Editing Margaret Murray (section)

==Early life==
===Youth: 1863–1893===
Margaret Murray was born on 13 July 1863 in [[Kolkata|Calcutta]], then a major military city and the capital of [[British Raj|British India]].{{sfnm|1a1=Williams|1y=1961|1p=433|2a1=Drower|2y=2004|2p=110|3a1=Sheppard|3y=2013|3p=2}} She lived in the city with her parents James and Margaret Murray, an older sister named Mary, and her paternal grandmother and great-grandmother.{{sfn|Sheppard|2013|p=2}} James Murray, born in India of Anglo-Irish descent, was a businessman and manager of the [[Serampore]] paper mills who was thrice elected President of the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce.{{sfnm|1a1=Drower|1y=2004|1p=110|2a1=Sheppard|2y=2013|2p=6}} Margaret (née Carr) had moved to India from Britain in 1857 to work as a [[missionary]], preaching [[Christianity]] and educating Indian women. She continued with this work after marrying James and giving birth to her two daughters.{{sfnm|1a1=Drower|1y=2004|1p=110|2a1=Sheppard|2y=2013|2pp=8–10}}

Although most of their lives were spent in the European area of Calcutta, which was walled off from the Indian sectors of the city, Murray encountered members of Indian society through her family's employment of ten Indian servants and through childhood holidays to [[Mussoorie]].{{sfn|Sheppard|2013|pp=3–4, 13}} The historian [[Amara Thornton]] has suggested that Murray's Indian childhood exerted an influence over her throughout her life, expressing the view that Murray could be seen as having a hybrid transnational identity that was both British and Indian.{{sfn|Thornton|2014|p=5}} During her childhood, Murray received no formal education, and in later life expressed pride that she had never had to sit an exam before entering university.{{sfnm|1a1=Williams|1y=1961|1p=434|2a1=Oates|2a2=Wood|2y=1998|2p=9}} 

In 1870, Margaret and her sister Mary were sent to Britain, moving in with their uncle John, a vicar, and his wife Harriet at their home in [[Lambourn]], Berkshire. Although John provided them with a strongly Christian education and a belief in [[Misogyny|the inferiority of women]], both of which she would reject, he awakened Murray's interest in archaeology through taking her to see local monuments.{{sfnm|1a1=Drower|1y=2004|1p=110|2a1=Sheppard|2y=2013|2pp=16–20}} In 1873, the girls' mother arrived in Europe and took them with her to [[Bonn]] in Germany, where they both became fluent in [[German language|German]].{{sfnm|1a1=Drower|1y=2004|1p=110|2a1=Sheppard|2y=2013|2p=21}} In 1875 they returned to Calcutta, staying there until 1877.{{sfn|Sheppard|2013|p=21}} They then moved with their parents back to England, where they settled in [[Sydenham, London]]. There, they spent much time visiting [[The Crystal Palace]], while their father worked at his firm's London office.{{sfnm|1a1=Drower|1y=2004|1p=110|2a1=Sheppard|2y=2013|2pp=21–22}} 

In 1880, they returned to Calcutta, where Margaret remained for the next seven years. She became a nurse at the Calcutta General Hospital, which was run by the Sisters of the Anglican Sisterhood of Clower, and there was involved with the hospital's attempts to deal with a [[1881–96 cholera pandemic|cholera outbreak]].{{sfnm|1a1=Drower|1y=2004|1pp=110–111|2a1=Sheppard|2y=2013|2pp=22–24}} In 1881, at age 18, Margaret heard about [[James Murray (lexicographer)|James Murray]] (no relation) and his "general appeal to English speakers around the world to read their local books and send him words and quotations" for entry into the [[Oxford English Dictionary|OED]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Ogilvie|first=Sarah|title=The Dictionary People: The unsung heroes who created the Oxford English Dictionary|publisher=Vantage|date=2024}}</ref> She had a routine of taking a book onto the roof in the cool early-morning air. She began with [[William L'Isle]]'s edition of Aelfric's ''Saxon Treatise concerning the Old and New Testament'', from which she submitted 300 entries to Murray. She continued as a volunteer until 1888, submitting a total of 5,000 entries.

