David O'Connor

David Bourke O'Connor (5 February 1938 – 1 October 2022) was an Australian-American Egyptologist who primarily worked in the fields of Ancient Egypt and Nubia.

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. His initial interest centered around the ancient civilization of Babylon. 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 by setting the field alight during the height of a series bush fires in New South Wales. 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 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. 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. While working in Sudan O'Connor developed his academic focus on the differences and interactions between Ancient Near Eastern civilizations.

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 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 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 prompted O'Connor and co-director, William Kelly Simpson, to invite him to the United States to view museum collections.

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. A symbol of rebirth, it was believed Osiris sacrificed himself so that the banks of the Nile could flood and water the crops that grew along it.

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. 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. 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.

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 that has aided American academics since 1948.

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.

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.

Article

The Narmer Palette: A New Interpretation (pp.145-152) in Emily Teeter (editor) https://isac.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/shared/docs/oimp33.pdf Before the Pyramids: The Origins of Egyptian Civilization] The Oriental Institute of the Museum of Chicago 33, 2011 PDF