Kathleen Sheppard expounds on the legacy of women in the field of Egyptology in Women in the Valley of the Kings: The Untold Story of Women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age

To the reviewers calling this dry, too "scholarly", and lacking in biographical information about the women, what book were you reading? This was fascinating!

Sheppard devotes seven chapters to the women who "played major roles in many major finds in Egypt, but their stories are rarely mentioned (if at all)." The stories are thoroughly researched, the women's contributions detailed, their personal lives explored. The women were scholars and academics, patrons, curators, artists, record keepers, writers, and collectors. They had significant impact to the entire field, in Egypt and in institutions across the globe. That impact is still evident - if you've visited the Tomb of Perneb at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York you can thank Caroline Ransom Williams (chapter 7) who directed its preservation and reconstruction, opening to the public in 1916.

The stories overlap, which reinforces Sheppard's point that the circles these women inhabited were small, interwoven, and sometimes interdependent. They opened doors for each other and the next generation.

The detail is rich. We arrive on the shores of the Nile, feel the heat, climb the paths, sweep away the dust. We're in their world, experiencing their obstacles, admiring their tenacity.

The colonial history is problematic and Sheppard addresses it directly: "It is a period in which wealthy, white Europeans and Americans ran rampant over the cultural heritage of a colonized country and its people, vandalizing and pillaging as they went." and leads us through the end of British occupation in the 50s. The women appeared to give much more credit to the Egyptian workers in the excavations than their male counterparts. Many of the men come across as pompous buffoons, destroying artifacts as they scrambled to be first into the tombs.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital ARC.

Women in the Valley of the Kings is a well written look at the women of the late 1800's and early-to-mid 1900's who worked in the field as Egyptologists, including the ones that worked more behind-the-scenes to support the field as it blossomed. Having been to Egypt in 2018, I loved reading about places I've visited through the lens of the early travelers who fell in love with Egypt and dedicated their lives to supporting nascent field of Egyptology, whether through funding, training, educating the public, working as copyists (artists), or excavating themselves. These women typically lived and worked in the shadow of the "great men" of the field, who got to do most of the more exciting work and get the glory and credit for their findings. I enjoyed reading about the significant contributions of these women, who deserve to be remembered.

I enjoyed Women in the Valley of the Kings by Kathleen Sheppard. Egypt, the tombs, and mummies have always fascinated me. I was not disappointed. To read about remarkable women who were left out of history was exciting. The book is long and at times connections were hard for me to keep straight. I read a digital copy and I believe I missed out on a number of photographs in the book.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. I gave it 4 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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 late nineteenth and early twentieth century while men even conceived of claiming the story for themselves, women were working in Egypt to lay the groundwork for all future exploration. 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. Margaret’s work in the university led to the artists Amice Calverley’s and Myrtle Broome’s ability to work on site at Abydos, creating brilliant reproductions of tomb art, and to Kate Bradbury’s and Caroline Ransom’s 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.

I love reading books of strong women that are portrayed as being successful in history in areas mostly dominated by men. This was a very interesting book about several women and their contributions and patronage to uncovering Egypt's history. The author did extensive research and has extensive notes at the end of the book. I traveled to this area many years ago so this book was especially interesting to me. The author tells the history of these women in a way that is so interesting and not dry as many histories tend to be. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me the opportunity to read this very readable history of some very strong and dedicated women.

Women in the Valley of Kings by Kathleen Sheppard

This was my first book discussing Egyptology, and I’m not entirely sure I was the target audience. This book, while it was evident a tremendous amount of research went into it, didn’t provide context for many of the facts shared. Often times, I felt like I didn’t know enough about this subject to fully appreciate the women’s contributions.

I also struggled with the organization. It wasn’t exactly chronological because sometimes a chapter would end with the death of a woman and the next chapter would have her alive and well again. Also, there were so many people introduced in each chapter that I felt even more lost.

I didn’t mind the factual way the book read. It struck a formal informative tone that I appreciated. Based on my reading, it appeared as if limited resources were available to the author, so she worked with what she had and created this resource.

While I don’t think a casual fan of Egyptology is the target audience, I do believe if you know much about this subject and want to examine female involvement in this sector, this book will be very informative.

This history will delight not only women interested in Egyptology or Victorian women travelers, but those in favour of women's emancipation, anyone examining Victorian-era same-sex relationships, and fans of the Amelia Peabody novels by Elizabeth Peters. That last group already know the series’ heroine was named for, and inspired by, Amelia B. Edwards, whose early impact on the study and preservation of Egyptian antiquities cannot be overstated. Amelia P even sails the Nile in a dahabiyeh named for the one rented by Amelia B a few decades earlier (The Philae).

