HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

David Bourke O'Connor (5 February 1938 – 1 October 2022) was an
Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...
- American
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 ...
who primarily worked in the fields of
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 ...
and
Nubia Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...
. O'Connor was the Lila Acheson Wallace Professor Emeritus at New York University's Institute of Fine Art, the Curator Emeritus of the University of Pennsylvania's Egyptian Museum, and the director emeritus of the Abydos Archaeology expedition in Egypt. O'Connor was best known for his work in the excavation of the ancient city of Abydos in Egypt beginning in 1967.


Early life

Born in
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
in 1938, O'Connor's interests in
archaeology 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, ...
and
ancient history Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian language, ...
originated when he was a child. His initial interest centered around the ancient civilization of
Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...
. As a teen, O'Connor built a replica of the city of Babylon out of bricks in a field adjacent to his home, and recreated the
Fall of Babylon Autumn, also known as fall (especially in US & Canada), is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March (Southern Hemisphere ...
by setting the field alight during the height of a series bush fires in New South Wales.


Education

O'Connor received a Bachelor of Arts in Archaeology from the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
in 1959. While completing his bachelor's degree he focused on the ancient history of Cyprus, with a broader interest in the ancient history of the
Near East The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...
. The University of Sydney did not have a specialised department of Near East studies, so O'Connor moved to the United Kingdom to continue his education. He received a Diploma in Egyptology from
University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
in 1962. At University College London O'Connor engaged in his first fieldwork. He spent three seasons in
Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
, working as part of the Nubian Salvage Campaign. In Sudan he worked under Walter B. Emery. Emery had notably discovered the Buhen Horse in the same area in 1959, the earliest example of a horse to be discovered at an
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 site. As a result of their excavations in Sudan, Emery and O'Connor published works on an Old Kingdom era town and Middle Kingdom era fortress at
Buhen Buhen, alternatively known as Βοὥν (Bohón) in Ancient Greek, stands as a significant ancient Egyptian settlement on the western bank of the Nile, just below the Second Cataract in present-day Northern State, Sudan. Its origins trace back t ...
. While working in Sudan O'Connor developed his academic focus on the differences and interactions between Ancient Near Eastern civilizations. This area of study was the focus of O'Connor's most notable publication, ''Ancient Nubia: Egypt's Rival in Africa.'' O'Connor received his PhD from the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
in 1969.


Career


University of Pennsylvania

Between 1964 and 1995 O'Connor was a Professor of Ancient Egyptian History and Archaeology in the Department of Oriental Studies at the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
, as well as Curator-in-Charge of the Egyptian collection at the
Penn Museum The Penn Museum is an archaeology and anthropology museum at the University of Pennsylvania. It is located on Penn's campus in the University City, Philadelphia, University City neighborhood of Philadelphia, at the intersection of 33rd and Sout ...
. O'Connor had a dual role at the institution, working as a lecturer and mentor to PhD students at the university, as well as exhibiting and maintaining the Ancient Egyptian collection at the Museum. O'Connor claims to have always preferred education through the use of artefacts, having previously been particularly interested in the student-accessible collections at the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
and
University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
. He utilised the large collection of Ancient Egyptian artefacts to aid in tutoring post-graduate students. O'Connor expanded his use of the Museum's collection through a series of touring exhibitions. He began with an exhibition of artefacts from Abydos, using a mixture of the Museum's collection as well as new material distributed by the Egyptian Government. The most well-travelled exhibition was of
Nubia Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...
n artefacts, displaying a selection of the Museum's collection at eight cities in the United States, including
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
. In an oral history where he recounted his career, O'Connor stated that while he enjoyed his time curating exhibitions, it was not well respected by peers within his discipline, and it did little to progress his career. This attitude of contributing to popular history sometimes at the expense of participating in more scholarly activity, such as lecturing, writing, and fieldwork, is further shown in O'Connor's appearance in documentaries about Ancient Egypt, like PBS's ''Egypt's Golden Empire'' in 2001. The main sites O'Connor worked at during this period were Abydos and Malkata. Abydos was an important place of worship for Ancient Egyptians to the god
Osiris Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wikt:wsjr, wsjr'') was the ancient Egyptian deities, god of fertility, agriculture, the Ancient Egyptian religion#Afterlife, afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He was ...
during the Middle Kingdom era to the Late Period. O'Connor's work at Abydos began in 1967 as part of a joint Penn-Yale Expedition, and he continued to be involved in study of the site. O'Connor was temporarily excluded from work at Abydos as a result of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The
Israeli occupation of the Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, which is a part of Egypt, has been militarily occupied by Israel twice since the beginning of the Arab–Israeli conflict: the first occupation lasted from October 1956 to March 1957, and the second occupation lasted from ...
and threat of further conflict in Egypt led Egyptian President,
Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until Assassination of Anwar Sadat, his assassination by fundame ...
, to evacuate foreign tourists from Egypt and consolidate foreign archaeologists in a few central locations. O'Connor was relocated to the urban site of Malkata, near Thebes, studying the artificial lake of the Malkata Palace as well as a collection of ancient ceramics. O'Connor co-directed this project with his former University of Cambridge peer, Barry Kemp. O'Connor's most notable student from his time at the University of Pennsylvania was archaeologist and former Egyptian Minister of Antiquities,
Zahi Hawass Zahi Abass Hawass (; born May 28, 1947) is an Egyptians, Egyptian archaeology, archaeologist, Egyptology, Egyptologist, and former Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (Egypt), Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, a position he held twice. He has ...
. O'Connor first met Hawass when the former was excavating at Malkata in 1974, and the latter was working as an inspector of antiquities for the Egyptian Government. They reunited at the Abydos dig-site in 1979, where Hawass's interest in
Egyptology Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Ancient Greek, Greek , ''wiktionary:-logia, -logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian History of Egypt, history, Egyptian language, language, Ancient Egypt ...
prompted O'Connor and co-director, William Kelly Simpson, to invite him to the United States to view museum collections. Hawass began his doctoral work at the University of Pennsylvania as a
Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...
in 1980, with O'Connor acting as an advisor to Hawass's dissertation. Having left the institution in 1995, O'Connor held the role of Curator Emeritus of the University of Pennsylvania's Egyptian Museum.


