author
Margaret Benson
1865–1916
Best known for breaking new ground in Egyptology, this English writer combined scholarly curiosity with a gift for vivid, thoughtful prose. Her life moved between Oxford, spiritual reflection, and the temples of ancient Egypt, where she became one of the first women to lead archaeological work.
3 Audiobooks
The Soul of a Cat, and Other Stories
by Margaret Benson
The Court of the King, and Other Studies
by Margaret Benson
Subject to Vanity
by Margaret Benson
About the author
Born in England in 1865, Margaret Benson was an author, religious thinker, and pioneering Egyptologist. She studied at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, among the early generations of women admitted to higher education there, and she came from the well-known Benson family, whose members were active in church and literary life.
She is especially remembered for her work in Egypt in the 1890s, when she excavated the Precinct of Mut at Karnak. That work made her one of the first women to receive official permission to direct an excavation in Egypt, and it helped secure her place in the history of archaeology.
Alongside her fieldwork, Benson also wrote books and essays, bringing a reflective and personal voice to her subjects. She died in 1916, but her reputation endures through both her writing and her role in opening doors for women in scholarship and exploration.