The book will also infuriate many with its detailed account of myriad ways in which the female fore-sisters of modern Egyptology were overlooked, silenced, ignored, and written out of the official records even when their record-keeping was used as primary sources by male Egyptologists and their wealthy patrons for fame, acclaim, published excavation reports, and academic treatises. The free-spirited and wealthy American, Emma Andrews, long remembered only as the mistress of the Egyptophilic archaeological patron Theodore Davis, not only jointly funded excavations with him but was rigorous in her daily recording of activities at their dig sites. Her journals, maps, and drawings were sometimes the only source of information about significant finds credited to Davies or his hired archaeologists, yet she never received credit in her lifetime and there is no known surviving photograph of her. And none of the women in this book are mentioned in the most recent Wikipedia page on the Valley of the Kings (as of July 2024).

This is not a dry academic book, but a readily readable series of interconnected profiles of the women who reshaped Egyptian excavation from a disorganized, disrespectful race for personal glory into a scholarly, rigorous discipline, along the way advancing not only academic understanding of ancient Egyptian society but also women’s educational opportunities and their professional standing in several formerly male-dominated arenas.

Back around to the fans of the Amelia Peabody series of historical mystery novels by Elizabeth Peters: this book is a feast for any of you who thrilled to each significant KV tomb found during Amelia P’s adventures, or the temple of Queen Hatshepsut, or the mummies of Yuya and Thuya, whose daughter Tiye became the chief wife of Amenhotep III. So many familiar references lend their life and substance to the fictional discoveries by Amelia Peabody and her husband Emerson, their son Ramses and his wife Nefret. It's an excellent accompaniment to that fictional family, and a really good read as a standalone book on early women archaeologists.

#Egyptology #History #WomensHistory #WomenInTheValleyOfTheKings

For years our view of the Golden Age of Egyptology has been filled with visions of Indiana Jones-like men gathering the relics of an ancient civilization and bringing them to the world. Kathleen Shepherd turns this idea on its head with Women in the Valley of the Kings. In this book she highlights the pioneering women whose contributions to the field have been overlooked for decades, even though they were crucial to the development of the field.

The book is fascinating history that reads like a novel. I couldn’t put it down until I reached the last page. Her descriptions of the landscape and time period are so precise, I feel like I’m baking in the Egyptian sun with these incredible women. I can’t recommend this book enough. It’s amazing!

I received an advance review copy of this book for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.

I’ll admit I don’t know a whole lot about the history of Egyptology; I do know that Howard Carter is famous for discovering the intact tomb of King Tutankhamun, and that his sponsor was Lord Carnarvon. And I’ve certainly seen my share of Egyptian artifacts in various museums.

But Women in the Valley of the Kings taught me about how women made invaluable contributions to Egyptology in the late 1800s and early to mid-1900s. The author makes the point that, as with pretty much every other important endeavor in history, men are given much of the credit for all the famous work that got done, but women’s names, voices and work are left out of the stories.

Kathleen Sheppard rectifies that oversight in Egyptology in this book. She makes her way through the contributions and stories of a number of women in seven sections. The final section focuses on Caroline Ransom Williams, whose work came most recently and is a kind of culmination of the stories.

Sheppard shares all that she can from any extant information left behind, which all too often is sadly not nearly enough. Perhaps in part because of that lack, or perhaps the writer’s skill in weaving narrative nonfiction, too much of the book felt fairly dry to me. I had to push my way through; the book felt more like a reading assignment for a class so I could learn about history, rather than a fascinating examination of important people.

I’d definitely recommend Women in the Valley of the Kings for those who are Egyptology buffs, but maybe others wouldn’t find it compelling.

Well-research and highly informative. This very much reads academically, but I appreciated it. I have spent years studying ancient history, and I am always excited to learn more and to find works that add to the discussion especially for women. I felt the biographical details were well written and I can see how this work will appeal to readers of ancient history, biographies, women's history, and while it can be a bit more difficult for a person new to the topic, I can see where this could even be a place for those readers to begin their journey into a study of ancient Egyptian history through the lens of Western archeologists.

This book was an interesting look at a group of people often ignored by history books- women who explored Egypt. The history books would have believe it was only men who went.

