Auguste Mariette

French scholar, an archeologist and Egyptologist who pioneered much excavation in Egypt. In 1849, he discovered the ruins of the Serapeum of ancient Memphis. He founded the Egyptian National Museum at Bulak in 1863 and is called the father of Egyptian archaeology.

In 1849, Mariette joined the Egyptian Department of the Louvre, and the following year, he traveled to Egypt to collect ancient Coptic manuscripts. Instead, however, he began excavating at Saqqarah where, along with the ruins of the Serapeum, he unearthed the Avenue of the Sphinxes. In 1854, he returned to France where he served as the curator of the Egyptian Department at the Louvre until 1858. At that time he returned to Egypt where he spent the remainder of his life.

During his years in Egypt, he worked extensively at Memphis, Sakkara and Thebes, and uncovered the Sphinx. One of his major discoveries was the temple of Seti I, one of the finest examples of Egyptian temple architecture. As the first director of antiquities for Egypt, he felt that Egyptians should be able to keep their own treasures from the past, and he was instrumental in eliminating unauthorized excavation as well as restricting the sale and export of antiquities. He was given the title of Bey and later proclaimed a Pasha. His published works include "Abydos," 1869 and "Les Mastabas de l’Ancien Empire," 1889.

Mariette died on an expedition on 19 January 1881, Cairo, Egypt.