Crystal Bennett facts for kids

Crystal-Margaret Bennett (born August 20, 1918, died August 12, 1987) was a British archaeologist. She was a student of the famous archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon. Crystal-Margaret Bennett was a pioneer in exploring ancient sites in Jordan. She also started the British Institute at Amman for Archaeology and History.

Early Life and Learning

Crystal-Margaret Rawlings was born on August 20, 1918. Her parents were George and Elizabeth Rawlings. She grew up in Alderney, one of the Channel Islands. She was the third of five children.

She went to La Retraite Convent School in Bristol. Later, she studied English at Bristol University. When she was 22, she married Philip Roy Bennett. They had one son named Simon.

In 1954, Bennett went to the Institute of Archaeology in London. This institute is now part of University College London. She studied for a special diploma in Roman archaeology. She helped with digs led by Sheppard Frere. She also led two of her own digs. One was at a Roman villa near Cox Green. The other was at a Romano-British temple near her home in Bruton.

After that, she got a second diploma. This one was in Palestinian Archaeology. She studied under Kathleen Kenyon, who became her mentor.

Discovering the Edomites

After finishing her studies, Bennett joined Kathleen Kenyon's last dig at Jericho in 1957–58. She helped write a book about the site. Then, she worked with Peter Parr at Petra from 1958 to 1963. She also worked with Kenyon again in Jerusalem from 1961 to 1963.

While working at Petra, Bennett became very interested in the Edomites. The Edomites were an ancient people who lived in the area. This became the main focus of her work. She dug at an Edomite site in Petra in 1958, 1960, and 1963.

This site was on top of a very high and hard-to-reach mountain called Umm al-Biyara. All the tools and supplies had to be carried up by hand or flown in by helicopter. Bennett became known for solving these tough problems. Her work showed that the Edomites lived in the 7th century BCE, much later than people thought before.

She also dug at other Edomite sites. These included Tawilan (1968–70, 1982), near Petra. There, she found the first cuneiform tablet ever discovered in Jordan. Cuneiform is an ancient writing system. She also worked at Buseirah (1971–74, 1980) in southern Jordan. This site is believed to be the biblical Bozrah, the capital city of the Edomite kingdom. She also explored mining sites around Wadi Dana and Wadi Faynan.

See also

In Spanish: Crystal Bennett para niños