Crystal Bennett

Crystal-Margaret Bennett (20 August 1918 – 12 August 1987) was a British archaeologist. A student of Kathleen Kenyon, Bennett was a pioneer of archaeological research in Jordan and founded the British Institute at Amman for Archaeology and History.

Early life and education Crystal-Margaret Rawlings was born to George Rawlings, a soldier, and Elizabeth Rawlings (née Jennings) of Alderney, one of the Channel Islands, on 20 August 1918. She was the third of five children. She attended La Retraite Convent School in Bristol and then Bristol University, where she studied English. At the age of 22 she married draughtsman Philip Roy Bennett (1907–1986), converting from Roman Catholicism to the Church of England. The marriage lasted six years; the couple separated in 1946, a year after the birth of their only child Simon Bennett. She then took a second postgraduate diploma in Palestinian Archaeology, which she studied under Kathleen Kenyon. the site was located atop one of Petra's most inaccessible peaks, Umm al-Biyara, and all supplies had to be carried up to the summit by hand or else airlifted in by helicopter. She jointly served as director of the BSAJ and the BIAAH for the next two years, before stepping down as director of the BSAJ in 1980. She continued to serve as director of the BIAAH until she retired in 1983 to Cyprus.

Bennett died of liver disease on 12 August 1987 at her home, Tolbury House, in Bruton, Somerset, England. She is buried in the village.

Selected works