PROGRAMME 2020/2021
Until further notice all meetings will take place via Zoom.
Members will be sent a log-in link
a few days in advance of each Zoom lecture
Saturday 12th September 2020
Subject: "An Apple a Day : The Evolution of the Physician in the Ancient World"
Speaker: Julie Marshall, University of Sheffield, University of Manchester Alumni
This talk will examine how the very first practitioners of medicine emerged from their early roots as ‘medicine men’ or ‘wise woman’, and how they evolved into medical professionals, including the physician or swnw of the Egyptian period.
The importance of both natural and supernatural beliefs in ideas about the cause and cure of illness will be considered; along with the transference of ideas to the Greeks who formalised the physician’s code of conduct into ‘The Hippocratic Oath’. We will also consider what impact these beliefs and practices had on the overall health of the population of the Ancient World, and whether the fear and dislike of the profession. that is attested in literature from the period, is in any way justified.
Saturday 10th October 2020
Subject: "Egyptian Burial Goods : Made with Eternity in Mind"
Speaker: James Brenchley, Egyptian Art Researcher/Gallery Owner Nefer Ancient Art
This session will explore objects found in ancient Egyptian tombs and symbolism behind the objects found. We will discuss iconic objects such as shabti figures; amulets and jewellery; and sculpture in its many different representations. We will view photographs and original items first-hand. Objects found in ancient Egyptian tombs were crafted to last for eternity to help the deceased achieve eternal life.
We will discuss how objects found in tombs changed from the Predynastic Period; through to the Old Kingdom; all the way to the golden ages where art and architecture flourished in the New Kingdom and Later Periods.
A few objects shown were objects found in royal tombs which now belong to a Belgian private
collector and have circulated private collections for the last century.
Followed by the AGM
Saturday 14th November 2020
Subject: "The Golden Mummies"
Speaker: Dr. Campbell Price, Manchester Museum and University
In the Graeco-Roman Period (c. 300 BCE-300 CE), the elite inhabitants of Egypt combined traditional Pharaonic styles with those from the broader Mediterranean to prepare for their afterlife expectations.
This lectures reviews evidence from Flinders Petrie’s excavations at Hawara – including mummies with rich gilded decorations and painted panel ‘portraits’ - to try to understand funerary culture during Graeco-Roman times, the subject of a newly published book: Golden Mummies of Egypt: Interpreting Identities from the Graeco-Roman Period (Nomad Exhibitions/Manchester Museum).
Saturday 12th December 2020
Subject: "Kandake - The Royal Women of Meroe"
Speaker: Dr. Robert Morkot, Exeter University
One of the striking features of Meroitic society is the role of the royal women. Iin some ways it
continues and reflects the role of Egyptian royal, but it also has its own unique features. The
‘Kandake’ was reigning queen, sometimes in association with a king, but some ruled independently.
The period of the first century BC and first century AD saw the most frequent use of this title and the most prominent and best attested of these women. One of them led her army against the Roman legions, another was great builder and restorer of monuments, a third was owner of some of the most spectacular jewellery from Sudan.
Saturday 9th January 2021
Subject: "Firenze Bella, and the Great Flood of 1966: The Ruin, Rescue and Restoration of Renaissance Florence"
Speaker: Jan Diamond, EST Programme Secretary
Firenze Bella: The heart of the Italian renaissance – that explosion of intellectual and artistic genius between 1300 – 1600 A.D. that bequeathed the world new concepts of art, politics, science and economics. And probably the world's richest centre of classical learning, paintings, frescoes, sculpture, books, manuscripts, science, music and architecture.
Beautiful Florence: Yet in 1966, Italy and the world nearly lost much of the Renaissance city in the worst flood Florence has known since its first recorded flood in 1333.
One night in November 1966 the river Arno burst its banks, sending torrents of filthy water racing through the ancient heart of the city; seriously endangering its uncountable and priceless collections in churches, libraries, galleries and museums. In a few short hours, centuries of European art and a population of half a million were inundated.
