Margaret Alice Murray was a British scholar born in India who became a prominent Egyptologist and archaeologist. She was the first woman appointed as an archaeology lecturer in the UK, holding a position at University College London for many years. Her early career involved significant excavations in Egypt, including the discovery of the Osireion temple, which established her reputation. Murray also engaged with the feminist movement and, during World War I, shifted her research focus to the history of witchcraft.

Her work on the witch-cult hypothesis, suggesting a surviving pagan religion connected to a Horned God, gained considerable public attention and influenced the nascent Wicca movement. Although this theory was later academically discredited, Murray's contributions to Egyptology were widely recognized during her lifetime, earning her the nickname "The Grand Old Woman of Egyptology." In her later years, she continued to lecture and publish, also serving as president of the Folklore Society. Despite the academic rejection of her witchcraft theories, her impact on modern paganism led to her being called the "Grandmother of Wicca."

Born in Calcutta, British India, in 1863, Margaret Alice Murray spent her youth in India, Britain, and Germany. She received training as a nurse and social worker before pursuing Egyptology at University College London (UCL) in 1894. There, she developed a close working relationship with Sir Flinders Petrie, the head of the Egyptology department. Petrie encouraged her academic pursuits, leading to her first publications and her appointment as a junior lecturer in 1898, making her the first woman to hold such a position in archaeology in the UK. She also contributed significantly to the OED through volunteer work collecting word entries.

Murray participated in significant archaeological excavations in Egypt, notably with Flinders Petrie at Abydos in 1902–1903, where she discovered the Osireion temple. She also investigated the Saqqara cemetery. To supplement her income, she gave public lectures and classes, including at the British Museum. A notable event in 1908 was her public unwrapping of Khnum-nakht, a mummy from the Tomb of Two Brothers, a first for a woman. Her accessible writings on Ancient Egypt aimed at a general audience reflected and fueled the public's fascination with the subject.

Unable to travel to Egypt due to World War I, Murray turned her scholarly attention to the history of witchcraft. She developed the controversial witch-cult hypothesis, proposing that the witch trials of Early Modern Europe were an attempt to eradicate a surviving pre-Christian, pagan religion centered on a Horned God. While this theory became influential, particularly within the emerging Wicca movement, it was later academically discredited due to methodological criticisms. Murray also conducted excavations on Malta and Menorca and continued her academic career at UCL, retiring in 1935. She remained active in scholarly circles, lecturing widely and leading excavations in Palestine and Jordan, and served as president of the Folklore Society.