Breasted, James Henry (1865-1935), an American archaeologist and Egyptologist, was one of the world’s leading authorities on ancient Egypt and the Near East. In 1919, with financial aid from John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and others, he founded the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. It became a leading center for the study of Near Eastern history and civilizations.
Under the direction of Breasted, the Oriental Institute carried out many important archaeological excavations. These excavations included the uncovering of Megiddo (ancient Armageddon [see Armageddon ]). Breasted’s dates for the various periods of ancient Egyptian history are the ones usually followed by scholars throughout the world. He wrote History of Egypt from the Earliest Times to the Persian Conquest (1905), The Conquest of Civilization (1926), and The Dawn of Conscience (1933).
Breasted was born on Aug. 27, 1865, in Rockford, Illinois. He studied at Yale University and the University of Berlin. He joined the University of Chicago in 1894. He taught Egyptology and Oriental history there from 1905 until his death on Dec. 2, 1935.
