Lawrence M. Berman is John F. Cogan, Jr., and Mary L. Cornille Chair, Art of Ancient Egypt, Nubia, and the Near East at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Dr. Berman received his PhD in Egyptology from Yale University. Before joining the staff of the MFA, he was curator of Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art. At the MFA, Berman has curated the special exhibitions Art and Empire: Treasures from Assyria in the British Museum (2008) and co-curated Secrets of Tomb 10A (2010) and Ancient Nubia Now (2019). He has overseen numerous gallery installations from large to small, most recently “Masterpieces of Egyptian Sculpture of the Pyramid Age” and “Faces of Ancient Egypt” (both 2021).
Dr. Berman has taught ancient Egyptian art and language at Yale University, Case Western Reserve University, and Harvard University. He is a frequent lecturer and is author of numerous scholarly articles. His many books include The Priest, the Prince, and the Pasha (MFA Publications, 2019) and Unearthing Ancient Nubia: Photographs from the Harvard University-Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition (MFA Publications, 2018). His most recent book is Faces of Ancient Egypt: Portraits from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA Publications, 2022).
Dr. Berman has traveled extensively in Egypt and northern Sudan visiting all of the most important sites excavated by the Harvard-MFA Expedition. From 2005-2009 he took part in the Pacific Lutheran University Valley of the Kings Project, working in six undecorated tombs in the royal valley.
Areas of research include but are not limited to: Middle Kingdom Egyptian art, history, and literature, art of Amenhotep III, the Late Period, portraiture in Egyptian art (and in general), history of Egyptology, early Western travelers in Egypt and the Near East, display and interpretations of ancient Egypt in museums.