Peter earned his doctorate in Egyptology and Near Eastern Studies in 1990 at The Oriental Institute of The University of Chicago. He has lived and traveled widely in Egypt and the Middle East, performing research as an epigrapher and archaeologist for his own research projects, as well as for those of the University of Charleston, S.C., the Oriental Institute, and Northern Arizona University. He has also organized and guided many successful tours to Egypt for museums, research institutes, and special interest groups. He has authored articles on Egyptian history, culture and language in peer-reviewed academic journals and publications, as well as the Internet, and he has presented a variety of erudite papers on his research for academic societies and symposia. He is also active as a consultant on Egyptological issues to educational organizations (e.g., National Geographic Society), publishers, film and documentary producers, museums, and private and government agencies.
In Egypt he directs the Theban Tombs Publication Project, in which he and his team are documenting three rock-cut tombs in the cemeteries of Western Thebes, located across the Nile River from modern Luxor. This work includes archaeological and epigraphical survey and physical conservation of the structures.
In recent years, Peter has begun working in Egyptian geoarchaeology, adapting the methods and techniques of the earth sciences to understand how the Egyptians adapted their environment to their needs, as well as the natural processes that shaped the Egyptian landscape and formed the archaeological sites. Here his work has centered on the cemeteries of Western Thebes. In this regard, he co-directs the On-line Geographical Information System for the Theban Necropolis, which is maintained in the Geology Department of the University of Charleston, S.C. The purposes of this project are: to map the private cemeteries of Western Thebes through ultra-high resolution satellite imagery; to input Egyptological and geographical data on the tombs into a geographical information system (GIS) database; and to make the data available to scholars via the World Wide Web. Related to that effort, he has instituted the Satellite Survey of Theban Tombs Project, using differential Global Positioning System (GPS) methodologies to map and locate the tombs on the ground with extreme precision. As a result of this work, he is recognized increasingly as an authority on the geography and landscape of the necropolis of Western Thebes.
Outside of Theban research, Peter's work centers around an ancient Egyptian bat-and-ball game, for which he makes thematic associations with modern American baseball. On this topic, he is currently presenting a series of lectures around the country entitled, "Pharaoh at the Bat: Egyptian Ball Games and American Baseball." This research has also been reported extensively in newspapers and magazines throughout the nation and around the world. While he was still a graduate student in the 1980's, Peter gained recognition as the decipherer of the long-lost rules of the Egyptian board game, senet, which was the subject of his doctoral dissertation, and which he licensed for commercial distribution under the name King Tut's Game®. At that time, his decipherment of senet garnered much publicity in the international news media (UPI, Reuters, etc.).
Previously, Peter's work has been featured in various American and foreign newspapers and on television programs and documentaries, including the NBC "Today Show". Recently, he appeared as an expert commentator on the History Channel documentary, "The History of Sex (part 1)" and more currently, "The XY-Factor" (MPH Productions, Los Angeles). When he is not in Egypt, Peter makes his home in Charleston, S.C., where he teaches, writes, and lectures on Egyptian and Near Eastern history and civilizations.
rev. 2/07