to belong to Queen Meritites I.

Education and career

Lehner first went to Egypt as a student in the 1970s. Intrigued by the mysteries of the "Sleeping Prophet",

Edgar Cayce Edgar Cayce (; March 18, 1877 – January 3, 1945) was an American clairvoyant who claimed to diagnose diseases and recommend treatments for ailments while asleep. During thousands of transcribed sessions, Cayce would answer questions on ...

, Lehner "found that yinitial notions about the ancient civilization along the Nile could not stand up to the bedrock reality of the Giza Plateau". He turned to the

scientific method The scientific method is an Empirical evidence, empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has been referred to while doing science since at least the 17th century. Historically, it was developed through the centuries from the ancient and ...

of discovery in order to understand the culture better, returning some years later to complete a

doctoral degree A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. Lehner's 1991 dissertation was titled ''Archaeology of an image: The

Great Sphinx of Giza The Great Sphinx of Giza is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx, a mythical creature with the head of a human and the body of a lion. Facing east, it stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt. The original sh ...

''. Lehner's team has more recently included parts of

Menkaure Menkaure or Menkaura (; 2550 BC - 2503 BC) was a king of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt during the Old Kingdom. He is well known under his Hellenized names Mykerinos ( by Herodotus), in turn Latinized as Mycerinus, and Menkheres ( by Manetho). ...

's valley

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

and the town attached to the monument of Queen Khentkawes in their excavations. AERA's 2009 field season was recorded in a blog. AERA has conducted a number of archaeological field schools for Egyptian antiquities inspectors under the auspices of Egypt's

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 ...

. The AERA team has run basic and advanced courses at Giza, as well as courses in salvage archaeology along the Avenue of Sphinxes north of

Luxor Temple The Luxor Temple () is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the Nile River in the city today known as Luxor (ancient Thebes (Egypt), Thebes) and was constructed approximately 1400 BCE. In the Egyptian language it was ...

in the city of

Luxor Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt. Luxor had a population of 263,109 in 2020, with an area of approximately and is the capital of the Luxor Governorate. It is among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited c ...

. Among his other work in Egypt, Lehner has produced the only known scale maps of the Giza Sphinx. Lehner's book, "The Complete Pyramids" (1997), is an exhaustive catalogue of Egypt's many pyramid sites. He has appeared in many television programs about Ancient Egypt. He is a visiting assistant professor of Egyptian archaeology at the Oriental Institute of the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

In 1985, he published a proposal for

building A building or edifice is an enclosed Structure#Load-bearing, structure with a roof, walls and window, windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, a ...

the

Great Pyramid The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest Egyptian pyramid. It served as the tomb of pharaoh Khufu, who ruled during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom. Built , over a period of about 26 years, the pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wond ...

using two ramps. The outer ramp starts in the south at the quarries and leads to the southwest corner of the pyramid. The second ramp starts at the southeast corner and flows into the outer ramp. From the junction point, the ramp spirals upwards. Lehner took part in an

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

debate centered around controversy surrounding the age of the Sphinx at Giza

Lehner has also starred and aided in the production of several documentary film, documentaries about the

pyramids A pyramid () is a Nonbuilding structure, structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a Pyramid (geometry), pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid ca ...

which are regularly aired on the

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by the National Geographic Global Networks unit of Disney Enter ...

. He has argued that the Giza Necropolis was built in a span of 85 years between 2589 and 2504 BC.

Television credits

Crew

*''Into the Great Pyramid'' (2002) (TV) (consultant: archaeology) *''Mysteries of Egypt'' (1998) (scientific consultant) *''Saving the Sphinx'' (1998) (TV) (historical consultant)

Appearances

*''Pyramides: Les Mystères Révélés'' (2019) (TV) *''Secret History Of The Sphinx'' (2017) (TV) *''Riddles of the Sphinx'

(2010) (TV) *''Heritage Key: Pyramid Builders'' (2009) (TV) *''Into the Great Pyramid'' (2002) (TV) *''Secrets of the Pharaohs: Lost City of the Pyramids'' (2001) (TV) *''Saving the Sphinx'' (1998) (TV) *''Egypt: Secrets of the Pharaohs'' (1997) (TV) *''Mummies: Tales from the Egyptian Crypts'' (1996) (TV) *''The Mystery of the Sphinx'' (1993) (TV) *''This Old Pyramid'' (1992) (TV) *''Mysteries of the Pyramids, LIVE'' (1988) (TV)

Books

* ''The Egyptian Heritage: Based on the Edgar Cayce Readings'',

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the List of cities in Virginia, most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeaster ...

: A.R.E. Press (1974). * ''The Complete Pyramids'',

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

: Thames and Hudson (1997). * ''Giza Plateau Mapping Project: Season 2008: Preliminary Report'', Ancient Egypt Research Associates (AERA), (2008) * ''10, 20, 30 years: Mark Lehner Reflects on a Career Giza in Archeology'', AERAgram 10.1 Spring, Ancient Egypt Research Associates, (2009) * ''Giza and the Pyramids: The Definitive Story'',

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the university press of the University of Chicago, a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It pu ...

(2017) * ''The Read Sea Scrolls: How Ancient Papyri Reveal the Secrets of the Pyramids'', Thames and Hudson (2022)

References

External links

John Warren: ''Mark Lehner, Egyptologist''University of Chicago's Oriental InstituteAmerican Research Center in Egypt (AREA)''Decoding The Great Pyramid''
Video at

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lehner, Mark American archaeologists American Egyptologists Living people 1950 births American expatriates in Egypt