In 1887, she returned to England, moving to [[Rugby, Warwickshire]], where her uncle John, now widowed, had moved. She took up employment as a social worker dealing with local underprivileged people.{{sfnm|1a1=Drower|1y=2004|1p=111|2a1=Sheppard|2y=2013|2pp=24–25}} When her father retired to England, she moved into his house in [[Bushey|Bushey Heath]], Hertfordshire, living with him until his death in 1891.{{sfn|Sheppard|2013|p=25}} In 1893 she travelled to [[Chennai|Madras]], Tamil Nadu, where her sister had moved to with her new husband.{{sfnm|1a1=Drower|1y=2004|1p=111|2a1=Sheppard|2y=2013|2p=26}}

Later in 1893, Murray received her first introduction to Egyptology when her elder sister, Mary, alerted her to an advertisement in ''[[The Times]]'' for classes in Egyptian hieroglyphs taught by [[Flinders Petrie]], Murray's future mentor. Reflecting upon this in her autobiography, Murray notes it was her sister's insistence on attending these classes, largely spurred on by her own inability to do so, which set her down the path of her Egyptological career.<ref name=":0" /> 

===Early years at University College London: 1894–1905===
[[File:Wilkins Building 1, UCL, London - Diliff.jpg|thumb|right|Murray studied Egyptology at the UCL Wilkins Building (pictured).]]
Encouraged by her mother and sister, Murray decided to enrol at the newly opened department of Egyptology at [[University College London]] (UCL). At the time of Murray's enrolment, Egyptology was not a formally trained degree, with the exception of the [[University of Oxford]], which offered Middle Egyptian amongst a trio of "Oriental languages".<ref name=":0">{{harvnb|Murray|1963|p=92}}</ref> Having been founded by an endowment from [[Amelia Edwards]], one of the co-founders of the [[Egypt Exploration Society|Egypt Exploration Fund]] (EEF), the department was run by the pioneering early archaeologist [[Flinders Petrie|Sir William Flinders Petrie]], and based in the Edwards Library of [[UCL Main Building|UCL's South Cloisters]].{{sfnm|1a1=James|1y=1963|1p=568|2a1=Janssen|2y=1992|2p=10|3a1=Drower|3y=2004|3p=111|4a1=Sheppard|4y=2013|4pp=26, 37, 41–44}} Murray began her studies at UCL at age 30 in January 1894, as part of a class composed largely of other women and older men.{{sfnm|1a1=Janssen|1y=1992|1p=10|2a1=Drower|2y=2004|2p=111|3a1=Sheppard|3y=2013|3pp=44–45}} She took courses in the [[Egyptian language|Ancient Egyptian]] and [[Coptic language|Coptic]] languages which were taught by [[Francis Llewellyn Griffith]] and [[Walter Ewing Crum]] respectively.{{sfn|Sheppard|2013|p=45}} 

Murray soon got to know Petrie, becoming his copyist and illustrator and producing the drawings for the published report on his excavations at [[Qift]], ''Koptos''.{{sfnm|1a1=Drower|1y=2004|1p=112|2a1=Sheppard|2y=2013|2pp=45–46}} In turn, he aided and encouraged her to write her first research paper, "The Descent of Property in the Early Periods of Egyptian History", which was published in the ''Proceedings of the Society for Biblical Archaeology'' in 1895.{{sfnm|1a1=James|1y=1963|1p=568|2a1=Drower|2y=2004|2p=112|3a1=Sheppard|3y=2013|3pp=39, 47}} Becoming Petrie's ''de facto'' though unofficial assistant, Murray began to give some of the linguistic lessons in Griffith's absence.{{sfn|Sheppard|2013|pp=48–49, 52}} In 1898 she was appointed to the position of junior lecturer, responsible for teaching the linguistic courses at the Egyptology department; this made her the first female lecturer in archaeology in the United Kingdom.{{sfnm|1a1=Janssen|1y=1992|1p=11|2a1=Oates|2a2=Wood|2y=1998|2p=9|3a1=Drower|3y=2004|3pp=112–113|4a1=Whitehouse|4y=2013|4p=120|5a1=Sheppard|5y=2013|5pp=52–53}} In this capacity, she spent two days a week at UCL, devoting the other days to caring for her ailing mother.{{sfnm|1a1=Drower|1y=2004|1p=115|2a1=Sheppard|2y=2013|2pp=52–53}} As time went on, she came to teach courses on Ancient Egyptian history, religion, and language.{{sfnm|1a1=James|1y=1963|1p=568|2a1=Janssen|2y=1992|2p=12|3a1=Whitehouse|3y=2013|3p=121|4a1=Sheppard|4y=2013|4p=87}} 

