The Temple of Mut in Asher
An Account of the Excavation of the Temple and of the Religious Representations and Objects Found Therein, as Illustrating the History of Egypt and the Main Religious Ideas of the Egyptians

An 1899 account of the excavations by two British women at the ancient temple of Mut at Karnak, Egypt.

Margaret Benson (Author), Janet Gourlay (Author)

9781108076173, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 21 August 2014

472 pages, 30 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 2.7 cm, 0.6 kg

Margaret Benson (1865–1916), the fourth of six children of the archbishop of Canterbury E. W. Benson, was a brilliant scholar at Oxford who found an escape from the conventional life of housekeeping for her father when she travelled to Egypt for her health in 1895. She obtained permission to excavate a site, of which she candidly admits that the authorities had no expectations (or they would not have entrusted it to such inexperienced amateurs). She and her close friend Janet Gourlay (1863–1912), who had briefly studied archaeology under Flinders Petrie, published this account of their discoveries at the temple of Mut at Karnak in 1899. It contains an overview of the site and its context in Egyptian history, with an account of the three seasons of excavation and a section on Egyptian religion. The highly illustrated book concludes with translations of the many inscriptions found in the temple remains.

Preface
Part I. Introduction: 1. Temple of Mut
2. Conditions of work
Part II. History of the Excavation: 3. Excavation in 1895
4. Excavation in 1896
5. Excavation in 1897
Part III. The Religion of Egypt: 6. The gods
7. Immortal life
8. The temple
Part IV. History: 9. Dynasties XII–XVII
10. Eighteenth dynasty, Aahmes to Hapshetsut
11. Eighteenth dynasty, Thothmes III to Ay
12. Nineteenth dynasty
13. Twentieth dynasty
14. Twenty-first and twenty-second dynasties
15. Twenty-thrid to twenty-fifth dynasties
16. Dynasty XXVI
17. Conclusion
Part V. Inscriptions: Statues, etc.
Inscriptions, plans, etc.
List of coins
Index and catalogue.

Subject Areas: Egyptian archaeology / Egyptology [HDDG]