Dr. Donald P. Ryan is an American archaeologist, Egyptologist and writer and a member of the Division of Humanities at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. His areas of research interest include Egyptian archaeology, Polynesian archaeology, history of archaeology, history of exploration, ancient languages and scripts and experimental archaeology. He is best known for his research in Egypt including excavations in the Valley of the Kings where he investigated the long-neglected undecorated tombs in the royal cemetery. His work there resulted in the rediscovery of the lost and controversial tomb KV60, the re-opening of the long-buried KV21 with its two female and likely royal occupants, and tombs KV27, KV28, KV44 and KV45. Archaeology or sometimes in American English archeology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains, including architecture, artefacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ... An Egyptologist is any archaeologist, historian, linguist, or art historian who specializes in Egyptology, the scientific study of Ancient Egypt and its antiquities. ... The University is located near Tacoma. ... The history of archaeology has been one of increasing professionalisation, and the use of an increasing range of technqiues, to obtain as much data on the site being examined as possible. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... Experimental archaeology employs a number of different methods, techniques, analyses, and approaches in order to generate and test hypotheses or an interpretation, based upon archaeological source material, like ancient structures or artifacts. ... View over the East Valley The Valley of the Kings, or Wadi el-Muluk (وادي الملوك) in Arabic, is a valley in Egypt where tombs were built for the Pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom, the Eighteenth through Twentieth Dynasties of Ancient Egypt. ... Tomb KV60 in Egypts Valley of the Kings is one of the more perplexing tombs of the Theban Necropolis, due to the uncertainty over the identity of one female mummy found there, thought by some (such as the noted Egyptologist Elizabeth Thomas) to perhaps be that of the Pharaoh... Tomb KV21 is located in Egypts Valley of the Kings. ... Tomb KV27, is located in the Valley of the Kings, in Egypt. ... Tomb KV28, is located in the Valley of the Kings, in Egypt. ... Tomb KV44, is located in the Valley of the Kings, in Egypt. ... Tomb KV45, located in the Valley of the Kings, in Egypt was used for the burial of the noble Userhet of the Eighteenth dynasty. ...

Between 1995 and 2002, Ryan worked closely with the Norwegian explorer, archaeologist and writer Thor Heyerdahl (1914-2002). Among their many projects, the two directed excavations at the site of the Pyramids of Guimar on Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Ryan has been entrusted with continuing some of the research aspects of Heyerdahl’s legacy. Thor Heyerdahl Thor Heyerdahl (October 6, 1914 in Larvik, Norway–April 18, 2002 in Colla Micheri, Italy) was a Norwegian marine biologist with a great interest in anthropology, who became famous for his Kon-Tiki Expedition in which he sailed by raft 4,300 miles from South America to the... Flag of Tenerife Tenerife, a Spanish island, is the largest of the seven Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Other research by Ryan includes investigations of ancient Egyptian cordage, biographical studies of early archaeologists such as Giovanni Belzoni, studies of the influence of antiquity on the arts, and the documentation of petroglyphs on the island of Hawaii. Giovanni Battista Belzoni (1778 - December 3, 1823) was an Italian explorer of Egyptian antiquities. ... This article is becoming very long. ...

As a writer and researcher, Ryan is the author of numerous scientific and popular articles on archaeological subjects. His books include volumes in the popular Complete Idiot’s Guide Series (Lost Civilizations, Biblical Mysteries, Ancient Egypt and World of the Bible), The Everything Family Guide to Hawai’i, and A Shattered Visage Lies…Nineteenth Century Poetry Inspired By Ancient Egypt.

Ryan is a Fellow of The Explorers Club and the Royal Geographical Society, a founding member of the Scientific Committee of the Foundation for Exploration and Research on Cultural Origins, a mountaineering instructor, long-distance runner and pianist.-1... The Royal Geographical Society is a learned society, founded in 1830 with the name Geographical Society of London for the advancement of geographical science, under the patronage of King William IV. It absorbed the Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa (founded by Joseph Banks in...

External links

• Donald P. Ryan Web-Page
• Ryan's Egyptian Archaeology Page
• Ryan's Polynesian Archaeology Page including work with Thor Heyerdahl