Francois Auguste Ferdinand Mariette (11 February 1821-18 January 1881) was a French scholar, archaeologist, and Egyptologist. Born in Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas-de-Calais, he taught French in England before becoming interested in Ancient Egypt after sorting through his cousin Nestor L'Hote's papers on his death. In 1849, he was appointed to the Louvre Museum, and he traveled to Egypt in 1850 and oversaw the excavation of the Great Sphinx of Giza in 1851, discovered Khaemwaset's tomb, opened the Egyptian Museum at Bulaq in 1863, discovered the tombs of Saqqara, disinterred the temples of Dendera and Edfu, excavated at Karnak, explored the old city of Tanis, and became a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1869. He became an Egyptian bey and pasha, and he also helped Giuseppe Verdi devise a plot for his Egyptian-themed opera Aida. He died in Cairo in 1881 at the age of 59.