WEILL, RAYMOND

WEILL, RAYMOND (1874–1950), French Egyptologist and historian. He directed excavations in Egypt, in the Sinai Peninsula, and, under the auspices of Baron Edmond de Rothschild, in Jerusalem on the hill of Ophel (1913–14; 1923–24). The latter expedition revealed a large area of the southern part of the city of David, including a great part of its eastern fortifications and a complex of tombs, which Weill thought to be those of the kings of Judah. These excavations are described in La Cité de David (2 vols., 1920–47). In 1920 he was appointed professor of Egyptology at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes in Paris, and in 1931 he became professor of Oriental history at the Sorbonne. Among his numerous publications are: Recueil des inscriptions égyptiennes du Sinai (1904); Les origines de l'Egypte pharaonique (1908); Les décrets royaux de l'ancien empire égyptien (1912); La fin du moyen empire égyptien (1918); L'installation des Israélites en Palestine (1924); Bases, méthodes et résultats de la chronologie égyptienne (1926); La Phénicie et l'Asie occidentale (1939; 19492).