Andrzej Stefan Niwiński (born 1948 in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

) is a Polish

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, ...

, specializing in the field of religious

iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

and mythological studies of the XXI– XXII Dynasty. Especially known as a specialist in the studies of coffins from XXI dynasty, and his search for tomb of

Herihor Herihor was an Egyptian army officer, vizier, and eventually a ruler of Upper Egypt as High Priest of Amun at Thebes (1080 BC to 1074 BC) during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses XI. Chronological and genealogical position Traditionally his career ...

Biography

In 1971, he graduated with a degree in Mediterranean archaeology from the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

, under the supervision of Professor

Kazimierz Michałowski Kazimierz Józef Marian Michałowski (14 December 1901, in Tarnopol – 1 January 1981, in Warsaw) was a Polish archaeologist and Egyptologist, Art history, art historian, member of the Polska Akademia Nauk, Polish Academy of Sciences, profe ...

. Since 1973 his research focused on the religious iconography of 21 dynasty. He obtained his doctorate in 1979 and habilitation in 1989. He worked at the Department of Egyptian Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw. He participated in the Polish Archaeological Mission at the Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut from 1972 to 1974. In 1981 he received as scholarship at Ägyptologisches Institut of Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

as part of Humboldt Research Fellowship Programme (1981-1984). In 2000 he became a full professor. He is the founder and president of the Association of Egypt Enthusiasts HERHOR
Stowarzyszenie Miłośników Egiptu „Herhor”
. In 2022, he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland The Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland () is a Polish order of merit created in 1974, awarded to persons who have rendered great service to Poland. It is granted to foreigners or Poles resident abroad. As such, it is sometimes referred to as ...

The search for
Herihor Herihor was an Egyptian army officer, vizier, and eventually a ruler of Upper Egypt as High Priest of Amun at Thebes (1080 BC to 1074 BC) during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses XI. Chronological and genealogical position Traditionally his career ...
tomb

Andrzej Niwiński began searching for the tomb of

in 1980. As no mummy of this phaoraoh has been found yet, Niwiński believes that if the tomb is excavated, it could be an intact grave. The Cliff Mission at Deir el-Bahari started operating in 1999, although, the area above Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut as potential place of

tomb was already assigned by him in 1986. The main purpose of Cliff Mission was to carry out an Egyptological examination of the cliff ledge situated above the temples of

Hatshepsut Hatshepsut ( ; BC) was the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, Egypt, ruling first as regent, then as queen regnant from until (Low Chronology) and the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Thutmose II. She was Egypt's second c ...

and

Thutmose III Thutmose III (variously also spelt Tuthmosis or Thothmes), sometimes called Thutmose the Great, (1479–1425 BC) was the fifth pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. He is regarded as one of the greatest warriors, military commanders, and milita ...

to detect all the traces of human activity and to find the grave of

. In 2020 during the works of the Cliff Mission at Deir el-Bahari, Niwinski's team have discovered a stone chest containing a royal deposit inscribed with

Thutmose II Thutmose II was the fourth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, and his reign is thought to have lasted for 13 years, from 1493 to 1479 BC (Low Chronology), or just 3 years from around 1482 to 1479 BC. Little is known about him, and he ...

name, which might be located near the grave of that pharaoh, which have not been found yet

Popularisation of archaeology

He hosted a television series on

Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

ian topics in the program Kwant in

Telewizja Polska Telewizja Polska S.A. (; TVP), also known in English as Polish Television, is a Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster in Poland, founded in 1952. It is the oldest and largest Polish television network. After 2015, when the right-wing po ...

. He was a main character of documentary movie "The secrets of Herihor" (Tajemnice Herhora)(2010) and
What if nothing
(A co jeśli nic?) (2020) directed b
Monika Krupa
Andrzej Niwiński has presented his research on

on multiple occasions in Television or newspapers. He is well known from his interviews popularising knowledge of ancient Egypt, and criticising non-scientific theories about ancient Egypt

Selected publications

* * * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Niwiński, Andrzej Polish archaeologists Polish Egyptologists Academic staff of the University of Warsaw 21st-century Polish archaeologists 20th-century Polish archaeologists University of Warsaw alumni People from Warsaw Commanders with Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland 1948 births Living people

Biography

The search for Herihor Herihor was an Egyptian army officer, vizier, and eventually a ruler of Upper Egypt as High Priest of Amun at Thebes (1080 BC to 1074 BC) during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses XI. Chronological and genealogical position Traditionally his career ... tomb

Popularisation of archaeology

Selected publications

References

The search for
Herihor Herihor was an Egyptian army officer, vizier, and eventually a ruler of Upper Egypt as High Priest of Amun at Thebes (1080 BC to 1074 BC) during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses XI. Chronological and genealogical position Traditionally his career ...
tomb