Nora Griffith (7 December 1870 – 21 October 1937) was a Scottish

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 ...

, archaeologist, illustrator and conservator. On the death of her husband, the eminent Egyptologist

Francis Llewellyn Griffith Francis Llewellyn Griffith (27 May 1862 – 14 March 1934) was an eminent British Egyptologist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Early life and education F. Ll. Griffith was born in Brighton on 27 May 1862 where his father, Rev. Dr. ...

, she founded and endowed the

Griffith Institute The Griffith Institute is an Egyptological institution based in the Griffith Wing of the Sackler Library and is part of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford, England. It was founded for the advancement of Egyptology and Ancient ...

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

with their joint fortunes and collections.

Early life

Born as Nora Christina Cobban Macdonald in

Newmachar Newmachar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, about 10 miles (16 km) to the north-west of Aberdeen. The settlement has a long history previously being known as Summerhill within the parish of New Machar, later being renamed Newmachar. ...

near

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

in 1870, she was the daughter of Surgeon-Major James Macdonald of Aberdeen and Margaret Helen Leslie ''née'' Collie and the sister of Sir James Ronald Leslie Macdonald, a Scottish engineer, explorer, cartographer and

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

engineer. Griffith first visited Egypt in 1906; following which she acted as a conservator in the Archaeology Museum at King's College in Aberdeen. Becoming interested in Egyptology she studied it under the eminent British Egyptologist

. In 1909 she became Griffith's second wifeBosworth, Edward C. ed. (2001
''A Century of British Orientalists, 1902-2001''
Oxford University Press, p. 194, and assisted him in his studies and excavations in Egypt and Nubia in 1910–13, 1923, 1929 and 1930. A skilled photographer and illustrator, she was highly intelligent and had a gift for ancient and modern languages. In 1923 she published her article 'Akhenaten and the Hittites' in ''

The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology The ''Journal of Egyptian Archaeology (JEA)'' is a bi-annual peer-reviewed international academic journal published by the Egypt Exploration Society. Covering Egyptological research, the JEA publishes scholarly articles, fieldwork reports, and re ...

''. After her husband's death in 1934 she prepared his unfinished work for publication including his two volume ''Demotic Graffiti in the Dodecaschoenus'', complete with 70 illustrations in addition to photographs taken by herself. She organised and funded further excavations at Firka and Kawa in the Sudan and financially supported the

Egypt Exploration Society The Egypt Exploration Society (EES) is a British non-profit organization founded in 1882 for the purpose of financing and facilitating the exploration of significant archeological sites in Egypt and Sudan, founded by writer Amelia Edwards and coin ...

in its work. She added to and expanded the already large Egyptological library collected by her husband and herself and which was later donated to the University of Oxford and added her own personal fortune to that of her late husband for the building and endowment of the

at Oxford which is dedicated to the advancement of

Egyptology Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Ancient Greek, Greek , ''wiktionary:-logia, -logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian History of Egypt, history, Egyptian language, language, Ancient Egypt ...

and Ancient Near Eastern Studies.R. S. Simpson
Francis Llewellyn Griffith (1862-1934)
-

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

(ODNB) - Oxford University Press - Published in print: 23 September 2004 Published online: 23 September 2004

Nora Griffith died at the Acland Home in Oxford of

peritonitis Peritonitis is inflammation of the localized or generalized peritoneum, the lining of the inner wall of the abdomen and covering of the abdominal organs. Symptoms may include severe pain, swelling of the abdomen, fever, or weight loss. One pa ...

after an

appendectomy An appendectomy (American English) or appendicectomy (British English) is a Surgery, surgical operation in which the vermiform appendix (a portion of the intestine) is removed. Appendectomy is normally performed as an urgent or emergency procedur ...

in 1937 at the age of 66.Obituary for Nora Griffith - ''The Journal for Egyptian Archaeology'', Volume XXIII - The Egypt Exploration Society (1937)
/ref> She was buried with her husband in

Holywell Cemetery Holywell Cemetery lies behind St Cross Church, Oxford, St Cross Church in St Cross Road, Oxford, England, south of Holywell Manor on Manor Road, Oxford, Manor Road and north of Longwall Street, in the parish of Holywell, Oxford, Holywell. Histo ...

in Oxford. While she published several articles in scholarly journals, she is frequently overlooked in the records of Egyptology.

Legacy

In addition to her endowment of the

at Oxford, in 2017

Aberdeen City Council Aberdeen City Council is the Local government in Scotland, local authority for Aberdeen City, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. In its modern form it was created in 1996. Aberdeen was formerly governed by a municipal corporation, corporat ...

approved the erection of a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

to honour her as a "noted Egyptologist". This was unveiled in November 2018 and is located at Kings College Quad in

Nora Griffith plaque unveiling - Women's History Scotland - 24 November 2018
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffith, Nora 1870 births 1937 deaths People from Garioch Scottish Egyptologists British women archaeologists British archaeologists British women historians Conservator-restorers Deaths from peritonitis Burials at Holywell Cemetery Scottish archaeologists Women archaeologists