Bernard Bruyère (10 November 1879 – 4 December 1971) was a French

Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , ''-logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end ...

. He was one of the discoverers of the

Tomb of Tutankhamun The tomb of Tutankhamun (reigned ), a pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt, is located in the Valley of the Kings. The tomb, also known by its List of burials in the Valley of the Kings, tomb number KV ...

Biography

Born in

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

, Bruyère devoted a large part of his career to archaeological excavations of

Deir el-Medina Deir el-Medina (), or Dayr al-Madīnah, is an ancient Egyptian workmen's village which was home to the artisans who worked on the tombs in the Valley of the Kings during the 18th to 20th Dynasties of the New Kingdom of Egypt (ca. 1550–1080 BC). ...

and the scientific publication of his findings at the site.

was a village of artisans who worked on digging and decorating the tombs of the

Valley of the Kings The Valley of the Kings, also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings, is an area in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the Eighteenth Dynasty to the Twentieth Dynasty, rock-cut tombs were excavated for pharaohs and power ...

. Bruyère excavated the village and its surrounding area from 1922 to 1940 and from 1945 to 1951, where he undertook a systematic and rational exploration of the archaeological zone. The site has been thoroughly excavated and studied by Bernard Bruyère, who published the results of his work every year. In 1922, Bernard Bruyère discovered the tomb TT290 in the necropolis of

. This tomb had been stripped of almost everything in ancient times. The only remaining funeral equipment, discovered in the tomb, were some fragments of stelae and fragments of a wooden coffin belonging to Irunefer, a

servant in the Place of Truth sḏm-ꜥš m st mꜣꜥt, usually translated as ''Servant in the Place of Truth'' is an ancient Egyptian title that is used to refer to someone who worked in the Theban Necropolis, on the west bank of the Nile in Thebes. Set-Maat ( "Place of Tr ...

. One morning in October 1922, British archaeologist and Egyptologist

Howard Carter Howard Carter (9 May 18742 March 1939) was a British archaeologist and Egyptology, Egyptologist who Discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, discovered Tomb of Tutankhamun, the intact tomb of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, 18th Dynasty Pharaoh ...

visited the site to express his despair to his colleague, Bruyère: Lord Carnarvon, Carter's patron, had ended their collaboration, giving Carter a deadline to find something of value on the expedition they had just begun. Bruyère, who followed the excavations of the English with interest, suggested that they explore a spot they had not yet prospected: the foot of the entrance to

Ramesses VI Ramesses VI Nebmaatre-Meryamun (sometimes written Ramses or Rameses, also known under his princely name of Amenherkhepshef C) was the fifth ruler of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt. He reigned for about eight years in the mid-to-late 12th centur ...

's tomb. There, they discovered the

. During the excavation campaign of 1927, Bernard Bruyère excavated tomb TT299, the second tomb of Inerkhau, which he had already found in 1922–23 according to the reports of

Karl Richard Lepsius Karl Richard Lepsius (; 23 December 181010 July 1884) was a German people, Prussian Egyptology, Egyptologist, Linguistics, linguist and modern archaeology, modern archaeologist. He is widely known for his opus magnum ''Denkmäler aus Ägypten ...

. He then faced major technical problems, including the falling of a twenty-ton rock that threatened to destroy what remained of the underlying structures. On 7 February 1928, Bruyère discovered the untouched grave of

Sennefer The ancient Egyptian noble Sennefer was "Mayor of the City" (i.e. Thebes) and "Overseer of the Granaries and Fields, Gardens and Cattle of Amun" during the reign of Amenhotep II of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Being a favourite of the king ...

. The discovery was reconstructed in the exhibition "The artists of Pharaoh" at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

in 2002. The tomb of the lady Madja, whose coffin was found in his tomb, was also exhibited at the Louvre in this exhibit (room 14). Bruyère also discovered the family tombs of Amennakht and his two sons-- TT218, TT219 and TT220 in 1928. From 1949 to 1951, Bruyère completed the excavation of the large well more than deep and wide at the opening. The inhabitants of the village used this giant hole for disposal of unwanted materials, after a failed attempt to use it as a water source. Bruyère raised of debris without mechanical assistance, and found more than 5000

ostraca An ostracon (Greek language, Greek: ''ostrakon'', plural ''ostraka'') is a piece of pottery, usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In an archaeology, archaeological or epigraphy, epigraphical context, ''ostraca'' refer ...

in this deposit."Deir el-Medina – Excavations of 1950", in ''Chronicle of Egypt'' 51, Twenty-sixth year, Royal Museums of Art and History, Cinquantenaire Park, Brussels, January 1951 He died in

Chatou Chatou () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in north-central France. Chatou is a part of the affluent suburbs of western Paris and is on the northwest ...

in 1971, aged 92.

Notebooks

The IFAO has decided to gradually publish Bernard Bruyère's excavation notebooks online, which provide a basic source of information on Deir el-Medina. These are the original manuscript pages that have been scanned.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruyère, Bernard 1879 births 1971 deaths French Egyptologists French philologists French epigraphers 19th-century French writers 19th-century French archaeologists 20th-century French writers 20th-century French archaeologists 19th-century French male writers 20th-century French male writers French male non-fiction writers