Jean-Yves Empereur (; born 1952) is a French

archeologist 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 ...

. He studied classic literature in the University Paris IV Sorbonne (

DEA The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic en ...

, CAPES, Agrégation de lettres in 1975,

Doctorat A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

in archeology in 1977). He is a former member (since 1978) and general secretary (1982–2000) of the

École française d'Athènes The French School at Athens (french: École française d’Athènes, EfA; el, Γαλλική Σχολή Αθηνών ''Gallikí Scholí Athinón'') is one of the seventeen foreign archaeological institutes operating in Athens, Greece. History ...

. He conducted some excavations, including some submarine ones, in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, on the sites

Thasos Thasos or Thassos ( el, Θάσος, ''Thásos'') is a Greek island in the North Aegean Sea. It is the northernmost major Greek island, and 12th largest by area. The island has an area of and a population of about 13,000. It forms a separate r ...

and

Amathus Amathus or Amathous ( grc, Ἀμαθοῦς) was an ancient city and one of the ancient royal cities of Cyprus until about 300 BC. Some of its impressive remains can be seen today on the southern coast in front of Agios Tychonas, about west o ...

. He is a researcher from the CNRS, director of the (CEA) - Alexandria Studies Center that he founded in 1990, and since then he has led archeological research in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

on earth and underwater.

Archeological excavations

Empereur conducts emergency excavations in the Alexandria town center. The modern city was built over the ancient one, which means that the archaeological excavations become possible only when older buildings are taken down for civil works, for example. As an example of this recovery work, beautiful

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

s can be enjoyed at Diane field, a Roman villa from the 2nd century. In 1993, a dyke was to be built on the supposed site of the

lighthouse of Alexandria The Lighthouse of Alexandria, sometimes called the Pharos of Alexandria (; Ancient Greek: ὁ Φάρος τῆς Ἀλεξανδρείας, contemporary Koine ), was a lighthouse built by the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, during the rei ...

. Empereur,

Jean-Pierre Corteggiani Jean-Pierre Corteggiani (1942 – 15 March 2022) was a French Egyptologist. Career In 1993, a dyke was to be built on the alleged site of the Lighthouse of Alexandria. A rescue operation was entrusted to Jean-Yves Empereur and Jean-Pierre Cor ...

, and around thirty scuba divers then attempted a rescue operation by starting some excavations in a 2.25 ha zone situated north-east from Fort Qaitbay. Until 1996, these excavations in Alexandria harbour led to the discovery of many archeological remains: 5,000 architectural blocks weighing up to 75 tons, columns, capitals, huge broken statues, a dozen

sphinx A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon. In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...

es, and above all the indisputable remains of the lighthouse itself. A 12-metre door made of

Aswan Aswan (, also ; ar, أسوان, ʾAswān ; cop, Ⲥⲟⲩⲁⲛ ) is a city in Southern Egypt, and is the capital of the Aswan Governorate. Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dam on the east bank of the ...

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

was virtually reassembled. Some gigantic statues that used to stand against the lighthouse, representing Ptolemaic kings and queens, were found right next to their pedestal. Empereur hopes that in the future this marvellous site will be open to amateur scuba divers. In March 1997, the site of the Gabbari Necropolis, Alexandria's city of the dead, was discovered during the building of the bridge linking the western harbour to the

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

road. The director of the museums and archeological sites of Alexandria asked for Empereur's help on June 27. The general map of the ancient city appeared then, with the streets following the drawings by

Dinocrates Dinocrates of Rhodes (also Deinocrates, Dimocrates, Cheirocrates and Stasicrates; grc-gre, Δεινοκράτης ὁ Ῥόδιος, fl. last quarter of the 4th century BC) was a Greek architect and technical adviser for Alexander the Great. He i ...

, the first

urbanist Urbanism is the study of how inhabitants of urban areas, such as towns and cities, interact with the built environment. It is a direct component of disciplines such as urban planning, which is the profession focusing on the physical design and m ...

architect.

Bibliography

* ''Les amphores, la nécropole nord d’Amathonte II, Études chypriotes VIII'', 1987 * ''Le port hellénistique d'Amathonte, Actes du Symposium "Cyprus and the Sea"'', Nicosie, 1993 * ''A short guide to the catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa, Alexandria'', Sarapis, Alexandria, 1995, * ''Alexandrie redécouverte'', Fayard, Paris, 1998, * ''Alexandrina 1'',

Institut français d'archéologie orientale The Institut français d'archéologie orientale (or IFAO), also known as the French Institute for Oriental Archaeology in Cairo, is a French research institute based in Cairo, Egypt, dedicated to the study of the archaeology, history and language ...

, Cairo, 1998 * ''Alexandrie médiévale 1'', with Christian Décobert, Institut français d'archéologie orientale, Cairo, 1998 * ''Le Phare d'Alexandrie : La Merveille retrouvée'', coll. « Découvertes Gallimard » (nº 352), série Archéologie. Paris: Gallimard, 1998 (new edition in 2004), * ''Petit guide du Musée gréco-romain d'Alexandrie'', Harpocrates, Alexandria, 2000, * ''Alexandrie : Hier et demain'', coll. « Découvertes Gallimard » (nº 412), série Culture et société. Paris: Gallimard, 2001, ** ''Alexandria: Past, Present and Future'', ' New Horizons' series, London: Thames & Hudson, 2002 ** ''Alexandria: Jewel of Egypt'', "

Abrams Discoveries Abrams may refer to: * Abrams (surname), a list of notable people with the surname * '' Abrams v. United States'', 250 U.S. 616 (1919), U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding free speech during times of war * M1 Abrams, main battle tank * Abrams, ...

" series, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2002 * ''Nécropolis 1'', with Marie-Dominique Nenna, Institut français d'archéologie orientale, Cairo, 2001 * ''Alexandrina 2'', Institut français d'archéologie orientale, Cairo, 2002 * ''Nécropolis 2'', with Marie-Dominique Nenna, Institut français d'archéologie orientale, Cairo, 2003

Filmography

''Gédéon Programmes'' produced a documentary trilogy about Empereur's work, directed by Thierry Ragobert: * La septième merveille du monde (le Phare) * Alexandrie la magnifique * Les mystères d'Alexandrie

Trivia

In 2001 Empereur confronted video games publisher Eidos Interactive for using his image in the fourth game of Tomb Raider series: The game's protagonist,

Lara Croft Lara Croft is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the video game franchise ''Tomb Raider''. She is presented as a highly intelligent and athletic British archaeologist who ventures into ancient tombs and hazardous ruins around th ...

, meets a friend of hers in Alexandria, who coincidentally resembled Jean-Yves Empereur, including having the same first name and profession. The publisher apologized and agreed to stop using the character in their games.

References

External links