Albert Lythgoe
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Albert Morton Lythgoe (March 15, 1868 – January 29, 1934) was an American
archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
and
Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...
. He is best known for his work for the New York
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, and for the support he gave to the excavation of
Tutankhamun's tomb The tomb of Tutankhamun, also known by its tomb number, KV62, is the burial place of Tutankhamun (reigned c. 1334–1325 BC), a pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt, in the Valley of the Kings. The tomb consists of four chambers a ...
, he releasing several key Metropolitan Museum staff to assist
Howard Carter Howard Carter (9 May 18742 March 1939) was a British archaeologist and Egyptologist who discovered the intact tomb of the 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Tutankhamun in November 1922, the best-preserved pharaonic tomb ever found in the Valley of the K ...
.


Biography


Early life

Lythgoe was born on March 15, 1868 in
Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...
, the son of Joseph Lythgoe and Mary Ellen (). He went to Providence
Classical High School Classical High School, founded in 1843, is a public magnet school in the Providence School District, in Providence, Rhode Island. It was originally an all-male school but has since become co-ed. Classical's motto is ''Certare, Petere, Reperire, ...
before attending
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
from 1888, graduating in 1892 and receiving his master's degree in 1897. He then studied at the
University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...
, and lectured on Egyptology at Harvard 1898–99.


Career

In 1899 Lythgoe went to Egypt to undertake archaeological work, assisting
George Reisner George Andrew Reisner Jr. (November 5, 1867 – June 6, 1942) was an American archaeologist of Ancient Egypt, Nubia and Palestine. Biography Reisner was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. His parents were George Andrew Reisner I and Mary Elizabeth ...
in the
Hearst Expedition The Hearst Expedition was an archaeological project led by the University of California to explore burial grounds at and around Qift, Egypt. The expedition spanned the years 1899–1905, and was named for Phoebe Hearst, mother of William Randolph H ...
at Naga ed-Der, 1899–1904. He was appointed the first curator of Egyptian Art at the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
, 1902–06, and again lectured at Harvard, 1904–06. In 1906 Lythgoe resigned from both his Harvard and Boston Museum posts to become the first curator of Egyptian Art at the
Metropolitan Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, New York. He directed a number of Egyptian excavations for the Metropolitan Museum, employing his former Harvard student
Herbert Winlock Herbert Eustis Winlock (February 1, 1884 – January 27, 1950)Note: ''Who Was Who'' notes death on January 27, Spring 1998 ''KMT magazine'' article states January 25. was an American Egyptologist and archaeologist, employed by the Metropolitan Mu ...
. This included digs at the cemeteries at
Lisht Lisht or el-Lisht ( ar, اللشت, translit=Al-Lišt) is an Egyptian village located south of Cairo. It is the site of Middle Kingdom royal and elite burials, including two pyramids built by Amenemhat I and Senusret I. The two main pyramids were ...
2006–14 and at
Deir el-Bahari Deir el-Bahari or Dayr al-Bahri ( ar, الدير البحري, al-Dayr al-Baḥrī, the Monastery of the North) is a complex of mortuary temples and tombs located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor, Egypt. This is a part of ...
, near
Luxor Luxor ( ar, الأقصر, al-ʾuqṣur, lit=the palaces) is a modern city in Upper (southern) Egypt which includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of ''Thebes''. Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-a ...
, after 1918. As curator, he was also responsible for the arrangement of the Metropolitan Museum's Egyptian Collection in New York, which won praise from other Egyptologists.


