Birch Samuel

Birch, Samuel, LL.D., was born in London in 1813, being the son of a rector of St. Mary Woolnoth. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' and other schools, and in 1834 was employed by the Commissioners of Public Records. Two years later he entered the Department of Antiquities in the British Museum, and in 1861 was appointed keeper of the Oriental antiquities. As an Egyptologist Dr. Birch acquired a high-reputation, writing an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphics, a History of Ancient Pottery, and a Selection of Hieratic Papyri, besides translating Bunsen's important work and editing other valuable publications. He contributed much to the study of Biblical archaeology. He never visited Egypt or the East, and so was not associated with any original discoveries. He received honorary degrees from Oxford and Cambridge and many other distinctions, and died in 1885.