New York University

From 1995 to 2017 O'Connor worked at the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University as the Lila Acheson Wallace Professor of Ancient Egyptian Art. Here O'Connor continued his fieldwork at Abydos and role as a teacher of tertiary-level students. O'Connor also continued to publish works on his findings at Abydos as well as in the fields of Ancient Egyptian Art and the foreign relations of Ancient Egypt with other civilizations. O'Connor also expanded his academic role at the Institute of Fine Arts, beginning work in the field of
Art History Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...
. He was not formally educated in this discipline, but had always incorporated it into his Egyptological work, such as in his study of ceramics at Malkata. This transition supported the Institute of Fine Arts' aim to diversify archaeological focuses among their faculty. Retired since 2017, O'Connor held the title of Lila Acheson Wallace Professor Emeritus at
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
until his death in 2022.


Abydos

O'Connor began work at the Abydos archaeological site in 1967. The first excavations occurred at Abydos in the mid-19th century under the direction of
Auguste Mariette François Auguste Ferdinand Mariette (11 February 182118 January 1881) was a French scholar, archaeologist and Egyptologist, and the founder of the Egyptian Department of Antiquities, the forerunner of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. Earl ...
. More systematic work began near the end of the century, undertaken by archaeologists
Émile Amélineau Émile Amélineau (1850 – 12 January 1915 at Châteaudun) was a French Coptologist, archaeologist and Egyptologist. His scholarly reputation was established as an editor of previously unpublished Coptic texts. His reputation was destroyed ...
and Sir Flinders Petrie. Abydos was historically a site for worship of the jackal god Khenti-Amentiu in the Old Kingdom era before it transitioned to the main site of worship of the god
Osiris Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wikt:wsjr, wsjr'') was the ancient Egyptian deities, god of fertility, agriculture, the Ancient Egyptian religion#Afterlife, afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He was ...
during the Fifth Dynasty. Osiris was a god of the netherworld who decided which souls could enter, and which could not. A symbol of rebirth, it was believed Osiris sacrificed himself so that the banks of the
Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...
could flood and water the crops that grew along it. Due to these beliefs, Osiris was worshipped by Ancient Egyptians as a god of fertility. O'Connor's work at Abydos focused on unearthing sites connected to the worship of Osiris. These buildings most often took the form of chapels, where bodies and inscriptions of names were kept, so spirits could witness yearly festivities at the Temple of Osiris. O'Connor excavated and researched a variety of chapels in various sites, mainly in North Abydos. His work involved distinguishing between tomb chapels, like those of pharaohs such as Senwosret III, Ahmose II and Tetishri in the North Cemetery, and lesser ''mahat'' chapels of the Middle Kingdom era. Some of O'Connor's notable work at Abydos includes: * Locating the 'Terrace of the God', referenced in Egyptian texts, as a collection of chapels in the North Cemetery. * Suggestion that many structures discovered damaged in the North Cemetery were intentionally demolished after a short period of use as part of ritual celebration (with the notable exception of the funerary complex of
Khasekhemwy Khasekhemwy (ca. 2690 BC; ', also rendered ''Kha-sekhemui'') was the last Pharaoh of the Second Dynasty of Egypt. Little is known about him, other than that he led several significant military campaigns and built the mudbrick fort known as S ...
). * A theory that Nebhepetre made cult offerings to Osiris as evidenced by the location of an offering table at a chapel at
Umm el-Qa'ab Umm El Qaʻāb (sometimes romanisation, romanised Umm El Gaʻab, ) is an archaeological site located at Abydos, Egypt. Its modern name, meaning "Mother of Pots", refers to the mound made of millions of broken pieces of pots which defines the landsc ...
. * A theory that the tomb of
