Oric Bates (5 December 1883 – 1918) was an American archaeologist and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

. Bates worked at multiple institutions including the

Boston Museum of Fine Arts 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 ...

where he served as the director of the Egyptian Department and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography where he was a curator in African ethnology. Notable works by Bates include "The Eastern Libyans," "A Madcap Cruise," and Siwan Superstitions." Bates also led expeditions in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

and Sudan.

Early life

Bates was born on December 5, 1883 in Boston, Massachusetts. Bates was the son of

Harriet Bates Harriet Bates (July 30, 1856 – March 1886) was a 19th-century American author of poetry and novels.''Dictionary of Women Worldwide'' (2007) Gale. Online version retrieved 17 July 2014 . Her pen name, Eleanor Putnam, had been the maiden name of ...

and

Arlo Bates Arlo Bates (December 16, 1850 – August 25, 1918) was an American author, educator and newspaperman. Biography Arlo Bates was born at East Machias, Maine. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1876. In 1880 Bates became the editor of the Bosto ...

Career

Bates graduated from Harvard University in 1905. Following this he served as the director of the Egyptian department at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Bates later joined an expedition to northern Sudan involving the Khedival government, the Harvard Syrian expedition, and the

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 high ...

Museum of Fine Arts Egyptian expedition. In 1909 Bates led the Tripoli expedition which explored the

Libyan Desert The Libyan Desert (not to be confused with the Libyan Sahara) is a geographical region filling the north-eastern Sahara Desert, from eastern Libya to the Western Desert of Egypt and far northwestern Sudan. On medieval maps, its use predates t ...

. Following this, he led an expedition of Sudan before returning to research in the Libyan Desert. His work appeared in ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

''. In 1914 Bates was appointed curator of African Ethnography at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography, where he also taught courses. Bates also served in the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

as part of the 12th Observation Battery, Section 6. His papers are held at Harvard Library.

Death

Bates died from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

on October 8, 1918 at Camp Zachary Taylor in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

Bibliography

* ''A Madcap Cruise'' (1905) * ''Siwan Superstitions'' (1911) * ''History of the Eastern Libyans'' (1912) * ''The Eastern Libyans'' (1914) * ''Ethnographic Notes from Marsa Matruh'' (1915) * ''Ancient Egyptian Fishing'' (1917) * ''Sîwan Pottery'' (1918) ; *

References

{{Authority control 1883 births 1918 deaths American archaeologists Harvard College alumni