Janet A. Gourlay (1863–1912) was a
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
Egyptologist
Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , ''-logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end ...
,
known for her excavation of and publication on the Mut Complex in Egypt. Gourlay was born on 30 January 1863 in Dundee, Scotland, to Henry G. Gourlay and Agnes Christine Burell.
Personal life
Gourlay met her lifelong partner
Margaret Benson in 1896 during the second excavation of the Mut Complex
by their mutual friend Lady Jane Lindsay. In conjunction with their social relationship, they formed a scientific partnership that benefited the pair and allowed them to continue their work in Egypt.
This partnership allowed the highly educated women to be able to travel and work without needing to rely on a man.
Upon completion of their excavations, Benson’s health began deteriorating, so the two women returned to their respective homes.
They kept in close contact via letters. In these, they expressed their devotion, emotions, and happenings to one another. Benson’s health never made a recovery so plans made by the pair to return to Egypt for more excavations were never continued.
On 3 March 1912, Gourlay died in Kempshot Park,
Basingstoke
Basingstoke ( ) is a town in Hampshire, situated in south-central England across a valley at the source of the River Loddon on the western edge of the North Downs. It is the largest settlement in Hampshire without city status in the United King ...
.
She never married.
Career and research
She studied at
University College, London
University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
in 1893, supervised by
William Matthew Flinders Petrie
Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie ( – ), commonly known as simply Sir Flinders Petrie, was an English Egyptologist and a pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology and the preservation of artefacts. He held the first chair of ...
and
Margaret Murray
Margaret Alice Murray (13 July 1863 – 13 November 1963) was an Anglo-Indian Egyptologist, archaeologist, anthropologist, historian, and folklorist. The first woman to be appointed as a lecturer in archaeology in the United Kingdom, sh ...
gaining excavation experience to add to her theoretical knowledge. Gourlay joined Benson in 1896 in the second season of excavation at the
Mut Complex in
Karnak
The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (), comprises a vast mix of temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construction at the complex began during the reign of Senusret I (reigned 1971–1926 BC) in the ...
,
Thebes, in
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
.
The pair stayed at the Luxor Hotel for the duration of these digging seasons. Gourlay and Benson are credited with this excavation of the Temple of Mut, which they would later publish an account of in 1899.
It was published as an incomplete work, so that the information could be available to others and it would not be forgotten as it previously had been, which they explained in the preface.
Gourlay and Benson were the first women to undertake an excavation of this nature and is acknowledged in their preface, which reads "we have to thank M. de Morgan’s liberality for the first permission to excavate given to women in Egypt".
Their excavation would go on to span two digging seasons, resulting in three digging seasons total for the Mut Complex.
The two women restored and uncovered various pieces of sculptures, heads, figures, and architecture.
Notable statuary includes the head of
Amun
Amun was a major ancient Egyptian deity who appears as a member of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad. Amun was attested from the Old Kingdom together with his wife Amunet. His oracle in Siwa Oasis, located in Western Egypt near the Libyan Desert, r ...
(or Amun-re), the head of
Ramesses III
Usermaatre Meryamun Ramesses III was the second Pharaoh of the Twentieth dynasty of Egypt, Twentieth Dynasty in Ancient Egypt. Some scholars date his reign from 26 March 1186 to 15 April 1155 BC, and he is considered the last pharaoh of the New K ...
, a statue of
Ramesses II
Ramesses II (sometimes written Ramses or Rameses) (; , , ; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was an Pharaoh, Egyptian pharaoh. He was the third ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth Dynasty. Along with Thutmose III of th ...
, the figure of priest Sur, Senenmut, and Bak-en-Khonsu, and various other figures. One of the most well known figures recovered by Gourlay and Benson was the head of a figure, commonly referred to as the Benson Head.
After identifying the items, the pair made an effort to account for religious representations associated with the pieces.
Gourlay later worked with
Percy E. Newberry in 1900 and 1901.
The two would publish a journal article describing the excavation of
Mentu-Em-Hat.
Publications
* Benson, Margaret and Gourlay, Janet.
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, London, John Murray, 1899
* Gourlay, J. A. with Percy Newberry, "Mentu-em-hat," ''Recueil de travaux relatifs à la philologie et à l'archéologie égyptiennes et assyriennes: pour servir de bulletin à la Mission Française du Caire'', 20:3-4 (1898), 188-192.
References
External links
Janet A. Gourlay biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gourlay, Janet A.
1863 births
1912 deaths
Scottish Egyptologists
Alumni of University College London
British women archaeologists
British women historians
British LGBTQ historians
19th-century Scottish LGBTQ people
20th-century Scottish LGBTQ people
19th-century Scottish historians
20th-century Scottish historians