Dame Kathleen Kenyon Biography

Laura Brussel
The Dirt Archaeologist: Dame Kathleen Kenyon
Crystal Skulls & Lost Worlds, Dr. Terneny
University of Colorado Denver
February 1, 2018
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Background & Career Highlights

Dame Kathleen Kenyon was born January 5, 1906 in London, England. Kenyon was a notable figure in the field of archaeology whose most famous work was her excavation of Jericho and subsequent findings of it to be the oldest continually occupied human settlement. Kenyon began her career in 1929 as a photographer for another notable female figure in archaeology: Gertrude Canton-Thomson. Kenyon went on to cofound, with the Wheelers, the University London’s Institute of Archaeology. She became the appointed honorary director of the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem in 1951, eventually leading her own excavation at Jericho between 1952 and 1958, then another in Jerusalem from 1962 to 1967. In that time she was also the principal of Saint Hugh’s College, retiring in 1973, whereupon she received her title Dame of the Order of the British Empire. She died August 24, 1978 in Wales (Nash, 2005). 

Notable Sites & Best Known Works

Kenyon’s most notable archaeological work was the excavation at Jericho, (modern Tel es-Sultan, Palestine), which indicated that Jericho was the earliest known walled-city, complete with a tower. The settlement had been repaired and rebuilt over fifteen times due to earthquakes. Her work also disproved the religious dating of John Garstang, who dated the destruction of the walls to 1400 BCE, (suggesting that the Biblical tale of the Israelite destruction of Jericho was correct). Kenyon, however, dated the city to the Neolithic (c. 8000 BCE). Therefore, Kenyon’s interpretation designates Jericho as a small, unwalled, settlement in 1400 BCE. This conclusion also disproves Carl Watzinger’s analysis of jar handles and Egyptian scarabs found near the site, who dated the destruction of the wall to the Middle Bronze period (1500-1200 BCE) (Britannica Academic, Nash, 2005).
In addition to correctly dating Jericho’s rise and fall, Kenyon’s work found evidence of elaborate Neolithic funeral rites. Her most striking discovery in this arena was the plaster-covered skulls embedded with shell eyes and molded to retain the individual’s features. As we discussed in class, this was a monumental discovery because it shows that the Neolithic peoples of the time were interested in preserving their ancestors visually as we do today with photographs of deceased loved ones (Dever, 1978, Kenyon, 1957).

Personal Idea Development in Archaeology

Kenyon’s personal theological interest and development begins with the guidance of her Father, Sir Frederich Kenyon who was a biblical scholar and critic, who dabbled in archaeology. Kenyon herself did not hold a Phd., which did not hold her back from becoming a creator of new stratigraphic techniques and an excellent field archaeologist. Kenyon was also greatly influenced by Mortimer and Tessa Wheeler, whom she helped excavate a Roman theater in England from 1930-1935. Considered the founders of modern British archaeology, the Wheelers created the Wheeler system, a methodology used to excavate the horizontal remains of human occupation (Dever, 1978, Nash, 2005). While we learned in class that this method is now obsolete because of the danger involved, at the time it was the best methodology available.
Kenyon was not a well-known Palestinian archaeologist until later in her life, while her early career was centered on Roman and British sites. However, her reputation as a “dirt archaeologist” was unparalleled, and allowed her to work in Palestine. Her work reads like that of a skilled, objective scientist, and this attitude was noticed by those who knew her professionally. Her work spoke for itself, and her gender never held her back from academic excellence. She would rather work, teach, and study in the field than a classroom, and had little time or care to argue about methods with other scholars (Dever, 1978).
While questions may be raised about her political and religious attitudes, her political views were always absent in her books and publications. She worked with both Jordanian and Israeli students in London, and engaged in academic discussions with Israeli archaeologists during her retirement.

Perception of Works

While Kenyon is often called a “Biblical archaeologist,” her work is in direct opposition to this label, described in her obituary as a “dirt archaeologist.” While she worked at many Biblically significant sites, criticism of her work comes from “Evangelical archaeologists” like Bryant Wood. Wood opposes Kenyon’s findings, interpreting the Biblical story of the Israelites destroying Jericho to be correct. His work was rejected by three different professional publications, in his words because he was labeled a fundamentalist. He was eventually published by the Biblical Archaeological Review, sponsored by the Biblical Archaeology Society, which consists of very few actual archaeologists (Govier, 2003).
 Overall, however, Kenyon’s work has been accepted as the dominant interpretation of the Jericho site. Her work is still considered groundbreaking and she is remembered as a renowned archaeologist with exemplary skill in stratigraphy, field work, and interpretations of the past.