A highly recommended book for anyone interested in Egyptology and the beginnings of archeological work there. So many women contributed great things and never got the praise or recognition they deserved. This story shines the light on these forgotten women who worked so hard to further knowledge. Their motives were many but they all had a deep love and respect for what they were doing. A new prospective on an old science worthy of mention. Ahighly enjoyable story.

An educational read about the history of Egyptology especially how women played a key role in the field. It is well researched and well written; it is a dry read and felt like I was reading a thesis.

Thank you #netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a necessary book, expanding the popular history of Egyptology to focus on the women who participated, funded digs, wrote about their findings, and contributed to archaeology. It's a group biography, focusing on seven different individual or pairs of Egyptologists, beginning with Amelia Edwards and her contemporaries, and concluding with Caroline Ransom Williams. It's a lot of people to keep track of, because each woman had companions, employed diggers and multiple staff, and traveled with friends or family, but Sheppard does a good job of sorting out the extensive list. The book feels like an introduction, and I did find myself wishing multiple people had books solely focused on them so I could learn about them in more depth.

I appreciated the way Sheppard pointed out who was left out of the record (especially the perspective and accounts of Egyptians themselves), even as she expanded it, and the way she reminded us how far early archaeology was from current best practices. This is very much a story of privilege (although I enjoyed her inclusion of those less moneyed whenever possible, especially the information about Amelia Edwards's companion Lucy Renfrew's maid Jenny Lane, one of the women I wished we would learn more about).

I did wish the different chapters were more interwoven, emphasizing more of the connections between the different Egyptologists. Even though I enjoyed reading the book, I found it a little too easy to wander off between chapters and try to find out more about side questions it raised. Each chapter is relatively self-contained, though, which made it possible to pick up the book again and follow the thread.

Thanks to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for my free earc. My opinions are all my own.

Sheppard presents a deep exploration of the role of key women in exploration and recovery of Ancient Egyptian history, often mentioned in passing, but never emphasized in history. Full of details about their obstacles and successes, the stories of these determined women round out the missing history. Unfortunately, I was greatly disappointed with the quality of the writing - often seemingly a summary of diary entries and letters rather than a true story telling and analysis. Interpretation often leant itself to “probably” and “might have,” couched in attempts to bring interest by attributing feelings to the women’s actions, such as fundraising efforts. This will be useful as a starting point for people interested in the history, but I believe it would be more interesting to have read excerpts from the primary sources with some intro and summary analysis to frame them.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Netgalley, and the author for early access to this work.

It is always a pleasure to read “the rest of the story.” The history where the contributions of women are revealed and found to be just as significant as those of the handful of very famous men – along with a few women – who are always noted for discoveries and exploration and invention. Of course they all deserve to be acknowledged, but so do the women we are just starting to learn about in books like Women in the Valley of the Kings: The Untold Story of Women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age. The time period they lived in, the Gilded Age, was enough of a hindrance with all its rules and customs and mores about what the proper place of women was and why they should stay in it. The women in this book, and I hope many more we have yet to learn of, pushed the boundaries.

Pushing the boundaries wasn’t simple. Most families didn’t want their mothers and sisters going off somewhere and exploring. Husbands wanted wives to stay home where they belonged. Grants, patronage and jobs were almost always given to the men. It was a hard road whether in the field or behind the scenes organizing and administering, making people aware of the treasures to be discovered and catalogued, and working very, very hard to ensure these treasures weren’t plundered but received the respect due them.

All of the women in the book are unique and interesting. Strong, stubborn, determined. Not always easy to get along with. Not always easily convinced. But they all had a laser focus on their goal: to be part of the uncovering and preserving of the wonders of Egypt. And they came up with unique, inventive ways to achieve that goal.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Publishing Group for providing an advance copy of Women in the Valley of the Kings: The Untold Story of Women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age via NetGalley. It is well written, well documented, balancing facts and personalities and resulting in a delightful, informative, education read that I highly recommend. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own.

Unlike most of the stories related to the excavations in Egypt in the late nineteenth century, this one puts the woman who did a large part of the scut work front and center. In many cases it was the woman who spent months digging in the areas of the monuments of the Valley of the Kings while the "discoverers" went home to their acclaim and plaudits.

But the woman are the ones who stayed at the digs and made sure that the workers didn't disappear with the precious articles and made sure that the diggers were treated with dignity. It is a tribute to Shappard to have brought this all into the spotlight.

A great nonfiction read diving into the lives of women Egyptologists who worked through the Victorian and Gilded Age and in to the middle of the 20th century.

