Jean Vercoutter
Jean Vercoutter (20 January 1911 – 16 July 2000) was a French Egyptologist. One of the pioneers of archaeological research into Sudan from 1953, he was Director of the Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale from 1977 to 1981. Biography. Born in Lambersart, Nord, Vercoutter attended the Académie Julian to learn about painting, but soon turned to Egyptology. In 1939, he graduated from the IVe section of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes with a thesis on ancient Egyptian funerary objects and was appointed resident of the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology of Cairo (IFAO). He participated in excavations in Karnak  and directed an excavation in Tod. Upon his return to France, he joined CNRS (1949–1955). During all these years, he pursued research on the relationship between Egyptians and pre-Hellenes, providing some firm conclusions on the relationship between these two great civilizations and the history of the ancient Aegean world. He was appointed professor at the University of Lille in 1960 and was one of the pioneers in archaeological research into Sudan. Between 1960 and 1964, he concentrated on studying Kor and Aksha, where he had been working in part since 1953, as they were threatened by the construction of  the new Aswan Dam. He excavated structures such as the temple of Ramesses II, a Meroitic cemetery, as well as other small cemeteries. Vercoutter also excavated at the site of Saï. Between 1965 and 1967, together with Elena Cassin and Jean Bottéro, he was the editor of the three volumes of the (Fischer World History) devoted to the Ancient East. He was Director of the Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale from 1977 to 1981. Until his death in 2000 he was still active in the subject, publishing "Les barrages pharaoniques. Leur raison d'être" in 1994. He is the author of , first  volume of the collection “Découvertes Gallimard”, which was a bestseller in France, it has been translated into 22 languages and often reprinted.