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Women in the Valley of the Kings
Women in the Valley of the Kings: The Untold Story of Women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age | Kathleen Sheppard
3 posts | 3 read | 6 to read
The never-before-told story of the women Egyptologists who paved the way of exploration in Egypt and created the basis for Egyptology.The history of Egyptology is often told as yet one more grand narrative of powerful men striving to seize the day and the precious artifacts for their competing homelands. But that is only half of the story. During the so-called Golden Age of Exploration, there were women working and exploring before Howard Carter discovered the tomb of King Tut. Before men even conceived of claiming the story for themselves, women were working in Egypt to lay the groundwork for all future exploration. In Women in the Valley of the Kings: The Untold Story of Women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age, Kathleen Sheppard brings the untold stories of these women back into this narrative. Sheppard begins with some of the earliest European women who ventured to Egypt as travelers: Amelia Edwards, Jenny Lane, and Marianne Brocklehurst. Their travelogues, diaries and maps chronicled a new world for the curious. In the vast desert, Maggie Benson, the first woman granted permission to excavate in Egypt, met Nettie Gourlay, the woman who became her lifelong companion. They battled issues of oppression and exclusion and, ultimately, are credited with excavating the Temple of Mut. As each woman scored a success in the desert, she set up the women who came later for their own struggles and successes. Emma Andrews success as a patron and archaeologist helped to pave the way for Margaret Murray to teach. Margarets work in the university led to the artists Amice Calverleys and Myrtle Broomes ability to work on site at Abydos, creating brilliant reproductions of tomb art, and to Kate Bradburys and Caroline Ransoms leadership in critical Egyptological institutions. Women in the Valley of the Kings upends the grand male narrative of Egyptian exploration and shows how a group of courageous women charted unknown territory and changed the field of Egyptology forever.
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review
Hooked_on_books
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Pickpick

Women have been erased from so many parts of history and I‘m glad there are writers helping to restore and honor their contributions. This book looks at the women who contributed to Egyptology in myriad ways. I do wish it had emphasized colonialism, racism, and the presence or absence of native Egyptians as guiding forces in finding relics a bit more.

Born.A.Reader I'm currently reading this! Enjoying it so far as well. 1mo
51 likes1 comment
blurb
LeahBergen
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Today‘s book mail! I‘ve been looking forward to this one.

TheBookHippie Looks good. 3mo
Tamra Book mail always feels like a celebration! 🥳 (edited) 3mo
Itchyfeetreader This does look interesting 3mo
See All 12 Comments
Leftcoastzen Looks 😎 cool ! 3mo
rubyslippersreads This looks great! 3mo
youneverarrived Sounds fascinating 🤍 3mo
LeahBergen @Tamra Indeed! 3mo
Suet624 Lovely photo! 3mo
LeahBergen @Suet624 Thanks! 😘 3mo
Centique Oooh this sounds so good 🙌 2mo
AnishaInkspill that looks interesting 1mo
77 likes4 stack adds12 comments
review
MonicaLoves2Read
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Mehso-so

I was excited to read this book for a few reasons: I love to learn new things, it was about women at the turn of the century and because it was about archeology, which I have always found fascinating.

Women in the Valley of Kings is well researched and when reading it, I could see how the topic was loved by Sheppard. Sheppard was able to transport me to the late 1800's and early 1900's Egypt and the discoveries that were made. I found it ⬇️

MonicaLoves2Read fascinating how they copied some of the wall paintings. Even how they were able to take so much from the tombs with really not a whole lot of trouble.

Though the book is well researched, I have to say at times it felt like a textbook. So much information was crammed into it. The flow of the book wasn't very good to me, either. I don't know if I am the only one that felt that way or not. I think if Sheppard would have had a chapter for each woman it would have been better. She combined some women together, but that may have been because they worked at sites together. Overall, my enjoyment outweighed my bad feelings, so I am giving it 3⭐.

Published July 16, 2023

Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and Sheppard for the E-ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

😊 Happy Reading 😊

#netgalley #stmartinspress #kathleensheppard #womeninthevalleyofkings #arc #nonfiction
3mo
16 likes1 comment