Knowra Kathleen Kenyon Kathleen Kenyon Kathleen Kenyon (1906–1978) was a British archaeologist whose excavations at Jericho established a detailed sequence of occupation and helped refine stratigraphic excavation in the Near East.
Jericho : An ancient settlement near the Jordan River, occupied from the Epipalaeolithic onward and famous for its early walls and tower. Kenyon’s excavations revealed a long occupation sequence beneath the mound of Tell es-Sultan.
Mortimer Wheeler : A British archaeologist known for systematic excavation, public outreach, and directing major excavations in Britain and India. Wheeler trained Kenyon in excavation methods and influenced her use of baulks.
John Garstang : A British archaeologist who excavated Jericho before Kenyon and proposed an early date for its fortified destruction. Kenyon re-examined Garstang’s excavation evidence and rejected his chronology for the city’s destruction.
Biblical archaeology : The study of archaeological evidence relating to the peoples, places, and periods described in the Bible. Kenyon’s dating of Jericho became a prominent test of biblical historical claims.
Stratigraphy : The study of layered deposits and their relative sequence, used to reconstruct the order of past events. Kenyon used layered deposits to date Jericho’s remains relative to one another.
Verulamium : A Roman town near modern St Albans in England, excavated extensively by Mortimer and Tessa Wheeler. Kenyon worked on the Wheeler excavations there early in her career.
G. Ernest Wright : An American biblical archaeologist who directed excavations at Shechem and helped shape the field’s postwar scholarship. Wright’s biblical chronology differed from Kenyon’s archaeological dating of Jericho.
Tell el-Dab'a : An archaeological site in Egypt’s eastern Nile Delta, identified with the Hyksos capital Avaris. Its chronology, like Jericho’s, relies on correlating stratigraphy with external dating evidence.
Wheeler–Kenyon method : An excavation strategy combining deep, narrow trenches with baulks that preserve vertical sections through archaeological deposits. Kenyon adapted this approach to expose and record stratigraphic sequences at Jericho.
Samaria : An ancient city in the central hill country of Palestine, excavated by a joint expedition in the early twentieth century. Kenyon joined the 1931–1933 excavations, gaining experience in Near Eastern fieldwork.
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