Tomb of Tutankhamun

In November 1922 the British Archeologist
Howard Carter Howard Carter (9 May 18742 March 1939) was a British archaeologist and Egyptologist who discovered the intact tomb of the 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Tutankhamun in November 1922, the best-preserved pharaonic tomb ever found in the Valley of the K ...
discovered the
tomb of Tutankhamun The tomb of Tutankhamun, also known by its tomb number, KV62, is the burial place of Tutankhamun (reigned c. 1334–1325 BC), a pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt, in the Valley of the Kings. The tomb ...
in the
Valley of the Kings The Valley of the Kings ( ar, وادي الملوك ; Late Coptic: ), also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings ( ar, وادي أبوا الملوك ), is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th ...
near
Luxor Luxor ( ar, الأقصر, al-ʾuqṣur, lit=the palaces) is a modern city in Upper (southern) Egypt which includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of ''Thebes''. Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-a ...
, a unique find of a pharaonic tomb with its contents largely intact. On hearing of the discovery Lythgoe, who was working at the Metropolitan's nearby Deir al Bahari excavation, sent a congratulatory telegram to Carter. Carter later wrote:
In my reply o LythgoeI somewhat diffidently inquired whether it would be possible — for the immediate emergency at any rate — to secure the assistance of Mr Harry Burton, their photographic expert. ythgoepromptly cabled back, and his cable ought to go on record as an example of disinterested scientific cooperation: 'Only too delighted to assist in any possible way. Please call on Burton and any other members of our staff.
With Lythgoe's support, the Metropolitan Museum loaned a number of experienced staff, including Harry Burton and archeologist Arthur Mace, who both remained loaned to Carter for a number of years. This was a significant contribution to the Tutankhamun exploration, since Carter's initial resources were clearly insufficient for the task of systematically clearing the tomb. Lythgoe, although never a part of Carter's team, continued to be supportive of Carter and the excavation. He attended the opening of the burial chamber in February 1923, and when Carter and his patron
Lord Carnarvon Earl of Carnarvon is a title that has been created three times in British history. The current holder is George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon. The town and county in Wales to which the title refers are historically spelled ''Caernarfon,'' havi ...
sold exclusive reporting rights to ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', a deeply unpopular move with the rest of the world's press, Lythgoe wrote to Edward Robinson, the Metropolitan's director, that 'although we are doing the lion's share of the work, the tomb is Carnarvon's and Carter's and the right to speak publicly of it ... is solely theirs'. This support continued during Carter's 1924 legal dispute with
Pierre Lacau Pierre Lacau (25 November 1873 – 26 March 1963) was a French Egyptologist and philologist. He served as Egypt's director of antiquities from 1914 until 1936, and oversaw the 1922 discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the King ...
, head of the Egyptian Antiquities Department, with Lythgoe attending a number of Carter's meetings with Lacau, and offering Carter advice. He also signed two joint letters: one to Lacau saying that Carter was 'conducting his complex and very difficult task in a manner beyond all praise'; and one to ''The Times'', blaming the impasse on Lacau's 'intransigence and his department's bureaucratic policies'. While the Metropolitan Museum was never formally compensated for the support they gave to the excavation, when the late Lord Carnarvon's private Egyptian collection was sold, Lady Carnarvon accepted Carter's advice to sell much of the collection to the Metropolitan Museum. Carter, with Lythgoe representing the Museum, agreed what appeared to be a low price, thereby providing the Museum with some recompense. Philanthropist
Edward Harkness Edward Stephen Harkness (January 22, 1874 – January 29, 1940) was an American philanthropist. Given privately and through his family's Commonwealth Fund, Harkness' gifts to private hospitals, art museums, and educational institutions in the Nort ...
funded the purchase. Although officially all artifacts from Tutankhamun's tomb went to the
Cairo Museum The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum or the Cairo Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display ...
, it is possible that some items were added to the Carnarvon collection and were, therefore, passed on to the Metropolitan Museum in New York.


Later life

Lythgoe retired as curator of Egyptian Art at the Metropolitan Museum in 1929, and was succeeded by Herbert Winlock. Lythgoe remained as curator
emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
until 1933. After three years of illness, Lythgoe died in New York on January 29, 1934, aged 65. He is buried at
Swan Point Cemetery Swan Point Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Established in 1846 on a 60-acre (0.24 km2) plot of land, it has approximately 40,000 interments. History The cemetery was first organ ...
in Providence, Rhode Island. Lythgoe married Lucy Tappan Richardson in Athens, Greece, in December 1902. Lucy outlived her husband and died in a nursing home at
Killingly, Connecticut Killingly is a New England town, town in Windham County, Connecticut, Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 17,752 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It consists of the borough of Danielson, Connecticut, Dani ...
on August 9, 1973, aged 94. She often traveled with her husband on archeological expeditions, and was present in Egypt during the Tutankhamun excavation.


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lythgoe, Albert Morton American archaeologists American Egyptologists 20th-century archaeologists 1868 births 1934 deaths Museum of Fine Arts, Boston American art curators Tutankhamun Harvard University alumni Burials at Swan Point Cemetery Classical High School alumni