Elizabeth Thomas (Egyptologist)
| Elizabeth Thomas | |
|---|---|
| Born |
March 29, 1907 Memphis, Tennessee |
| Died | November 28, 1986 (aged 79) Jackson, Mississippi |
| Education | B.A. University of Mississippi (1937), M.A. University of Chicago (1948) |
| Alma mater | University of Mississippi University of Chicago |
| Occupation | Egyptologist |
| Known for | Egyptologist |
Elizabeth Mary Thomas (March 29, 1907 – November 28, 1986) was an American Egyptologist.
She worked in the Theban Necropolis, near Luxor, recording and publishing tomb plans in the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens.
Thomas was born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1907 to John Albert T. Thomas and Ruth Archer Thomas. She and her two older brothers, James and Wilmer, grew up in Granada, Mississippi. Thomas began studying at Granada College in 1924, transferring to Hollins College the next year. She took a break from studying for close to ten years, only to resume her studies at Granada College. She later transferred again and attended the University of Mississippi, where she received a B.A. in 1937. She first traveled to Egypt in 1935, spending a vast majority of time at the tombs in the Valleys of the Kings and Queens. Upon returning from the trip, Thomas began to study Egyptology at the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago in 1938. Here she studied a variety of subjects, including the Hebrew language, as well as ancient Egyptian language and culture.
Her studies as a graduate student were derailed by World War II; between 1942 and 1946 she served in the Army Signal Corps, working as a cryptographer. She resumed graduate work in 1948, and formulated a thesis on the cosmology of the Pyramid Texts. Thomas received her M.A. that year. She returned to Egypt for several field seasons between 1948 and 1960, concentrating on royal tombs.
Thomas made her first visit to Egypt within a year of her graduation with Thomas Cook & Sons, a tourism company, to ensure safety. However, when she found out that the tour didn't always include the sites she wanted to explore or allow enough time to study its monuments in details, she hired transportation and guides as her only companions to venture off and study in the desert. From February to early March 1938, she traveled around Luxor where she spent most of her time to visit and study the tombs in the Valleys of the Kings and Queens. Thomas met Egyptologist Charles F. Nims and his wife Myrtle Nim, while visiting the Chicago House, the Luxor field headquarters of the Epigraphic Survey of the University of Chicago.
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