Women in the Valley of the Kings: The Untold Story of Women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age
by Kathleen Sheppard

This book strives to give the first women of Egyptology the recognition they deserve during what is known as the Golden Age of Exploration. What holds the author back from giving the women complete recognition for their work is that these women and their work were mostly ignored, as they were doing the work and after their work was finished. Much of what is in the book comes from letters and diaries and documentation by the women. So much has been lost of this history, when the women were never even credited for what they did at the time.

The stories are interesting and my favorite section was the chapter on Myrtle Broome and Amice Calverley. But I also enjoyed what little I learned about Jenny Lane, lady's maid to Lucy Renshaw who was the traveling companion of Amelia Edwards. What held me back from enjoying this book more is that I have never heard of these women before and knew little about Egyptology so the information we get here felt almost too much. I think it would have helped me if book focused solely on the women's work rather than also including so much about some of the women's lives, loves, romances, and more mundane information.

Another problem for me is that the book is broken into chapters about one or more women and that chapter will cover the women from their early days to their death and beyond. Then we'll go to the next chapter and we'll read about another woman or women, from the beginning to death and beyond. Throughout the book, many of these women overlap in various ways and things got confusing for me. The overlap of the men and women who did this work, the nonlinear timeline throughout the book, made it very hard for me to keep track of what year was being discussed and who was being discussed, at times. I know if I had already been familiar with these people and Egyptology that I would probably have had a much easier time of keeping track of the people and times being discussed. The book has opened my eyes to these very interesting women and their struggles to do what was so very important to them and history and I hope to read more about these women in the future. I'll be able to come at the subject matter with a better understanding of Egyptology and the women who played such a huge part in this field, women whose accomplishments have been mostly forgotten.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

I've long been fascinated by ancient Egypt. As a child I enjoyed various books and documentaries about the subject. When I saw this new book explores the contributions of women to the field, I knew I would enjoy it.

Women in the Valley of the Kings follows many women who worked in the area of Egyptology. Some worked on the excavation and uncovering of sites in Egypt. Others taught in the university settings to prepare the new generation for the realities of archeology.

I was especially fascinated by the chapter that described the work of drawing temple art to create a detailed record of the colors. Many of these temples were sealed from the elements for years. Once that seal is broken, the colors start to fade. This work resulted in the publication of multiple volumes of images.

Another fascinating aspect of the stories is the close relationships developed between the women and other women. One can't say whether they were what we consider lesbian relationships but they were all important and meaningful.

I am a fan of non fiction that reads like fiction. This book is not that. I struggled with it. There are so many names and places to keep track of, if you told me that this was originally someone's thesis essay on women in Egyptology I wouldn't be surprised. It was dry, and read like a textbook. As my university days are far behind me I didn't really appreciate that feeling.
I do appreciate that it was probably well researched and is a new way to look at the founding of Egyptology (yay for women's voices).

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Net Galley for the digital copy of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I don’t know much about the history of my favorite adult cozy mystery series, the Amelia Peabody Emerson books, but I know that their author, Barbara Mertz, had a degree in Egyptology. After reading Women in the Valley of the Kings, I have no doubt that Mertz (writing as Elizabeth Peters) picked her heroine’s name from Amelia Edwards, a female pioneer in the world of Egyptology.

Still, as interesting as the subject matter was to me (women’s history AND Egyptology), I found the writing style a little too academic for me at times; I found myself skimming quite a bit. At other times, the text is outright fictional. There is this tendency in this day and age to create fictional passages that drive me nuts, even if it does make the reading more palatable (examples would be someone wiping their brow or fanning themselves in the heat–surely those things happened, but unless it came directly from journal entries, I get frustrated with non-fiction books that employ this device of writing)

I’m glad I had the chance to learn more about these women (mostly British, with United States representation, too), as women’s stories need to be told. I’d still recommend the book to those interested in British Egyptology, fans of Elizabeth Peters’ mysteries, or women’s history.

I appreciated this look into the untold stories of the women involved in early Egyptology. It’s more history than biography, focusing more on facts than stories.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

"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. 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."

Well any true fan of Egyptology already knows that women ruled Egypt in more ways that one... Now it's time for everyone else to find out!

Women in the Valley of the Kings by Kathleen Sheppard is a fascinating glimpse into the lives of several women who traveled to Egypt during the Golden Age of Egypt ology for various reasons such as health benefits, enjoyment and study. Most of the era discussed here is the early 1900s when the world was driven by men. These intrepid women proved that not only could they successfully travel without men but they worked just as hard or harder to prove their mettle. In the beginning women were strictly relegated to administrative tasks such as cataloguing finds but went on to help with physical digs, conservation, securing funds and finding and identifying artifacts. However, very little credit was given to them.