Annotated Bibliography

Britannica Academic, s.v. "Dame Kathleen Kenyon," accessed January 29, 2018, http://academic.eb.com.aurarialibrary.idm.oclc.org/levels/collegiate/article/Dame-Kathleen-Kenyon/45128.
This source was a standard Encyclopedia entry, with links to other definitions and sources, good interactive features such as citation tools, search bar, font size adjustment. Additionally, the heading was pleasing visually and the links had some photos and videos. I gave this source a score of 57, falling under the “excellent” category. Where the site lost points was the brief quality of the scope of the article, however that is to be expected with an Encyclopedia entry.

Dever, William G. "Kathleen Kenyon (1906-1978): A Tribute." Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 232 (1978): 3-4. http://www.jstor.org.aurarialibrary.idm.oclc.org/stable/1356696.
This source was akin to a eulogy, it was a tribute from the Editor of the Bulletin. Using the Sturges & Griffin (2003) criteria, I gave this source a score of 48 total, falling under the “good” category. Where the source lost points was: a lack of a counter, author subject to bias, and it’s not necessarily attractive website. Additionally, the site did not qualify to be revised and therefore lost content points. The source was found on JSTOR, a reputable site with helpful interactive features such as the citation feature, which you can choose to cite in APA, Chicago, MLA, etc. 

Figure 1. Manning, Joseph. "Plastered Skulls and Teraphim." Ancientworldtour. March 25, 2012. Accessed January 29, 2018. https://ancientwordtour.wordpress.com/2012/03/24/teraphim/.
The website that I accessed simply for my photograph was a blog entry on the use of the word teraphim in archaeology and in the Bible. I gave the website a score of 44 overall, falling under the “good” category. Where the site lost points was mainly in the content section, because of some issues that arose concerning the author’s reputability and the fact that there was no works cited or bibliography included. While some of the external links did work and take you to museum sites, mostly the links did not work. Where the site gained points was in the workability and the graphic design sections.

Govier, Gordon. "Biblical Archaeology's dusty little secret: the James Bone Box controversy reveals the politics beneath the science." Christianity Today, October 2003, 36+. World History in Context (accessed January 29, 2018). http://aurarialibrary.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A108694155/WHIC?u=auraria_main&xid=3c2e6f60.
This source was also from the Gale Virtual Reference Library, (GVRL), and therefore scored very similarly to the Nash article. I scored this source at 60, still “excellent,” but slightly below the Nash article for several reasons. While the site was still scoring high in graphic design, workability, and overall quality, the site lost points in the content. The Christianity Today author lost points because of unclear writing and lack of reputability in the field of archaeology. The author is a news director and hosts a radio program twice a week.

Kenyon, Kathleen M. 1957. Digging up jericho: The results of the jericho excavations, 1952-1956. London: E.Benn.
This source is an actual hardcover book! Unfortunately, the Sturges & Griffin (2003) article is only for rating websites specifically. I used this source to form my own opinion about the content and to gain insight about Kenyon herself. Who she was, how she wrote her publications, and whether or not she allowed personal politics to interfere with her scientific writing. I also tried to find an online source (the blog entry) with a copy of the same photo in the book.

Nash, Kathleen S. "Kenyon, Kathleen." In Encyclopedia of Religion, 2nd ed., edited by Lindsay Jones, 5110-5111. Vol. 8. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. Gale Virtual Reference Library (accessed January 29, 2018). http://link.galegroup.com.aurarialibrary.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/CX3424501706/GVRL?u=auraria_main&sid=GVRL&xid=7cf9d676.
  This source, from the Encyclopedia of Religion, accessed through the Gale Virtual Reference Library, was my most useful source, and was where I got most of the information for the paper. I gave this source a score of 63, falling under the “excellent” category. The only reason why this source was marked off was because there was no site visitor counter, and there were no photos. Otherwise it hit everything on the checklist.