Northern Cal. Egyptology Lecture - Women’s Work in Abydos: Margaret Murray, Amice Calverley and Myrtle Broome

  

 

The American Research Center in Egypt, Northern California chapter, invites you to attend a Zoom lecture by Dr. Kathleen Sheppard, Missouri U. of Science and Technology:

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Women’s Work in Abydos: Margaret Murray, Amice Calverley and Myrtle Broome Sunday, September 20, 2026, 3 PM PDT This meeting is virtual, not in person. Zoom registration link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/LjEuB54-RlaCCDgV4RzTvw About the Lecture: In 1902, Margaret Alice Murray got invited to work in the field—finally. Training with Flinders Petrie for the last eight years, she had taught plenty of students in London, but had never been to Egypt to work herself. She spent only one season at Abydos, working in the Osireion, a special temple that no one had yet fully understood. Two years later,Murray’s publication, The Osireion at Abydos upended all previous theories about the site. By 1938, Amice Calverley and Myrtle Broome were leaving Abydos, having spent almost a decade copying the art in the Temple of Seti I. Their own publications, The Temple of Sethos I at Abydos were four volumes of brilliantly painted art from the temple walls, in exacting detail. This talk will detail the ways in which the work women did on site at Abydos in the early 20th century impacted our understanding and reception of one of the most important sites in all of ancient Egypt.    About the Speaker: Dr. Kathleen Sheppard is a Professor in the History and Political Science department at Missouri S&T in Rolla, Mo. She earned her MA in Egyptian Archaeology at University College London in 2002, and her PhD in History of Science from the University of Oklahoma in 2010. Her first book was a scientific biography of Margaret Alice Murray (2013) that focused on Murray’s life and career, both in and out of Egyptology. Sheppard has spent her career telling the stories of women in Egyptology. Her book Women in the Valley of the Kings: The Untold Story of Women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age (St. Martin’s Press, 2024) is a grand retelling of the history of Egyptology through the work that women did.  How to Register: Register for the lecture by clicking on this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/LjEuB54-RlaCCDgV4RzTvw After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the lecture. There are a few things you should know before you join the lecture: * Advance registration is required. When you click on the link to register. you will receive instructions by email on how and when to join, along with a link on which you will click to join the meeting. Save the email, as you will need the link it contains to join the meeting. Please register now. Please do not share the join link with anyone, it is unique to your email address. Try to join at least 10 minutes before the meeting. When you do join the meeting, be prepared to be put in the waiting room until the lecture starts at 3 pm.  This is a security measure. * If you haven't already installed Zoom, you should download and install the Zoom program (app) well before you try to join the meeting. There IS an option to use your web browser to join the meeting instead of the Zoom program, but the browser interface is limited and depends greatly on what browser and what operating system you're using. * For tutorials on how to use Zoom, go to https://learn-zoom.us/show-me. In particular, "Joining a Zoom Meeting" should show you what you need to do to join our lecture. * All meeting attendees can communicate with everyone, or with individual participants, using the chat window, which can be opened by clicking on the chat button and which you can probably find at the bottom middle of your Zoom viewing screen. Participants will be encouraged to hold their questions for the speaker until after the lecture, and will also be encouraged to address their questions for the speaker to everyone, not just to the speaker, so that all can see them. "Everyone" is the default chat option. If you have any questions, please email glenn@glennmeyer.net or arcencZoom@gmail.com. About Northern California ARCE: For more information, please visit https://www.youtube.com/@NorthernCaliforniaARCE, https://www.facebook.com/NorthernCaliforniaARCE, https://arce-nc.org, https://bsky.app/profile/khentiamentiu.bsky.social, and https://khentiamentiu.org. To join the chapter or renew your membership, please go to https://arce.org/membership/ and select "Berkeley, CA" as your chapter when you sign up.