James Breasted was born in Rockford, Illinois and is an American Orientalist, archaeologist and historian. He attended the Chicago Theological Seminary, Yale University and the University of Berlin. He was appointed as Professor of Egyptology and Oriental History at the University of Chicago in 1905. From 1919 to 1920 he headed the University’s first archaeological survey of Egypt and western Asia. He also led several other later expeditions. Breasted has written numerous books that include A History of Egypt in 1905..