Alexander Henry Rhind

Alexander Henry Rhind

The Rhind papyrus

Alexander Henry Rhind (born July 26, 1833 in Wick / Scotland ; † July 3, 1863 in Cadenabbia ) was a Scottish lawyer and Egyptologist who discovered the Rhind papyrus .

Life

Rhind came from a wealthy family in Wick, Scotland, and studied natural history , law and philosophy at the University of Edinburgh . For health reasons he made a trip to Egypt from 1855 to 1857, where he carried out excavations in the Valley of the Kings in Thebes . In 1858 he bought the so-called arithmetic book of Ahmes in an illegal second-hand bookshop in Luxor , which was named after him Papyrus Rhind and contains an approximate calculation of the circle number π, and the leather roll ("Mathematical Leather Roll"). Both papyri were sent to the British Museum in London in 1864 and have been kept there ever since. It is believed that both finds originally came from the Ramesseum . Together with the Moscow Papyrus , they are still the most important documents on mathematics in ancient Egypt .

In 1863 Rhind undertook a journey on the Nile and reached the second cataract in Wadi Halfa from Cairo . During the trip his health deteriorated and he withdrew to Lake Como , where he died in his sleep on July 3, 1863 in La Maiolica in Cadenabbia .

He left the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland his library with around 1,600 volumes as well as funds to build a foundation through which archaeological conferences under the name Rhind lectures are held in Edinburgh to this day .

Publications

• British archeology, its progress and demands (1858).
• Facsimiles of two papyri found in a tomb at Thebes with a translation by Samuel Birch and an account of their discovery (1863).
• Law of treasure trove: how can it be best adapted to accomplish useful results? (1858).
• Thebes: its tombs and their tenants, ancient and present (1862).
• An attempt to define how far the cymric encroached upon the Gaelic Branch of the early Celtic population of North Britain (1851-1854).
• An Account of an extensive collection of archaeological relics, and osteological remains from a “Pict's House” at Kettleburn, Caithness , (1851-1854).
• British Primeval Antiquities (1854-1857).
• On one of the simple forms of Burial in use among the Ancient Egyptians, observed in a recent excavation at Geezeh (1854-1857).
• Excavation of Tumuli at Caithness, made in the Summer of 1856 (1854-1857).
• Egypt; its Climate, Character and Resources as a winter resort (1856).
• The Law of Treasure-Trove: How it can be best adapted to accomplish useful results (1857-1859).
• On the Use of Bronze and Iron in Ancient Egypt, with reference to general Archeology (1857-1859).

literature

• John Stuart: Memoir of the late Alexander Henry Rhind, of Sibster. Neill and Co, Edinburgh 1864, ( excerpts from Google books ).