A seamless blend of the scientific and the artistic, Manuelian says these tools are essential to a full appreciation of Giza’s ancient relics.

“Archaeology is very much about context,” Manuelian explains.

“It’s a great way to get a sense of relationships and it’s a matrix of what was earlier and what was later relative to each other. Who’s deep, who’s shallow. It’s a great learning and teaching tool for us.”

Taking Up the Reisner Mantle

Manuelian chuckles when asked about the potential similarities between his work and the “Indiana Jones” films.

In the early 1900s, Harvard Egyptologist Reisner and his fellow archaeologists essentially lived the plot of the first movie.

“[They] lived at Giza in a series of mud brick huts behind the pyramids, and in World War II when they were afraid that the Germans were coming over the hill they actually rounded up all the archival materials and they buried them in a series of burial shafts,” Manuelian said.

Reflecting on early 20th century archaeology, Manuelian has read historical documents that sound as if they could have inspired the other “Indiana Jones” films as well.

“There are accounts of finding a statue, putting the guards on it all night, and finding the statue is gone the next morning, and they try to figure out who knows about it and where it could’ve gone and they get tracking dogs to go down into the village and lead them to the guy’s house,” he says, citing diaries and records of Egyptologists in Reisner’s time.

Manuelian sees Hollywood representations of archaeology as attempts to tell an entertaining story. He is not particularly offended by historical inaccuracies, but he does wish that the heightened awareness of archaeology fostered by blockbuster hits had a more tangible impact in drawing people into the field.

Either way, he says he takes comfort in the fact that the realities of his field are just as, if not more, thrilling than the depictions on the big screen.

“Just to enter into these tombs and to try to get a handle on what the original excavators found and try to make it intelligible in a modern era for people is an exciting thing,” Manuelian says.

He also emphasizes that it is an honor to follow in Reisner’s footsteps.

“[Reisner] was actually from a time when archaeology was just finding its feet and becoming a discipline and a science with a responsible method, and he was one of the very earliest pioneers,” Manuelian says.

Manuelian, who is currently writing a biography of Reisner, adds that Reisner was one of the first to use methods of documentation like glass-plate negative photography, daily register books, and diaries.