Illinois Bicentennial
Illinois and Rockford's Indiana Jones?
Illinois and Rockford's Indiana Jones?
James Henry Breasted was the son of a small hardware business owner in Rockford, Illinois.
He was the first American citizen to obtain a PhD in Egyptology.
In 1894, he joined the faculty of the University of Chicago and was the first person to hold the first chair in Egyptology and Oriental History in the United States.
In 1922 and 1923 he aided Howard Carter in deciphering the seals from the newly discovered Tomb of Tutankhamun.
Breasted also conducted and published much of his research on ancient Egypt.
Breasted watches the sarcophagus of Harsiese being raised from his tomb at Medinet Habu. This first excavation of the Oriental Institute was one of the sites which Breasted had recommended.