Dame Kathleen Kenyon: Digging Up the Holy Land (UNIV COL LONDON INST ARCH PUB) [Paperback]

Miriam C. Davis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 2008 | ISBN-10: 1598743260 | ISBN-13: 978-1598743265

Dame Kathleen Kenyon has always been a larger-than-life figure, likely the most influential woman archaeologist of the 20th century. In the first full-length biography of Kenyon, Miriam Davis recounts not only her many achievements in the field but also her personal side, known to very few of her contemporaries. Her public side is a catalog of major successes: discovering the oldest city at Jericho with its amazing collection of plastered skulls; untangling the archaeological complexities of ancient Jerusalem and identifying the original City of David; participating in the discipline’s most famous all-woman excavation at Great Zimbabwe. Her development (with Sir Mortimer Wheeler) of stratigraphic trenching methods has been universally emulated by archaeologists for over half a century. Her private life—her childhood as daughter of the director of the British Museum, her accidental choice of a career in archaeology, her working at bombed sites in London during the blitz, and her solitary retirement to Wales—are generally unknown. Davis provides a balanced and illuminating picture of both the public Dame Kenyon and the private person.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

In the first full-length biography of Kenyon, excavator of Jerusalem, Jericho, and Great Zimbabwe and the most influential woman archaeologist of the 20th century, Miriam Davis recounts not only her many achievements in the field but also her personal side, known to very few of her contemporaries.

About the Author

Miriam Davis is Associate Professor of History at Delta State University in Mississippi. She has a Ph.D. in history from University of California Santa Barbara and has taught at Mississippi University for Women. In addition to her work on Kenyon, she is a specialist in health in Medieval England and has excavated in England, Scotland and the American Southeast.

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Left Coast Press (March 31, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1598743260
• ISBN-13: 978-1598743265
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,393,193 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Digging on Dame Kathleen Kenyon, August 30, 2008

By 

S. M. Wagoner (San Antonio, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dame Kathleen Kenyon: Digging Up the Holy Land (UNIV COL LONDON INST ARCH PUB) (Paperback)

I have to admit that I approached Dame Kathleen Kenyon: Digging Up the Holy Land with trepidation. I am no Ph.D. and can't even rank myself as even a rank amateur in the field of archeology. Further, I feared I would be inundated with unknown jargon, unknowable theories and actors I had never heard of. Instead, Davis' book took me step by step into a useful and pertinent knowledge of Dame Kenyon - both who she was and what she did. I never felt out of place and now know more about archeology and the excavation of the Holy Land than I had ever hoped. And that knowledge is there for the barest tyro to the most expert in the field. Dame Kathleen Kenyon: Digging Up the Holy Land is well written, well researched, entertaining and informative. Instead of just technical work, you are also able to learn about Dame Kenyon the person. At the same time, this book provides enough inside information and advanced knowledge that professionals in the field will find it helpful, interesting, informative and must read material. Dig on Davis' Dame Kathleen Kenyon: Digging Up the Holy Land and find yourself in a holistic reading and learning experience!