Egypt & Israel face the rise of the Empires!

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How did the Kushite pharaohs of Egypt take on the Assyrian empire? What impact did the Babylonians have on Israel and Judah? How was the powerful Persian empire stopped in its tracks?

This is the story of invasion and conquest, rebellion and survival in Egypt and the Near East, leading to the end of the native Egyptian pharaohs, the sacking of Thebes, the destruction of Jerusalem and the loss of Israel’s national independence.

Join us this Saturday (22nd May) 9:30am to 4:30pm to discover the changes brought about over this tumultuous period of 400 years!

A Study Day taught by Michael Tunnicliffe & Sarah Griffiths in association with the Manchester Ancient Egypt Society. All welcome. MAES members £20; guests £30

For more information and to download a booking form, click here:

The Secret Location of the Royal Mummies

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Manchester Ancient Egypt Society monthly lecture

A joint lecture with KNH Centre

José-Ramón Pérez-Accino: A Place Badly Concealed. Newest Research on the Royal Cache Wadi, Luxor.

After the discovery of the royal mummies in 1881 and the Lansing excavation campaign in 1920, the Royal Cachette Wadi has traditionally been considered an archaeologically empty site. Since 2017 the C2 Project has undertaken two field campaigns at the site. The results permit to dispute the validity of the previous definition of the valley as a concealed and hidden location. In both campaigns, structures not previously described have been identified, such an area of worship with the presence of a monumental image on the mountain, offering tables and prayers and semi-caverns in the mountain with evidence of human action.

José is Co-Director at C2 Project – the Royal Cache Wadi Survey, Professor of Ancient History and Egyptology at the Complutense University of Madrid and Director / President of the Complutensian Egyptology Society, an academic society aimed at promoting Egyptological studies.

Free to MAES members; guests welcome £5 via Eventbrite: http://bit.ly/MAESZoomLectures

Recent Discoveries at Gebel el-Silsila

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MAES extra April online meeting. Monday 26th April 7:30pm. Everyone welcome to attend!

Maria Nilsoon & John Ward with recently discovered sphinxes at Gebel el-Silsila

Maria Nilsson & John Ward: Recent Discoveries at Gebel el-Silsila – New Kingdom material

Located some 60 km south of the grand Edfu Temple, and 65 km north of the stunning golden landscape of modern day Aswan, Gebel el-Silsila – “Kheny/Khenu” to the ancients – played an important role within the overall development of Dynastic Egypt. While the site was a vital strategic trading location, marking the boundary between Egypt and her southern neighbour Nubia, one of Egypt’s “nine bows” (chief enemies), it was first and foremost the source of a bountiful supply of prime Nubian sandstone for the building of pharaonic monuments throughout Egypt, particularly during the New Kingdom. In this lecture, Maria and John will reveal their latest New Kingdom discoveries, exploring the Temple of Sobek, the necropolis, Tutankhamun’s workers village and new finds from the quarries of Amenhotep and Ahkenaten.

Dr Maria Nilsson and John Ward are Directors of the Gebel el-Silsila Project , and are based at Lund University, Sweden, where Maria is currently Marie Curie Researcher. They have appeared in numerous television documentaries and have written a series of articles about their work at the site for Ancient Egypt Magazine.

Free to members – link will be emailed to you. Guests welcome £5 via Eventbrite here:

MAY STUDY DAY

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Egypt & Israel and the Rise of the Empires

The rise and fall of the Assyrians, Babylonians and Persians

An Online Study Day with Sarah Griffiths and Michael Tunnicliffe

In association with the Manchester Ancient Egypt Society

The Late Period (c. 747 – 332 BC) – Egypt’s Silver Age,  but great changes were taking place all over the Near East, with the rise and fall of great empires such as Assyria, Babylonia and Persia. The rise of these expansionist empires would also have important consequences in the land of Israel. This is the story invasion and conquest, rebellion and survival over 400 tumultuous years.

Saturday 22nd May 2021 9.30am– 4.30pm Via Zoom           MAES members £20; Guests £30

Download a booking form here:

Same-sex desire in Ancient Egypt.

