PROGRAMME 2018/2019
Saturday 8th September 2018
Subject: "Sacred Animal Necropolis and the Landscape of Saqqara"
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Speaker: Prof. Paul Nicholson
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This talk will look at the work carried out, first by Professor W.B. Emery and subsequently by
Professor H.S. Smith and the P.T. Nicholson at Saqqara’s Sacred Animal Necropolis. It focuses
mainly on the Ibis and Falcon Catacombs which make up an important part of the site. The position of the cults in the landscape and they way they may have operated will be discussed.
Saturday 13th October 2018
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Subject: "Abu Simbel : Exploring and Understanding the Temples"
Speaker: Dr Robert Morkot
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The Temples of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel were relocated during the UNESCO campaign of the 1960s: they are amongst the most famous archaeological sites in the world – but what do we really know about them and what they actually mean? Why were they carved into a hill in Nubia, rather in Egypt itself? This talk explores the rediscovery of the site by Europeans, and its rise to iconic status, but also examines what the temples actually tell us about their ancient purpose.
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Preceded by the AGM
Saturday 10th November 2018
Subject: "Searching for the Lost Tombs of Egypt" - Taunton Literary Festival
Speaker: Dr Chris Naunton
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Egypt has provided the world with some of the most sensational archaeological discoveries, from Tutankhamun, to the ‘Royal Cache’ the secret reburial of the mummies of pharaohs like Ramesses the Great. You might think that there couldn’t possibly be any more discoveries like this, that archaeologists have surely found everything there is to find? This is not the case. Large areas of even the most famous archaeological sites like the Valley of Kings, Saqqara and Alexandria remain unexplored and the tombs of such ancient celebrities as Imhotep, Nefertiti, Cleopatra and Alexander the Great, have yet to be found.
Tickets only - This lecture is jointly hosted by EST and the Taunton Literary Festival:
Venue: The Castle School, Wellington Rd, Taunton TA1 5AU
Saturday 8th December 2018
Subject: "Recent Work of the Amarna Project at Amarna"
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Speaker: Prof Barry Kemp
In recent years, the Amarna Project has carried out excavations on two different parts of the site. One of them is at a cemetery (the North Tombs Cemetery) which lies behind rock tombs nos. 1 and 2. The skeletons are primarily of people (female and male) who died before reaching the age of 25 and after a life of poor diet and heavy labour. They were buried with very few objects and sometimes in groups. Were they child labourers perhaps working in the quarries?
The second excavation is on the remains of the Great Aten Temple, first cleared in 1932 by the Egypt Exploration Society. One aim is to make a fresh and more detailed plan. Another is to mark the outlines of the main building in new stone blocks. But as the excavation proceeds, new evidence is emerging for how the open ground around the temple was used. These reports will be preceded by a short introduction to Amarna and the Amarna Period.
Tickets only - For further information see Committee contact details
Christmas Lecture and Society Party
Saturday 12th January 2019
Proposed members' lunch - venue to be arranged
Saturday 9th February 2019
Subject: "The Serapeum"
Speaker: Dr Aidan Dodson, Bristol University, Chairman of ESB
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The Apis bull, sacred to the god Ptah, first appears during the Early Dynastic Period, but it is not until the reign of Amenhotep III that evidence of its burial is found. From then until the end of the Ptolemaic Period an almost unbroken sequence of bulls were interred at Saqqara, in what came to be known as the Serapeum. This afternoon we will trace the history of these bulls and their tombs over 1,300 years.
Saturday 9th March 2019
Subject: "Egyptian Visitors' Graffiti"
Speaker: Dr Hana Navrátilová, University of Reading
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Ancient Egyptians give the impression to have been as keen to visit their own monuments as their modern followers from all over the world. In part, they also had similar reason as later generations of travellers and tourists - to admire the ancient temple or pyramid, to show their knowledge, and to leave a mark - a graffito. Egyptian visitors’ graffiti come from 15 th to 11 th century BC and show ancient Egyptians visiting temples and tombs, identifying past kings as pyramid and temple builders, but also enjoying themselves on a trip. The graffiti have been likened to social media - as traces of individual lives and personalities. Yet, the story of Egyptian graffiti writers is even more intriguing. The graffiti are signs of human presence but they tell about both the ancient individual, and culture and society.
The agenda of graffiti writers covers their political concerns, piety, as well as professional interests.
Please note - the lecture takes place at The Devon Archaeological Society, Berkeley House, Dix's Field, Exeter
Saturday 13th April 2019
Subject: "Ancient Egypt: A History in 12 Objects"
Speaker: Jan Diamond
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Through the years of studying the culture of ancient Egypt I have encountered many fabulous
artefacts which I found so interesting and which ultimately inspired me to write this presentation. There were so many fascinating pieces to choose from, but I have selected a series of items taken from across the main periods of ancient Egypt; beginning with predynastic times (c. 4400 BC) and finishing with the Ptolemies (323–30 BC) in the dying days of the Egyptian Empire some 4000 years later.
With my selection I endevoured to choose items with differing purposes, artistic styles, materials and periods, and from different museum collections around the world – each item with its own interesting story to tell.
Saturday 11th May 2019
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Subject: "The 'Beautiful Moment' Creation Mythology of Ancient Egypt"
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Speaker: Lucia Gahlin
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Several explanations as to how the universe came into being survive from ancient Egypt associated with different important cult centres, but sharing common ground. Lucia will compare and contrast these carefully constructed metaphors, hoping to find a window into the ancient Egyptian mind.
Saturday 8th June 2019
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Subject: "The Royal Cache"
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Speaker: Dylan Bickerstaffe
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Before Howard Carter opened the tomb of Tutankhamun (in 1922), probably the most astonishing discovery in Egyptology was that of a hidden tomb containing the mummies of some of the most famous pharaohs to have reigned in Egypt's glorious New Kingdom era. However, the official reports were so poor that the find almost immediately entered the realm of folk lore and myth; which is particularly frustrating since the mummies themselves reveal a strange and confusing history.
Dylan was fortunate enough to have been there when the tomb was reopened for proper scientific examination (between 1998 and 2005), and some of the questions began to be answered. We will also learn about the second cache of royal mummies discovered in 1898.