Djer Djer (or Zer or Sekhty; ) is considered the third pharaoh of the First Dynasty of ancient Egypt in current Egyptology. He lived around the mid 31st century BC and reigned for c. 40 years. A mummified forearm of Djer or his wife was discovered by ...
once had a brick chapel attached to it which has since been lost. O'Connor also led a successful conservation project at the Abydos site. Khasekhemwy of the Second Dynasty was the last early Egyptian king to have been buried at Abydos, and his funerary monument, Shunet el-Zebib, is the last standing monument of its kind in the area. With walls reaching 12 metres tall in some parts of the complex, Shunet el-Zebib is one of the oldest mud brick buildings in the world, but, over more than 4,000 years it has collapsed in some places and is at risk of further destruction as a rising water table, wind, rain erosion, and animals digging into it for burrows have compromised its stability. From 2008 to 2009 O'Connor led a project to keep the structure standing. This conservation work focused on supporting the current structure through the sealing of animal burrows (mostly those of hornets and foxes), and reinforcing structurally unstable walls through the fabrication and use of 150,000 mud bricks, made and put in place by local workers. Support for the project was provided by O'Connor's employer at the time, New York University's Institute of Fine Arts, as well as the World Monuments Fund and the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities.  Additional financing for the project was provided through the American Research Center in Egypt's EAP, EAC and AEF grants, which were funded by the USAID program. O'Connor no longer worked on site at Abydos but he remained the director emeritus of the Abydos Archaeology Project.


Death

O'Connor died on 1 October 2022, aged 84.


American Research Center in Egypt

The American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) acts as a base for American academics in Egypt and supports their research through the provision of grants and field schools. The centre is a
non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
that has aided American academics since 1948. O'Connor was affiliated with ARCE since he first began working in Egypt. O'Connor was involved in the running of ARCE, as its president from 1987 to 1990, and as a member of its Board of Governors from 2009 to 2015.


Fellowships and honours

* Raymond and Beverley Sackler Foundation Distinguished Lecturer in Egyptology, 1994 * William Fox Albright Lecturer, 1993 O'Connor was the yearly keynote speaker at the British Museum's lecture on Ancient Egypt and Nubia. His talk was on his team's findings at the Abydos site, specifically focusing on the importance of the city to the celebration of Osiris. *
Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...
, 1982–1983 The Guggenheim Memorial Foundation offers fellowships to scholars in all fields to allow them to more easily engage in their research and scholarship, providing aid. * Taiwan Medal of Merit, 1985 * Corresponding Member of the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo, 1995 to present


Selected works


Authored

*''Ancient Egypt: A Social History'', co-author, 1983. *''Ancient Nubia: Egypt's Rival in Africa'', 1994. *''Society and Individual in Early Egypt'', in, ''Order, Legitimacy, and Wealth in Ancient States'', 2000. *''Abydos: Egypt's First Pharaohs and the Cult of Osiris'', 2011. *''The Old Kingdom Town at Buhen'', 2014.


Edited

* ''Ancient Egyptian Kingship: New Investigations,'' co-editor, 1994. * ''Amenhotep III. Perspectives on His Reign'', co-editor, 1998. * ''Encounters With Ancient Egypt'', co-editor, 2003. * ''Thutmose III: A New Biography'', co-editor with Eric H. Cline, 2006. * ''Ramesses III: The Life and Times of Egypt's Last Hero'', co-editor, 2012.


See also

*
List of Egyptologists This is a partial list of Egyptologists. An Egyptologist is any archaeologist, historian, linguistics, linguist, or art historian who specializes in Egyptology, the scientific study of Ancient Egypt and its antiquities. Demotists are Egyptologists ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OConnor, David 1938 births 2022 deaths Australian Egyptologists American Egyptologists Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge University of Sydney alumni Alumni of the University of London