Women in the Valley of the Kings

“A new history of Egyptology that prioritizes the women whose contributions, for good and otherwise, shaped the field.” - The New York Times

“Sheppard joins Lynne Olson, author of Empress of the Nile, in spotlighting the important contributions of female Egyptologists in the late nineteenth and early to mid-twentieth centuries in this striking group biography. Many of the women were partnered romantically as well as professionally, making this a vital, lively read for those interested in LGBTQ+ history as well as in women’s essential contributions to the excavation and preservation of ancient Egypt artifacts.” - Booklist

“In this lively, absorbing revisionist account of the golden age of archaeology in Egypt, Kathleen Sheppard brings to brilliant life a now-forgotten network of remarkable women whose work enabled the headline-grabbing discoveries of their more celebrated male colleagues and changed Egyptology forever.” - Lynne Olson, author of Empress of the Nile and NYT Bestseller Madame Fourcade’s Secret War“Kathleen Sheppard shines a historian’s flashlight into the dark recesses of ancient Egyptian history in Women in the Valley of the Kings. Howard Carter has nothing on the women Egyptologists of her book whose mostly uncredited toil, talent and tenacity helped build the foundations of the discipline. An engaging and evocative work that transports the reader into Egyptian tombs and down the Nile with the hidden heroines of Egyptology.” - Heath Hardage Lee, author of The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon and The League of Wives

Kathleen Sheppard is an associate professor at Missouri S&T in Rolla, Missouri. Sheppard earned her master’s degree and Ph.D. in the history of science at the University of Oklahoma in 2006 and 2010, respectively. She earned a master’s degree in Egyptian Archaeology at University College London in 2002. Sheppard is the author of the scientific biography of Margaret Alice Murray (Lexington Press, 2013), and the newly published correspondence collection between Caroline Ransom Williams and James Henry Breasted from Archaeopress (2018). She is an administrator for the Histories of Archaeology Research Network (HARN) and a contributing editor for Lady Science and Bulletin for the History of Archaeology.