Among Murray's students&nbsp;– to whom she referred as "the Gang"&nbsp;– were several who went on to produce noted contributions to Egyptology, including [[Reginald Engelbach]], [[Georgina Aitken]], [[Guy Brunton]], and [[Myrtle Broome]].{{sfnm|1a1=Janssen|1y=1992|1p=14|2a1=Sheppard|2y=2013|2pp=90–91}} She supplemented her UCL salary by teaching evening classes in Egyptology at the [[British Museum]].{{sfn|Sheppard|2013|p=84}}
[[File:Osireion.jpg|thumb|left|The Osireion (pictured), which was first excavated by Murray]]
At this point, Murray had no experience in field archaeology, and so during the 1902–1903 field season, she travelled to Egypt to join Petrie's excavations at [[Abydos, Egypt|Abydos]]. Petrie and his wife, [[Hilda Petrie]], had been excavating at the site since 1899, having taken over the archaeological investigation from French Coptic scholar [[Émile Amélineau]]. Murray at first joined as site nurse, but was subsequently taught how to excavate by Petrie and given a senior position.{{sfnm|1a1=James|1y=1963|1p=569|2a1=Drower|2y=2004|2p=113|3a1=Sheppard|3y=2013|3pp=61–63}}

This led to issues with some of the male excavators, who disliked the idea of taking orders from a woman. This experience, coupled with discussions with other female excavators (some of whom were active in the feminist movement), led Murray to adopt openly feminist viewpoints.{{sfn|Sheppard|2013|pp=64–66}} While excavating at Abydos, Murray uncovered the [[Osireion]], a temple devoted to the god [[Osiris]] which had been constructed by order of Pharaoh [[Seti I]] during the period of the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]].{{sfnm|1a1=Williams|1y=1961|1p=434|2a1=James|2y=1963|2p=569|3a1=Drower|3y=2004|3p=114|4a1=Sheppard|4y=2013|4pp=66–67}} She published her site report as ''The Osireion at Abydos'' in 1904; in the report, she examined the inscriptions that had been discovered at the site to discern the purpose and use of the building.{{sfn|Sheppard|2013|pp=60, 68}}

During the 1903–1904 field season, Murray returned to Egypt, and at Petrie's instruction began her investigations at the [[Saqqara]] cemetery near [[Cairo]], which dated from the period of the [[Old Kingdom]]. Murray did not have legal permission to excavate the site, and instead spent her time transcribing the inscriptions from ten of the tombs that had been excavated in the 1860s by [[Auguste Mariette]].{{sfnm|1a1=James|1y=1963|1p=569|2a1=Drower|2y=2004|2p=114|3a1=Sheppard|3y=2013|3pp=70–76}} She published her findings in 1905 as ''Saqqara Mastabas I'', although would not publish translations of the inscriptions until 1937 as ''Saqqara Mastabas II''.{{sfn|Sheppard|2013|pp=60, 75}} Both ''The Osireion at Abydos'' and ''Saqqara Mastabas I'' proved to be very influential in the Egyptological community,{{sfn|Sheppard|2013|p=60}} with Petrie recognising Murray's contribution to his own career.{{sfn|Sheppard|2013|p=86}}