The first women traveled to Egypt in 1873 which opened eyes to travel, especially to heal in a hot and dry climate. Some became enamored with digs and antiquities and yearned to learn more. A few stayed and became experts. One in particular (my favourite mentioned) eventually taught classes where she loved to share her knowledge to those studying archaeology.

Details such as night guard duties, lighting tombs, how abysmally local workers were treated, burying tins of food, controversy of disturbing the dead and the Nile Valley rhythm intrigued me as a woman besotted with ancient Egypt. Big male names such as Petrie, Carnarvon and Carter are mentioned but the women were those who held my interest, particularly as I was unaware of their influence and impact.

Sometimes the multiple names grew a bit difficult to keep straight in my mind but I will remember their contributions for a long time.

My sincere thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this engrossing book.

My thanks to Net Galley, St Martin s Press, and the personal invitation I received to review this book. Unfortunately it did not hold my interest to completely finish it.

Having read Lynne Olson's "Empress of the Nile" on early French Egyptian archaeologist Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, I was really eager to learn more about other early women Egyptologists with this book. Unfortunately, while I got a little from it, I can't say I learned as much as I was hoping to.

We get a taste of what it would have been like to be a woman wanting to study archaeology in the time period- and are reminded that no one really had officially "studied" so much as they were still making some things up as they went, developing techniques, etc. Local workers were doing the real work most of the time and getting none of the credit.

We get dry chapters about women, some of whom spent years on digs, others who spent few years on digs and most of their time organizing funding for others to go to sites, others taught future archaeologists. Some lectured and brought ancient Egypt to the interest of the general public, or curated and organized the huge collections of artifactes being shipped back from the digs and then arranged the museum exhibits to educate American and British audiences (and hopefully get them to write the checks that would keep funding the digs).

The book suffers from repetition and a need for more editing than it got. Someone coming at the book with no knowledge of the people beforehand will be overwhelmed by the number of people who are named as if the reader is already supposed to know them. Because many of the women crossed paths they pop in and out of each other's chapters, but then a random "Nettie" will show up and you aren't sure if it is the Nettie you're going to read about later or someone you haven't been introduced to yet. The chapters aren't entirely chronological, which would have helped me keep some of the people straight- I think. You do get to see plenty of examples of how differntly women are treated, how they are taken advantage of, and how crucial their work is to the advancement of Egyptology at the time while the men take all the credit- which isn't surprising, but certainly annoying. I did find it interesting how differently the men and women mentioned treated those around them and recorded their experiences.

Overall, not a great book, but ok. Probably more useful if you already have some background knowledge of some of the people or history going on here. The author also stays completely in England and a little in America, so you don't get an idea on if other countries have women Egyptologists at the same time.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

I enjoyed Women in the Valley of the Kings as much for its history of Egyptology in general as I did for the emphasis on the women who contributed to the field. The book spans a period from the 1870s to the 1920s and beyond. During the early years covered, Egyptology was only beginning to be a formal field of study, taught at only a few universities. Many Egyptologists then, men and women, had little formal education and learned on the job. But around the turn of the 20th century, the field became more formalized and rigorous. At first, those who went to Egypt from Europe and America were not so much scholars as they were collectors of artifacts. Those who found their way to the Great Pyramids tended to be rich people with no responsibilities tying them to jobs at home. Still, some recognized the value in learning about the fascinating culture of Ancient Egypt, and painstakingly copied hieroglyphs, reassembled broken artifacts, and made detailed notes of tombs. Absorbing account of several of the women who endured difficult conditions to further the study of Ancient Egypt. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a digital review copy.

I love learning about ancient Egypt and strong women. The premise really intrigued me. Unfortunately, the writing style was stilted and did not hold my interest. I ended up scumming the book versus truest reading it. Too bad as it could have been fascinating. .

The Book was an interesting look at how women first started studying Egyptology and how some progressed to the excavation field, despite the obstacles in their way. The book, fortunately, doesn't use a lot of archaeological jargon and explains things clearly and concisely when necessary. That being said, I found it a bit confusing when the author began a chapter with one woman's Egyptology experience and then, later in the chapter, went back and talked about the subject's childhood, upbringing, and how she got into Egyptology.
Overall, it was an interesting read but a bit slow in places.

