Artefacts of Excavation

The Lawrence Room, named in memory of Amy Lawrence, contains a collection of Egyptian, Classical and Anglo-Saxon objects for teaching and research. Margaret Murray catalogued and organised the display of the objects in the 1930s. 

Hermione Grammatike, a Roman portrait mummy from the BSAE excavations at Hawara, is a centrepiece of the collection. The Greek inscription-either marking the woman as literate or perhaps even a language teacher-provided the impetus for the Petries to find the object a place at a woman's college. Girton College raised a sum of £20 for the excavations. The online catalogue shows that a major benefactor for the Egyptian collection was Gwendolen Crewdson who bought objects from the sale hall in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, and at other places but kept meticulous records.