===Feminism, the First World War, and folklore: 1905–1920===
[[File:Manchester Museum.jpg|thumb|right|Murray came to do much lecturing and cataloguing at Manchester Museum (pictured).]]
On returning to London, Murray took an active role in the feminist movement, volunteering and financially donating to the cause and taking part in feminist demonstrations, protests, and marches. Joining the [[Women's Social and Political Union]], she was present at large marches like the [[Mud March (Suffragists)|Mud March]] of 1907 and the [[Women's Coronation Procession]] of June 1911. She concealed the militancy of her actions in order to retain the image of respectability within academia.{{sfnm|1a1=Drower|1y=2004|2p=117|2a1=Sheppard|2y=2013|2pp=105–107, 114–115}} Murray also pushed the [[professional boundaries]] for women throughout her own career, and mentored other women in archaeology and throughout academia.{{sfn|Sheppard|2013|pp=108–109}} As women could not use the men's [[common room]], she successfully campaigned for UCL to open a common room for women, and later ensured that a larger, better-equipped room was converted for the purpose; it was later renamed the Margaret Murray Room.{{sfnm|1a1=Drower|1y=2004|1p=118|2a1=Sheppard|2y=2013|2pp=110–111}} At UCL, she became a friend of fellow female lecturer [[Winifred Smith]], and together they campaigned to improve the status and recognition of women in the university, with Murray becoming particularly annoyed at female staff who were afraid of upsetting or offending the male university establishment with their demands.{{sfn|Sheppard|2013|pp=111–112}} Feeling that students should get nutritious yet affordable lunches, for many years she sat on the UCL Refectory Committee.{{sfn|Drower|2004|p=115}} She took on an unofficial administrative role within the Egyptology Department, and was largely responsible for introduction of a formal certificate in Egyptian archaeology in 1910.<ref name="ODNB" />

Various museums around the United Kingdom invited Murray to advise them on their Egyptological collections, resulting in her cataloguing the Egyptian artefacts owned by the [[National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology|Dublin National Museum]], the [[National Museum of Antiquities (Scotland)|National Museum of Antiquities]] in [[Edinburgh]], and the [[Society of Antiquaries of Scotland]], being elected a Fellow of the latter in thanks.{{sfn|Drower|2004|p=116}}
Petrie had established connections with the Egyptological wing of [[Manchester Museum]] in [[Manchester]], and it was there that many of his finds had been housed. Murray thus often travelled to the museum to catalogue these artefacts, and during the 1906–07 school year regularly lectured there.{{sfn|Sheppard|2013|pp=106–107}} 