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for providing me with an ARC of Women in the Valley of the Kings! While I was very excited to learn more about the storied history of women in Egyptology, the structure and style of this book made it difficult to stay engaged all the way through. It is clear from the sheer amount of detail in the book—from biographical details to the minutiae of day to day activities on site—that the author has done an incredible amount of research into each of these women. However, the repackaging of that research into a narrative that is easy to follow is where this book falls flat, in my opinion. There were so many names and figures to keep track of, that it was hard for me to see the continuity of these women’s legacies throughout the history of Egyptology. Additionally, biographical details were not always told in a chronological fashion, which made it difficult to know when and where we were at times. Lastly, it also felt to me as if the author wasn’t sure what aspect of these stories to focus on. Chapters would start with narrative sections told through the eyes of the women, only to turn into strictly biographical or detail-oriented passages with some narrative intertwined jarringly in between. Overall, while Sheppard has completed a research project that is truly commendable in its scope and detail, the through-line of what the author wants us to gain from this project is rather murkier. Regardless, if you are interested in learning about the history of the field of Egyptology, this book is definitely worth including on your list.

Women in the Valley of the Kings: The Untold Story of Women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age by Kathleen Sheppard is a fascinating look at Egyptology and the women who helped pioneer the discipline. Many books have been written about the achievements of men during the golden age of exploration, from Howard Carter to Flinders Petrie to Jean-François Champollion and more. However, this is one of the first books to focus on the women of this time and the important work they were doing for Egyptology. Sheppard looks at multiple women and how they influenced and impacted the work being done and how they each paved the way for the next woman to do even more. This book is well-researched and well-told, weaving together a brilliant narrative of the history of women Egyptologists. Sheppard also does an excellent job of balancing how women were dismissed and not given the same opportunities while also navigating the fact that these women were still part of the colonizing nations taking advantage of the Egyptians. I found this an engaging and exciting history I am interested in learning more about!

I enjoyed this book! I’ve always been interested in the history of Egypt and shamelessly The Mummy is one of my favorite movies. Learning about the women who helped shape the time period and their contributions in a field not generally open to women was fascinating.

I tried, oh, how I tried to read and enjoy this book ... alas, it was as bad as a textbook from the 1950s -- and, I remember those textbooks!! Sadly, I had to finally call it quits after several attempts to get to the meat of this book. It has ended up on my DNF shelf. Maybe, just maybe -- but probably won't -- I'll try again ... but there are so many other books that I rather doubt I'll ever return to it.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

3.5 stars

A well-deserved look at some of the historically overlooked women involved in early and later exploration of the Valley of the Kings and Egyptology. As as sadly the case, much of the real work that kept these expeditions operational was carried out at the scene and in support roles by women, although most of the credit went to the male explorers.

The book is a bit uneven, but the main point highlighting all the different roles women played comes through loud and clear. There was (and still is) a fascination with Egyptian history and the tombs. this involved not just the actual excavations, but fund-raising, research, teaching, lecture circuits, office support, correspondence and so on.

Many of the figures mentioned seem to run together. Wealthy women, many of them gay, escaping the cold damp weather of England and New England and the constraints of their societies. They grew physically healthier and stronger in the Middle Eastern sunny climate and revelled in the freedom and exotic nature of this area.

And the story of Egypt and the early explorations and tourist industry is fascinating. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

nonfiction, partnership, pioneering-spirit, relationships, relatives, relics, university, wealthy, women-in-history, historical-figures, historical-places-events, historical-research, historical-setting, due-diligence, Egypt, Egyptian, friendship, cultural-differences, cultural-heritage, bibliography, biography, archaeologist, archaeology, archeological-dig*****

Extremely detailed and meticulously researched yet decidedly compelling read. These women both independently and together provided a more clear and less acquisitive archaeological perspective of Egyptian history at a time when women were all viewed in the negative by most males of their time.
They even made arrangements to have an artist to provide documentation of vanishing tomb art.
The only thing I missed are (true and documented elsewhere) notations that Flinders-Petrie often worked on his dig wearing a tutu.
I requested and received a free temporary uncorrected digital galley from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley. Thank you!
available July 16, 2024

Women in the Valley of the Kings: The Untold Story of Women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age by Kathleen Sheppard is a captivating and insightful exploration of the overlooked contributions of women in the field of archaeology during the golden age of Egyptology. Sheppard skillfully brings to light a forgotten network of extraordinary women whose groundbreaking work not only supported the renowned discoveries of their male counterparts but also revolutionized the field of Egyptology. Through her vivid storytelling, Sheppard sheds light on the invaluable role these women played in shaping our understanding of ancient Egypt and its treasures.

I really enjoyed this book. I appreciated the research and information about the women that contributed to Egyptology, especially in a time when women did not always have a role in this field.