Sheppard acknowledges the colonialism inherent in the field of Egyptology, and the role these women played in it; it's an undeniable component of 19th and 20th century Egypt. But the women who worked alongside and even managed some of the more famous men also found themselves erased from history or confined to simple footnotes in scholarly citations. (It's hard for this historical romance reader not to think of The Countess Conspiracy where in her author's note, Courtney Milan says she was inspired in part by a footnote in a scientific paper that thanked the scientist's wife for what amounted to almost the entirety of the labor and work of the paper.)

The book is organized chronologically, with the understanding that not only did the field of Egyptology progress, but that the achievements of each of these women built upon one another. She highlights 11 specific women from Amelia Edwards and Marianne Brocklehurst in the 1890s - a queer couple!! - to Caroline Ransom Williams, who was an active academic from 1908 through her death in 1592 and had a PhD in a field where many of her predecessors were not even allowed undergraduate degrees. Most of the women highlighted were solidly middle class Brits, and many of them suffered from autoimmune diseases which sent them from the cold damp of England to the warm dry air of Egypt to recover, and give them energy that sparked their imaginations.

The book is written as a narrative, placing the reader in the time with each of the women. As a nonfiction style, this doesn't typically work for me, but it's a popular style that will draw many readers. As many of these women were erased or mentioned only in passing in academic papers, Sheppard pulls her research from their journals and correspondence, which paints fuller lives than the stark academic journals of the male Egyptologists alongside whom they worked and lived. Assiduously researched and with nearly 500 footnotes, Sheppard gives us an incredible history. The eARC did not have any of the images, but there are citations throughout, so pick this book up in print if you can! If you've ever watched The Mummy on repeat or memorized the lines of Amelia Peabody or Mr Impossible, this book is for you.

As a kid I dreamed of discovering the next great discovery in the sands under the Egyptian sun… as an adult, I’m still fascinated and intrigued in the treasures and intrigues of ancient Egypt and often find myself still longing for this escape.

Women in the Valley of the Kings by Kathleen Sheppard transported me back in time to the Gilded Age of Egyptology. Recoveries were being made on a regular basis fortune and fame was being dug out of the sands… and all the while I’ve been out to us many women are making their own dreams come true under the Egyptian sun!

Not only did I find the stories of these women who worked in all facets from site, coordination, funding, and promoting, to teaching the new art of Egyptology, I found myself walking in their shoes and experiencing their joys and tribulations.

Incredibly inspiring and educating - the golden age of Egyptology has never been brought to life in this fashion before as we finally get to see and recognize the work, there was never accredited or stolen by men.

As for the book itself, I found the introduction a little slow and Hard to get into with all the future characters being introduced… but once we get to the single chapters one or two women’s, I couldn’t put it down. I also really loved how this book was put together starting with her beginning Trailblazers, dipping their toe into Egypt and Egyptology, and each sequential woman adds another step to fully immerse themselves in the process by the end.

This is an excellent read, and I can’t recommend it enough to anyone with an interest in this time. Who really wants to get a broader view and see what the other half of the sexes were doing during this amazing time!

Thanks to St Martin’s Press for my review copy.

A fascinating look at these smart interesting women.History written in a really engaging way.#netgalley #st.martins

I received a complimentary ARC copy of Women in the Valley of the Kings, The Untold Story of Women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age by Kathleen Sheppard from Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press to read and give an honest review.

Currently in the process of studying ancient history with a particular focus on ancient Egypt, I found Kathleen Sheppard’s Women in the Valley of the Kings a fascinating look at early Egyptology and the role a dedicated, educated, and intelligent group of passionate female Egyptologists played. So meticulously researched and written this book touches upon these women’s professional and personal lives bringing them to life once again to inspire future generations of female Egyptologists.

Most students will hear about the male Egyptologists such as Jean-Francois Champollion, Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie and perhaps the famous Egyptologist who found King Tutankhamun, Howard Carter little gets heard about the females who were trailblazers in their own right. Kathleen Sheppard introduces us to Amelia Edwards & Marianne Brocklehurst, Maggie Benson & Nettie Gourlay, Emma Andrews, Margaret Alice Murray, Kate Griffith & Emily Paterson, Myrtle Broome & Amice Calverley, and Caroline Ransom Williams many of whom were mere footnotes despite often funding the digs, teaching archaeology, as well as working on the front line.


I enjoyed this book and it definitely appears to be a labor of love, the authors’ passion for the subject evident in every sentence. Although at times this book felt a bit slow it had many amazing insights that pay homage to these incredible trailblazers. A wonderful read for both novice and informed Egyptology enthusiasts. I highly recommend!