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Elise Jenny Baumgartel

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373:, but Petrie had only published information on 136 of the 2200 graves he excavated. Petrie's assistant Margaret Murray told Baumgartel that his original notebooks, containing the documentation on the rest of the tombs, had been destroyed. Nevertheless, Baumgartel set out to revise the chronology by re-examining objects from the Naqada tombs in museums around the world – a task that would take thirty years. When a number of Petrie's notebooks were found in a box under a telephone at UCL, Baumgartel prepared them for publication along with her now extensive catalogue of Naqada artefacts in collections. Unfortunately, it was not until after her death that the remainder of the notebooks were rediscovered; they were not destroyed after all. 341:. When the Petrie collection became available again after the war, she added a second volume and revised the first. In this landmark monograph, Baumgartel maintained her conviction that the prehistory of Egypt must be understood in the context of the regional archaeology, not through the "backwards-projection" of later texts. In particular, she challenged her teacher Kurt Sethe's thesis that Egyptian civilization originated in the 387:. However, by now her work was being heavily criticised for its reliance on now outdated diffusionist ideas, as well as her staunch insistence that Lower Egypt was a "cultural backwater" in the predynastic period, despite mounting evidence to the contrary in the form of new discoveries and the new technique of radiocarbon dating. The third edition was therefore never published. 352:
Upon the completion of her two volume study, Baumgartel relocated to the United States, helping her family to set up a confectionary factory. Together with compensation from the German government for property lost during the war, this made her financially secure for the rest of her life.
234:. She contended that the key to understanding Egypt's neglected prehistoric period was to put it in its wider regional context. To that end, her thesis analysed funerary traditions in Neolithic North Africa, arguing that North African 289:
seized power in Germany in 1933, Baumgartel (who was Jewish) lost her state funding. She was forced to flee to England the following year. For a number of years her family (three children from an earlier marriage to art historian
314:, which was uncatalogued and poorly labelled. Glanville therefore enthusiastically accepted Baumgartel's offer, and arranged for her work to be supported by the Petrie collection's patron 620: 321:
After organising and indexing the Petrie collection, Baumgartel intended to publish a full catalogue of the material. However, this work was interrupted by the outbreak of the
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to work on the lithic chronology of the southern Mediterranean. During this time she participated in excavations, including at Wadi Sheik in Egypt and
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In 1964 Baumgartel returned to Oxford to work on cataloguing its lithic collection. Whilst there she worked on a chapter on predynastic Egypt for the
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arranged a grant for her to compile a bibliography of prehistoric Italy and Malta, and she also taught evening classes on the Egyptian language for
615: 294:) was dependent on refugee charities. The archaeological and Egyptological communities in England rallied to obtain monetary support for her work: 595: 600: 585: 261:
in the city's museums. After receiving her doctorate in 1927, she therefore obtained a scholarship to study under the noted French lithicist
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and joined a large community of refugee scholars. She modified her plans and, supported by a grant from the
310:). The department had recently obtained the substantial personal collection of Glanville's predecessor, 231: 93: 365:
of predynastic Egypt (the only means of dating prehistoric archaeological remains before the advent of
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with the intention to study medicine, but became interested in Egyptology, which she studied under
137: 402:, Vol.1 London, Oxford University Press, 1947; 2. Vol. 2 London, Oxford University Press, 1960. 254:, who argued that almost all elements of human culture originated in Egypt and spread outwards. 185: 376:
Baumgartel worked as Head of the Egyptology Department at Manchester Museum from 1948-1950.