In 1907, Petrie excavated the [[Tomb of two Brothers|Tomb of the Two Brothers]], a Middle Kingdom burial of two Egyptian priests, Nakht-ankh and Khnum-nakht, and it was decided that Murray would carry out the public unwrapping of the latter's mummified body. Taking place at the museum in May 1908, it represented the first time that a woman had led a public mummy unwrapping and was attended by over 500 onlookers, attracting press attention.{{sfnm|1a1=Drower|1y=2004|1p=116|2a1=Sheppard|2y=2012|2pp=526, 536–537|3a1=Sheppard|3y=2013|3pp=121, 126–127}} Murray was particularly keen to emphasise the importance that the unwrapping would have for the scholarly understanding of the Middle Kingdom and its burial practices, and lashed out against members of the public who saw it as immoral; she declared that "every vestige of ancient remains must be carefully studied and recorded without sentimentality and without fear of the outcry of the ignorant".{{sfnm|1a1=Sheppard|1y=2012|1p=539|2a1=Sheppard|2y=2013|2pp=126–129}} She subsequently published a book about her analysis of the two bodies, ''The Tomb of the Two Brothers'', which remained a key publication on Middle Kingdom mummification practices into the 21st century.{{sfnm|1a1=Drower|1y=2004|1p=116|2a1=Sheppard|2y=2012|2p=526|3a1=Sheppard|3y=2013|3p=130}}
[[File:Glastonbury Abbey Lady Chapel c1900.jpg|thumb|left|Glastonbury Abbey (pictured) inspired Murray's interest in British folklore.]]
Murray was dedicated to public education, hoping to infuse [[Ancient Egypt in the Western imagination|Egyptomania]] with solid scholarship about Ancient Egypt, and to this end authored a series of books aimed at a general audience.{{sfn|Sheppard|2013|p=121}} In 1905 she published ''Elementary Egyptian Grammar'' which was followed in 1911 by ''Elementary Coptic (Sahidic) Grammar''.{{sfn|Sheppard|2013|p=89}} In 1913, she published ''Ancient Egyptian Legends'' for [[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]]'s "The Wisdom of the East" series.{{sfn|Sheppard|2013|pp=140–141}} She was particularly pleased with the increased public interest in Egyptology that followed [[Howard Carter]]'s [[discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun|discovery]] of the tomb of Pharaoh [[Tutankhamun]] in 1922.{{sfn|Sheppard|2013|p=152}} From at least 1911 until his death in 1940, Murray was a close friend of the anthropologist [[Charles Gabriel Seligman]] of the [[London School of Economics]], and together they co-authored a variety of papers on Egyptology that were aimed at an anthropological audience. Many of these dealt with subjects that Egyptological journals would not publish, such as the "Sa" sign for the [[uterus]], and thus were published in ''[[Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute|Man]]'', the journal of the [[Royal Anthropological Institute]].{{sfn|Sheppard|2013|pp=197–198, 202–205}} It was at Seligman's recommendation that she was invited to become a member of the Institute in 1916.{{sfn|Oates|Wood|1998|p=13}}

In 1914, Petrie launched the academic journal ''Ancient Egypt'', published through his own [[British School of Archaeology in Egypt]] (BSAE), which was based at UCL. Given that he was often away from London excavating in Egypt, Murray was left to operate as ''de facto'' editor much of the time. She also published many research articles in the journal and authored many of its book reviews, particularly of the German-language publications which Petrie could not read.{{sfnm|1a1=Drower|1y=2004|1pp=118–119|2a1=Sheppard|2y=2013|2pp=199–201}}

The outbreak of the [[World War I|First World War]] in 1914, in which the United Kingdom went to war against [[German Empire|Germany]] and the [[Ottoman Empire]], meant that Petrie and other staff members were unable to return to Egypt for excavation.{{sfn|Sheppard|2013|p=97}} Instead, Petrie and Murray spent much of the time reorganising the artefact collections that they had attained over the past decades.{{sfn|Sheppard|2013|p=161}} To aid Britain's war effort, Murray enrolled as a volunteer nurse in the Volunteer Air Detachment of the College Women's Union Society, and for several weeks was posted to [[Saint-Malo]] in France.{{sfnm|1a1=Drower|1y=2004|1p=118|2a1=Sheppard|2y=2013|2pp=98, 162}} 

After being taken ill herself, she was sent to recuperate in [[Glastonbury]], [[Somerset]], where she became interested in [[Glastonbury Abbey]] and the folklore surrounding it which connected it to the legendary figure of [[King Arthur]] and to the idea that the [[Holy Grail]] had been brought there by [[Joseph of Aramathea]].{{sfnm|1a1=Oates|1a2=Wood|1y=1998|1p=18|2a1=Drower|2y=2004|2p=118|3a1=Sheppard|3y=2013|3p=163}} Pursuing this interest, she published the paper "Egyptian Elements in the Grail Romance" in the journal ''Ancient Egypt'', although few agreed with her conclusions and it was criticised for making unsubstantiated leaps with the evidence by the likes of [[Jessie Weston (scholar)|Jessie Weston]].{{sfnm|1a1=Oates|1a2=Wood|1y=1998|1p=19|2a1=Drower|2y=2004|2p=118|3a1=Sheppard|3y=2013|3pp=164–165}}