Veronica Seton-Williams

Veronica (Marjory) Seton-Williams (20 April 1910 – 29 May 1992), was a British-Australian Archaeologist who excavated in Egypt and the Near East. She studied history and political science at the University of Melbourne and then Egyptology and Prehistory at University College London.

Veronica (Marjory) Seton-Williams
Born20 April 1910 (1910-04-20)
Melbourne, Australia
Died29 May 1992(1992-05-29) (aged 82)
St Helier, Jersey
NationalityBritish-Australian
Known forExcavations at Buto, Sheikh es-Zuweid, Jericho, Mersin, Maiden Castle, Dorset
Scientific career
Fieldsarchaeologist

Biography

Veronica Seton-Williams was born in Melbourne, Australia, the daughter of Seton Gordon Nixon Williams (1856-1927), a lawyer, and Eliza Mary (Ellie) Staughton (1875-1947).[1]

Veronica was educated at home until 1925 when she attended Clyde Girls Grammar School. In 1934 she graduated from the University of Melbourne with an undergraduate degree in history and political science and in the same year moved to England to study under Mortimer Wheeler at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. She initially enrolled for a degree in Egyptology, under professor Stephen Glanville, but was persuaded to read British prehistory instead, going on to complete a Ph.D. on Syrian Archaeology in 1957.[2] During that time she excavated at Maiden Castle, Dorset (1934-1936) with Mortimer Wheeler, and went on to excavate at Sheikh es-Zuweid at the Sinai Peninsula (1935-1936) with Flinders Petrie, in Palestine and Turkey (1936-1937) with John Garstang, and Tell el-Duweir (1937-1938).[3] She also worked with E. Cecil Curwen on the 1935 excavation of Whitehawk Camp, in Brighton.[4]

During the Second World War she worked in the Postal Censorship Department and in the British Council's Ministry of Information.[5]

In 1949 Veronica worked on renewed excavations at Sakçe Gözü, in Turkey, a site previously excavated by John Garstang. In 1956,1960 and 1964, she excavated at Tell Rifa'at in Syria. In 1964, she was appointed field director of the Egypt Exploration Society's excavations at Buto (1964-1968), where she worked alongside Dorothy Charlesworth who became field director in 1969.[6][7] After Veronica Seton-Williams' fieldwork in Buto was completed, she went on to write extensively.

Veronica taught Egyptian and Mesopotamian archaeology for 25 years at the University of London, during which time she frequently collaborated with colleagues Joan du Plat Taylor and John Waechter on field projects in Cyprus, Syria and Turkey. She also taught Egyptology at the City Literary Institute. She continued to teach until 1977.[8][9]

She published in English and French. Her works include Britain and the Arab states, Egyptian stories and Legends, a short history of Egypt, etc.

References
  1. M. V. Seton-Williams, "The Road to El-Aguzein", 1988.
  2. M. V. Seton-Williams, "The Road to El-Aguzein", 1988, 23, 113.
  3. M. L. Bierbrier (eds.), "Who was who in egyptology", 2012, 503-504
  4. Curwen (1936), p. 61.
  5. M. V. Seton-Williams, "The Road to El-Aguzein", 1988, 95-96.
  6. "1969 Tell el-Fara'in | Artefacts of Excavation". Artefacts of Excavation British Excavations in Egypt 1880-1980. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  7. M. L. Bierbrier (eds.), "Who was who in egyptology", 2012, 503
  8. M. L. Bierbrier (eds.), "Who was who in egyptology", 2012, 504
  9. R. Janssen, "The First Hundred Years: Egyptology at University College London, 1892–1992", 1992, 38

Sources
  • Curwen, E.C. (1936). "Excavacations in Whitehawk Camp, Brighton, Third Season, 1935". Sussex Archaeological Collections. 77: 60–92.
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