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in 1939, when the collections had to be moved to storage. Baumgartel herself relocated to
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Baumgartel had spent much of her time in Berlin cataloguing the extensive collections of
223: 536: 528: 366: 337:, began working on a comprehensive overview of predynastic Egypt, published in 1947 as 334: 211: 540: 303: 243: 199: 168: 520: 163: 362: 330: 311: 524: 370: 302:(UCL). This however did not occupy much of her time, so in 1936 she approached 74: 554: 210:
Elise Jenny Goldschmidt was born in Berlin on 5 October 1892, her father was
52: 322: 262: 191: 346: 315: 227: 219: 369:) contained significant errors. The chronology was based largely on the 532: 342: 295: 286: 274: 258: 195: 132: 345:, instead stressing, based on archaeological evidence, the primacy of 361:
In the course of her study Baumgartel became convinced that Petrie's
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Donohue, V. A. (1977). "A Bibliography of Elise Jenny Baumgartel".
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in Paris. For the next six years she was sponsored by the
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Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom
190:, 5 October 1892 – 28 October 1975) was a German 552: 446:Breaking Ground: Pioneering Women Archaeologists 280: 16:German Egyptologist and prehistorian (1892–1975) 390:Baumgartel died in Oxford on 28 October 1975. 198:who pioneered the study of the archaeology of 153:Tunis (Algier und Nachbargebeite) Neolithikum 606:People associated with the Ashmolean Museum 267:Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft 273:in Italy, and visited ancient and modern 616:German expatriates in the United States 510: 238:were the forerunners of early Egyptian 596:Academics of University College London 553: 357:Later career and the Naqada chronology 318:, and later by the department itself. 601:Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford 339:The Cultures of Prehistoric Egypt (I) 184: 586:Humboldt University of Berlin alumni 439:"Elise Jenny Baumgartel (1892–1975)" 436: 432: 430: 428: 426: 424: 422: 420: 418: 416: 513:The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 13: 458: 383:as well as a third edition of her 14: 642: 487:"Refugees Scholars at Somerville" 413: 400:The Cultures of Prehistoric Egypt 246:. This challenged the prevailing 591:University of Königsberg alumni 230:in her doctoral studies at the 205: 504: 479: 452: 1: 611:German expatriates in England 406: 385:Cultures of Prehistoric Egypt 281:Work on the Petrie collection 7: 576:German women archaeologists 491:Somerville College Archives 10: 647: 581:Archaeologists from Berlin 525:10.1177/030751337706300106 329:, where she was hosted by 327:Somerville College, Oxford 631:20th-century German women 381:Cambridge Ancient History 300:University College London 174: 162: 146: 125: 118: 110: 102: 81: 59: 30: 23: 467:. Jewish Virtual Library 393: 232:University of Königsberg 94:University of Königsberg 626:German women historians 138:Prehistoric archaeology 35:Elise Jenny Goldschmidt 214:. She enrolled at the 181:Elise Jenny Baumgartel 25:Elise Jenny Baumgartel 465:Encyclopaedia Judaica 461:"Elise J. Baumgartel" 242:, and ultimately the 571:German Egyptologists 331:Dame Lucy Sutherland 252:Grafton Elliot Smith 216:University of Berlin 89:University of Berlin 448:. Brown University. 