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Our next meeting – open to all! This Monday online from 7:30pm. A fascinating lecture with a saucy title!
Roland Enmarch: How beautiful are thy buttocks! Same-sex desire in Ancient Egypt.
Although there is little evidence that the Ancient Egyptians conceptualised human beings as belonging to discrete groups based on their sexual preferences, there is a comparatively rich set of sources that attest the existence of same-sex sexual activity in pharaonic times. These include the realms of Egyptian mythology, where the male gods Horus and Seth are described in many different sources as having sex with each other. Same-sex activity is also mentioned in texts that the Egyptians took to the grave with them such as the Book of the Dead. In Ancient Egyptian literature, King Neferkare scandalously makes nightly visits to the house of his General Sasenet, while the sage Ptahhotep sternly counsels men not to have sex with a ‘womanish boy’ – which rather implies that there must have been a lot of it about.
Egyptian societal ideologies were heteronormative, and being the passive partner in male same-sex activity was specifically denigrated. It is also clear that sometimes man-on-man sex was conceptualised as a form of aggression/ humiliation. Notwithstanding this, there are a number of sources which instead hint at the expression of same-sex sexual desire, and which suggest the possibility of enjoyment from its fulfilment. A good example of this is the world’s oldest surviving chat-up line, which forms part of the title of this lecture.
Free for MAES members (you’ll get an email link). Guests £5 via Eventbrite:

What’s In A Name? MAES Monday 8th February

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Our next Zoom meeting is on Monday 8th February and we welcome back the charismatic Glenn Godenho!

Glenn Godenho: What’s in a Name? Patterns of People at the End of the Old Kingdom.

Djau, Ibi, Khu, Kheti – all names that tend to recur in key locations at the end of the Old Kingdom. Of course, same and similar names do not at all imply a collective of blood-relatives running the administrative machine at provincial centres. However, a closer look at the extant evidence starts to show patterns of provincial rulership that may help us to better understand the balance of power as the Old Kingdom draws to a close.

Dr Glenn Godenho began Egyptological training at Birkbeck College, London, and then studied for BA, MA and PhD at the University of Liverpool, where he now works as a Senior Lecturer in Egyptology and Academic Director of the Institution’s Continuing Education Department. He is part of a Liverpool-Bonn First Intermediate Period research group that aims to bring a number of related projects together from both institutions.

Free to members; £5 guests via Eventbrite here:

The Rise & Collapse of the Nubian Kingdom of Meroe!

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Happy New Year! The Manchester AE Society’s next online lecture is next Monday, kicking off 2021 with a fascinating glimpse into Nubian history! Everyone welcome – details below.
Members will receive a free link – guests can book a place on Eventbrite (£5) here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/myevent?eid=132565816927
Monday 11th January 2021 Zoom Lecture
“Doors” open 7:30pm; lecture start 8pm.
Dr Iwona Kozieradzka-Ogunmakin Beyond the Pyramids: New Insights into the Rise and Collapse of the Kingdom of Meroe, Sudan.
The Kushite Kingdom of Meroe (c. 300 BC – AD 350) occupied a vast territory of present-day Sudan and the southern fringes of Egypt. The kingdom played a key role in the region facilitating trade between the Graeco-Roman world and African states and beyond, and its position was further strengthened by iron production that centred in the region around the capital city of Meroe, presently known for its necropolis with numerous royal pyramids. However, after several centuries, this once powerful and prosperous kingdom collapsed, and the circumstances surrounding its demise remain unclear and open to speculation. This lecture will present the circumstances surrounding the formation of the Meroitic kingdom and discuss the existing theories and new evidence pertaining to its sudden collapse.

Milk and Romans! Members Research This Monday!

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This Monday – two exciting talks from MAES Members based on their own research!

Lesley Easterman asks “Did ancient Egyptians Drink Milk?” and in a change to the previously advertised talk, Michael Tunnicliffe looks at “Roman Egypt in the Second Century”

Monday 7:30pm via Zoom.

Free to MAES members. Guests welcome to join us via Eventbrite.