Many were killed and tens of thousands made homeless; and the filthy deluge destroyed millions of irreplaceable, ancient books and manuscripts, thousands of paintings, frescoes, precious sculptures, scientific innovations and instruments, ancient musical instruments and scores, as many churches and ancient buildings were submerged beneath the foul waters.
Horrified, as it watched the disaster unfolding, the world was galvanised into immediate action. From far and wide, the great, the powerful, and the humble, in their tens of thousands poured into Florence –- to help the Florentines rescue whatever they could. Internationally, politicians, artists and the influential raised funds, and specialists gave of their time and expertise, and thousands of students and the young gave their time, working tirelessly in the filth and mud – ultimately, earning themselves that name of ‘the Mud Angels’.
Thanks to the miracle of this incredible Italian and worldwide response, the city and many of its wonders were saved; and today, Florence stands once again as one of the world’s most glorious and important cities of the Renaissance, and the world – ‘Firenze Bella' indeed!
Saturday 13th February 2021
Subject: "Living with the Dead in Ancient Egypt"
Speaker: Maiken Mosleth King, Bristol University
The ancient Egyptians had elaborate ideas about the dead and the afterlife. The dead were believed to have influence and power of the living, and the living therefore developed many different ways of attempting to communicate with the dead. This lecture will examine the practice of writing letters to the dead, interacting with images of the dead, and celebrating festivals in the honour of the dead. No prior knowledge is required.
Saturday 13th March 2021
Subject: "Hidden Abydos"
Speaker: John Billman, Chairman of TVAES, Chairman of South Asasif Conservation Trust, Egyptology Tutor for WEA, Oxford University (OUDCE)
While the impressive Seti and Ramesses temples at Abydos are publically open sites, at first glance it can be hard to understand what motivated Seti and his son to construct these temples here. In this lecture we explore the Abydos monuments that tourists don’t have the opportunity to visit, but which are fundamental to the importance of this site in antiquity. From Predynastic and Early Dynastic tombs, the Middle Kingdom tomb of Senwosret III, recently discovered tombs of the Second Intermediate Period ‘Abydos Dynasty’ to the little-known pyramid of Ahmose, we will explore and attempt to interpret these monuments.
Saturday 10th April 2021
Subject: "The Astronomical Ceiling of Esna : The Sun and the Moon"
Speaker: Dr Bernadette Brady, University of Wales Trinity Saint David
The astronomical ceiling of the Khnum Temple at Esna. Currently undergoing cleaning, this
Ptolemaic/Roman ceiling reveals the Egyptian mythology and beliefs around the lunar phases and their links to the Osiris mysteries.
Saturday 8th May 2021
Subject: "Picture This! Exploring the Conventions of Two-Dimensional Tomb Art
in Old Kingdom Egypt"
Speaker: Sarah Griffiths, Deputy Editor of "Ancient Egypt" Magazine
The painted figures and scenes in ancient Egyptian tombs look both natural and pleasing to
the eye, but on closer inspection, nothing is quite as it seems!
This illustrated presentation zooms in on the beautiful artwork in the tombs of the Old Kingdom official Kagemni and his contemporaries to pick out the conventions used in depicting three dimensional figures onto a two dimensional space. And we will discover the deeper underlying meaning and symbolism behind a style of art that remained consistent for thousands of years.
Saturday 12th June 2021
Subject: "Amelia Edwards and the History of the Egypt Exploration Society"
Speaker: Lucia Gahlin, UCL
This lecture explores one of the world’s most important Egyptological archives, and in particular,
wonderful early photographs, in order to trace the history of the Egypt Exploration Society, set up in 1882 as the Egypt Exploration Fund by the passionate Victorian writer Amelia Edwards.
In order to appreciate the role of British archaeology in Egypt, we need to appreciate the significance of the EES, its publications and archive.