312:Sir Flinders Petrie 224:Kurt Heinrich Sethe 459:Kahane, Penuel P. 367:radiocarbon dating 335:Griffith Institute 248:hyper-diffusionist 212:Rudolf Goldschmidt 437:Friedman, Renee. 304:Stephen Glanville 296:Sir John L. Myres 292:Hubert Baumgartel 200:predynastic Egypt 188: Goldschmidt 178: 177: 169:Walter Wreszinski 120:Scientific career 106:Hubert Baumgartel 638: 545: 544: 508: 502: 501: 499: 497: 483: 477: 476: 474: 472: 456: 450: 449: 443: 434: 323:Second World War 259:lithic artefacts 189: 164:Doctoral advisor 158: 66: 44: 42: 21: 20: 646: 645: 641: 640: 639: 637: 636: 635: 551: 550: 549: 548: 509: 505: 495: 493: 485: 484: 480: 470: 468: 457: 453: 441: 435: 414: 409: 396: 363:sequence dating 359: 316:Sir Robert Mond 283: 277:across Europe. 208: 156: 142: 98: 82:Alma mater 77: 68: 64: 63:28 October 1975 55: 46: 40: 38: 37: 36: 26: 17: 12: 11: 5: 644: 634: 633: 628: 623: 618: 613: 608: 603: 598: 593: 588: 583: 578: 573: 568: 563: 547: 546: 503: 478: 451: 411: 410: 408: 405: 404: 403: 395: 392: 358: 355: 282: 279: 207: 204: 176: 175: 172: 171: 166: 160: 159: 150: 144: 143: 141: 140: 135: 129: 127: 123: 122: 116: 115: 112: 108: 107: 104: 100: 99: 97: 96: 91: 85: 83: 79: 78: 75:United Kingdom 69: 67:(aged 83) 61: 57: 56: 47: 45:5 October 1892 34: 32: 28: 27: 24: 15: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 643: 632: 629: 627: 624: 622: 619: 617: 614: 612: 609: 607: 604: 602: 599: 597: 594: 592: 589: 587: 584: 582: 579: 577: 574: 572: 569: 567: 564: 562: 559: 558: 556: 542: 538: 534: 530: 526: 522: 518: 514: 507: 492: 488: 482: 466: 462: 455: 447: 440: 433: 431: 429: 427: 425: 423: 421: 419: 417: 412: 401: 398: 397: 391: 388: 386: 382: 377: 374: 372: 368: 364: 354: 350: 348: 344: 340: 336: 332: 328: 324: 319: 317: 313: 309: 308:Petrie Museum 305: 301: 297: 293: 288: 278: 276: 272: 271:Monte Gargano 268: 264: 260: 255: 253: 249: 245: 241: 237: 236:dolmen graves 233: 229: 225: 221: 217: 213: 203: 201: 197: 193: 187: 182: 173: 170: 167: 165: 161: 154: 151: 149: 145: 139: 136: 134: 131: 130: 128: 124: 121: 117: 113: 109: 105: 101: 95: 92: 90: 87: 86: 84: 80: 76: 72: 62: 58: 54: 53:German Empire 50: 33: 29: 22: 19: 516: 512: 506: 494:. Retrieved 490: 481: 469:. Retrieved 464: 454: 445: 399: 389: 384: 380: 378: 375: 371:Naqada tombs 360: 351: 338: 320: 284: 263:Henri Breuil 256: 209: 206:Early career 196:prehistorian 192:Egyptologist 180: 179: 152: 119: 65:(1975-10-28) 18: 566:1975 deaths 561:1892 births 496:31 December 471:31 December 347:Upper Egypt 275:flint mines 228:archaeology 220:Adolf Erman 555:Categories 407:References 343:Nile Delta 287:Nazi Party 133:Egyptology 41:1892-10-05 541:192250460 519:: 48–51. 285:When the 250:views of 244:pyramids 240:mastabas 111:Children 533:3856298 539:  531:  157:(1927) 155:  148:Thesis 126:Fields 103:Spouse 71:Oxford 49:Berlin 537:S2CID 529:JSTOR 442:(PDF) 394:Works 498:2016 473:2016 222:and 194:and 60:Died 31:Born 521:doi 186:née 557:: 535:. 527:. 517:63 515:. 489:. 463:. 444:. 415:^ 349:. 202:. 73:, 51:, 543:. 523:: 500:. 475:. 183:( 114:3 43:) 39:(

Index

Berlin
German Empire
Oxford
United Kingdom
University of Berlin
University of Königsberg
Egyptology
Prehistoric archaeology
Thesis
Doctoral advisor
Walter Wreszinski
née
Egyptologist
prehistorian
predynastic Egypt
Rudolf Goldschmidt
University of Berlin
Adolf Erman
Kurt Heinrich Sethe
archaeology
University of Königsberg
dolmen graves
mastabas
pyramids
hyper-diffusionist
Grafton Elliot Smith
lithic artefacts
Henri Breuil
Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft
Monte Gargano

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