Saturday 13th September 2025
Subject: Omm Sety’s Egypt: Dreaming of Abydos
Speaker: Dr Maiken Mosleth King
This lecture explores the life of Omm Sety, born Dorothy Eady in London in 1904. After marrying an Egyptian man and migrating to Egypt in her late twenties, she struggled to find contentment as a wife and mother in a conservative Muslim family. After leaving her husband, she supported herself for many years working as a draughtswoman at various excavations in the Cairo area, before finally settling down in a modest hut in the shadow of the great Osiris temple at Abydos. Here, she dreamt up an extraordinary tale of her past life as priestess in ancient Egypt, which was tragically cut short as the result of an ill-fated love affair with Pharaoh Sety I. In this lecture, I will analyse Omm Sety’s story and why the idea of a past life lived in ancient Egypt continues to enchant us.
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Saturday 11th October 2025
Subject: Two Burials for One Person
Speaker: Dr Wolfram Grajetzki
In Ancient Egypt there was the well attested custom that one person could have two burials. This is best known for the kings. Already king Djoser, had two monumental burial appartements in his
pyramid complex at Saqqara, the burial under the main pyramid and his ‘South Tomb’. The custom of two burials is still well attested in the Middle Kingdom. Kings, some queens, some king’s daughters and even a few high officials had two burials. Some of these ‘fake’ burials were even well equipped with burial goods. The presentation will discuss some of these double burials and will try to provide an explanation.
To be preceded by the AGM
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Saturday 15th November 2025
Subject: Napoleon’s 1798 Egyptian and Syrian Campaign : Personal Defeat but World Changing Discoveries : Napoleon came, he saw, he did not conquer!
Speaker: Jan Diamond
He suffered defeat after defeat, he saw his army decimated - by death and disease, both in Syria and Egypt. His troops stranded - without informing his army, Bonaparte left Egypt - never to return. He abandoned his Generals and men, to face the ultimate humiliation of being defeated by the British, thus signalling forever, the end of Napoleonic and French ambitions in the Middle East. Yet on returning to France, on his arrival, he was lauded - despite his disastrous campaign. The teams of artists and academics who accompanied expeditions –‘The Savants’, ultimately brought to the world great artefacts and knowledge that changed the world's understanding of ancient Egypt forever. Many of the artefacts stand out as being some of the most important and significant finds ever to come out of Egypt - and what many regard as heralding the beginning of the science of Egyptology!
© Paul Nicholson
Saturday 13th December 2025
Subject: Living amongst the Dead : Life at the Ancient Memphite
Necropolis of Saqqara during the Late Period/Early Ptolemaic era
Speaker: Dr Scott Williams
The Memphite Necropolis of Saqqara is situated approximately 20km south of modern Cairo on a plateau at the edge of the western desert and was in use as a funerary site for a period of nearly three and a half millennium. Today, the site is popular with visitors and archaeologists alike, but its ruinous condition and a proscribed visitor experience does little to offer an understanding of the necropolis and how it was inhabited during the ancient past. This presentation examines the documentary and excavation research on the Memphite necropolis of Saqqara during the Late Period/Early Ptolemaic era and considers its inhabitants, their routes of movement and where they may have lived and worked.
Saturday 10th January 2026
Members' Annual Lunch – Venue – The Ring of Bells - Details to be confirmed nearer the date
Saturday 14th February 2026
Subject: The Libyan Pharaohs
Speaker: Prof Aidan Dodson
During the tenth through seventh centuries BC, Egypt was ruled by a series of pharaohs of Libyan ancestry. The Libyans had hitherto been enemies of the Egyptians, with conflicts going back into the third millennium BC. Yet early in the tenth century BC the first of a long series of pharaohs of Libyan descent ascended the Egyptian throne.
Although the earlier Libyan pharaohs seem to have maintained the tradition of a unitary Egyptian state, as time went by Libyan ideas of decentralised control became more prevalent. As a result, we find individuals holding both Libyan and Egyptian titles controlling distinct territories around Egypt, some of whom assumed the names and titles of a pharaoh. Conflict sometimes accompanied this process, with a long civil war fought for the control of southern Egypt and the great religious capital of Thebes. Some degree of central control was imposed with the advent of a further set of rulers from Nubia during the eighth century, but a single Egyptian state would not be restored until the middle of the seventh century.
We will explore some of the strands of history of this often-ignored era of Egyptian history, including the way in which the protagonists were rediscovered by modern historians and archaeologists.
Saturday 14th March 2026
Subject: The history of the Griffiths Institute, Oxford
Speaker: Miss Jennifer Turner
The Griffith Institute was established in 1939 and named after Francis Llewellyn Griffith (the first
Professor of Egyptology at the University of Oxford). Since his initial estate was bequeathed to create a permanent place for the study of ancient Egypt and the Near East, the Griffith Institute has now expanded to incorporate over 175 different collections today. Archive materials range from complete excavation records to photographs, correspondence, research materials and watercolours. For this lecture we will present highlights from the archive, including the work of notable figures and share some of our most famous holdings including the original records for the excavation of the tomb of Tutankhamun.
Saturday 11th April 2026
Subject: The God’s Wife: married to the divine, Egypt’s most powerful women
Speaker: Dr Chris Naunton
The role of God’s Wife of Amun appeared at the beginning of the New Kingdom and was held by some of the most prominent and important women in Egyptian history. As the wife of Amun himself, the woman who held this title was an intermediary between humankind and the gods, a role otherwise only undertaken by the king. In additional to their spiritual importance, the God’s Wives were also economically and politically important, and their appearance and disappearance at various points in history was undoubtedly related to the politics of the time. This talk reviews the evidence for these most important women and what we can learn of the often very interesting times in which they lived.
Saturday 9th May 2026
Proposed Group Outing to Kingston Lacy and Tutankhamun display in Dorchester
Further details to be included on our website at a later date.
Saturday 13th June 2026
Subject: Highlights of the main galleries of the Grand Egyptian Museum
Speaker: Lucia Gahlin
We have waited many years, but at last the Grand Egyptian Museum, in the shadow of the Great Pyramid at Giza, has opened its doors to visitors. This fabulous new museum is the largest archaeological museum in the world. Lucia will take us on a tour of her highlights of its main galleries, chronologically arranged from the Predynastic Period through to Graeco-Roman Period.
NB: All meetings will be held at our new venue at: St James Church, St James Street, Taunton TA1 1JS
Due to copyright and to protect the intellectual property rights of the presenter and privacy of attendees, the Society is unable to record and publish the presentations, or to allow others to do so. To remain within The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as updated on 1 February 2021. Please do not record, photograph or screenshot any part of the presentations.