Judith Sheila McKenzie (28 November 1957 – 27 May 2019) was an Australian

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

whose work primarily focused on the architecture of the ancient

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

. At the time of her death, McKenzie was Associate Professor of Late Antique Egypt and the Holy Land at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

and Director of the

Manar al-Athar Manar al-Athar is a photo archive based at the Faculty of Classics at the University of Oxford which aims to provide high-quality open-access images of archaeological sites and buildings. The archive's collection focuses on areas of the Roman Em ...

project, an open-access image archive of the Middle East. McKenzie was known in particular for her work on the architecture of

Petra Petra ( ar, ٱلْبَتْرَاء, Al-Batrāʾ; grc, Πέτρα, "Rock", Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: ), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō, is an historic and archaeological city in southern Jordan. It is adjacent to t ...

and

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

, having published lengthy monographs on each.

Education

McKenzie earnt her

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

; during her BA McKenzie studied Archaeology as well as Chemistry, English and Ancient History. She received her doctorate from the University of Sydney in 1985. During her PhD, McKenzie spent extended periods living in a cave in

Petra, Jordan Petra ( ar, ٱلْبَتْرَاء, Al-Batrāʾ; grc, Πέτρα, "Rock", Nabataean: ), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō, is an historic and archaeological city in southern Jordan. It is adjacent to the mountain of Jab ...

. After some revisions, McKenzie's thesis was published by Oxford University Press in 1990 as ''The Architecture of Petra.'' It was reprinted in 1995 and 2005.

Career

After completing her graduate studies, McKenzie took up residence in Oxford, becoming the Rhys-Davids Junior Research Fellow in 1987. She held this position until 1990, when she became a

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...

Post-doctoral Research Fellow. She was a Queen Elizabeth Fellow at the

and a Fellow in Historical Studies at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

for the 2003-2004 academic year. From 2003, McKenzie directed the

Khirbet et-Tannur Khirbet et-Tannur (Arabic: خربة التنور) is an ancient Nabataean temple situated on top of Jebel Tannur, in today's Jordan. Based on the cults statues iconography, whether the temple was dedicated to the fertility goddess Atargatis and Z ...

Nabataean Temple Project. In 2016, she received a

European Research Council The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...

Advanced Grant for the project ''Monumental Art of the Christian and Early Islamic East: Cultural Identities and Classical Heritage.'' McKenzie founded the Manar Al-Athar project in 2012 and was its director until her death. McKenzie's 2007 book ''The Architecture Of Alexandria And Egypt'' was awarded the James R. Wiseman book award by the

Archaeological Institute of America The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is North America's oldest society and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. AIA professionals have carried out archaeological fieldwork around the world and AIA has established re ...

in 2010, which described the monograph as a "a monumental accomplishment". McKenzie's work had been instrumental in understanding how ancient architecture influences later buildings, particularly the influence of the

Pharos The Lighthouse of Alexandria, sometimes called the Pharos of Alexandria (; Ancient Greek: ὁ Φάρος τῆς Ἀλεξανδρείας, contemporary Koine ), was a lighthouse built by the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, during the re ...

, the lighthouse of Alexandria. McKenzie worked on the

Garima Gospels The Garima Gospels are two ancient Ethiopic Gospel Books. Garima 2, the earlier of the two, is believed to be the earliest surviving complete illuminated Christian manuscript. Monastic tradition holds that they were composed close to the year 500 ...

, publishing a volume on them with Francis Watson in 2016. The book is the first to reproduce all the illuminated pages in colour. McKenzie also curated an exhibition on the gospels, ''The Hidden Gospels of Abba Garima, Treasures of the Ethiopian Highland,'' at the Ioannou Centre, Oxford in 2017. McKenzie died on 27 May 2019 at the age of 61.

Selected publications

Books

*1990''. The Architecture of Petra.'' Oxford University Press. *2007''. The Architecture of Alexandria and Egypt, 300 B.C.–A.D. 700.'' Pelican History of Art, Yale University Press. *2013. J. McKenzie, J. Greene, A.T. Reyes, et al.'','' ''The Nabataean Temple at Khirbet et-Tannur, Jordan, Volume 1. Architecture and Religion,'' Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research 67. *2013. J. McKenzie, J. Greene, A.T. Reyes, et al.'','' ''The Nabataean Temple at Khirbet et-Tannur, Jordan, Volume 2. Cultic Offerings, Vessels, and Other Specialist Reports,'' Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research 68. *2016. Judith S. McKenzie and Francis Watson ''The Garima Gospels: Early Illuminated Gospel Books from Ethiopia'' (University of Exeter Press)

Journal articles

*2001. J McKenzi
Keys from Egypt and the East: Observations on Nabataean Culture in the Light of Recent Discoveries
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research No. 324, Nabataean Petra (Nov., 2001): 97–112. *2004. J. McKenzie, S. Gibson and A.T. Reyes. Reconstructing the Serapeum in Alexandria from the Archaeological Evidence. ''

Journal of Roman Studies The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies (The Roman Society) was founded in 1910 as the sister society to the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies. The Society is the leading organisation in the United Kingdom for those intereste ...

'' 94: 73–114. *2009. The Serapeum of Alexandria: its Destruction and Reconstruction. ''

Journal of Roman Archaeology The ''Journal of Roman Archaeology'' (JRA) is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering the archaeology of the Roman empire. It was established in 1988 and the publisher and editor-in-chief is J.H. Humphrey. The journal was originally published ...

'' 22: 772–782. *2013. J. McKenzie and A.T. Reyes. The Alexandrian Tychaion, a Pantheon? ''

'' 26: 36–52. *2014. J. McKenzie and S Norodom
From Basel to Alexandria via Sydney
Mediterranean Archaeology Vol. 27 (2014): 15–29. *2016. J. McKenzie, F. Watson, et al., ''The Garima Gospels: Early Illuminated Manuscripts from Ethiopia.'' Oxford''.''

External links

the open-access image project established by McKenzie in 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKenzie, Judith 1957 births 2019 deaths Fellows of St Hugh's College, Oxford University of Sydney alumni Institute for Advanced Study faculty Alumni of the University of Oxford Women classical scholars Australian emigrants to the United Kingdom Australian archaeologists