From Tombs to the Top of His Field

From 1187 to 1185 B.C.E., Queen Tausert reigned over all of Egypt, the last ruler of its 19th dynasty and one of few queens to ascend to the station of Pharaoh. Her story is among many that Richard Wilkinson, a professor in the UA Department of Classics and Near Eastern Studies, has helped surface through excavations in Egypt's Valley of the Kings. By one survey, his work -- including a book of the year award for research on ancient hieroglyphs -- makes him one of the 30 most important scholars in the history of Egyptology. It's a single honor among many, including, as of 2008, a Regents' Professorship, the highest recognition conferred on faculty by The University of Arizona.