Tonight live at the Pendulum Hotel, we welcome back Campbell Price with a lecture on The Changing Faces of Graeco-Roman Gods!

Under Greek and Roman rule of Egypt, various deities – some very old and others relatively new – took on a range of forms across domestic spaces, temples and in funerary art. In preparation for the arrival of the international touring exhibition ‘Golden Mummies of Egypt’ in Manchester in early 2023, this lecture investigates the iconography of divinity at the end of Pharaonic Period using examples from Manchester Museum’s rich collection and considers how deities were viewed by the living.

Campbell Price is Curator of Egypt and Sudan at Manchester Museum, part of the University of Manchester, and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Egypt Exploration Society.  He undertook his BA, MA, and PhD in Egyptology at the University of Liverpool, where he is now an Honorary Research Fellow and has carried out fieldwork at Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham, Saqqara and the Egyptian Museum, Cairo.  He has published widely and is the author of “Pocket Museum: Ancient Egypt” published by Thames & Hudson (2018).

All welcome! MAES members £3 on the door (and free tea or coffee); guests welcome £5.

Doors open at 7pm. Lecture 8 to 9pm.

The Pendulum Hotel, Sackville Street, Manchester, M1 3BB.

www.maesweb.org.uk

Tickets now on sale!

Saturday 26th November 2022 Online via Zoom
To mark the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun, MAES will be holding a special study day with Rosalie David OBE and guest speakers!

Celebrating the 100^th anniversary of the discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun with a series of lectures which will explore the discovery through the eyes of the Egyptian media of the time and through the photographs of Harry Burton in the Griffith Institute archive, as well as investigating Tutankhamun’s textiles through experimental archaeology and discussing what the latest scientific findings reveal about the health of the king.

Tickets are available now.

MAES members £20; guests £30.

For more details and how to book click here:

12 Sep 2022            PENDULUM HOTEL, SACKVILLE STREET, MANCHESTER, M1 3BB         

Roger Forshaw: Servants of the God among ‘the most religious of peoples’ – their Lives and their Scandals

There is certain evidence of how the priesthood in ancient Egypt were organised, their function and qualifications or prerequisites necessary for admission to this office. However, did they lead saintly lives or did they abuse their position? Some amassed great fortunes while others were virtuous and displayed personal piety. Texts reveal a number of scandals including drunken behaviour, acceptance of bribes, stealing temple property and manipulation of oracular decisions. A lector was among the accused in the Harem Conspiracy and Penanukis, a wab priest in the temple of Khnum at Elephantine, was indicted for a series of crimes including theft, adultery and disrespect for sacred places. It would seem that prayer and religious speculation were not the sole occupations of the servants of the God.

Roger is an honorary lecturer in Biomedical Egyptology at the University of Manchester. A former dental surgeon, he later studied Egyptology at the University of Exeter and obtained his PhD at the University of Manchester. HIs research interests include the role of the lector in ancient Egyptian society, the Saite Period, and medical and dental care in ancient Egypt, and he has published a number of books and papers on these topics. He is also our MAES treasurer!

More details click here:

TONIGHT! Our last lecture this season before our summer break! On zoom – all welcome!

Taneash Sidpura: Is the Fly the Fly in the Ointment? The Meaning and Purpose of Golden Flies in Ancient Egypt

Hundreds of gold pendants in the form of flies have been discovered in ancient Egypt.  On the basis that two Egyptian soldiers described receiving them from the king, historians have interpreted them as military awards that were given to brave soldiers, similar to modern medals.  However, this interpretation is questionable as many examples of these golden flies, as well as examples of other materials, have been found in the burials of women and children, who would not normally be associated with military activity in ancient Egypt.

This was the subject of Taneash Sidpura’s PhD thesis and in this talk, Taneash presents the complete results of his analysis for the first (and exclusive) time.  The analysis demonstrates that flies were unlikely to have been military awards and may instead have been amulets to protect the wearer.

Taneash Sidpura is a PhD student at the University of Manchester.  He has given many talks to Egyptology societies around the UK and is a longstanding MAES member.  He has previously excavated at a Neolithic site in Turkey and helped to catalogue Egyptian artefacts at the Atkinson Gallery, Southport.  In the rest of his time, Taneash is a counter fraud specialist for the NHS.

All welcome! Doors open 7:30pm and the lecture begins at 8pm (GMT+1). Free to MAES members who will receive an email link. Guests welcome – you can book a ticket (£5) here:

This Monday (June 13th) we welcome back Roland Enmarch to give an in person lecture to the Manchester AE Society!

Roland Enmarch: Ex-pats and vassal princes: some curious international messengers in the final decades of the late Bronze Age (mid-late 13th C BC)

In the last few decades of the 1200s BC, the international diplomatic system of the Late Bronze Age Near East was entering its twilight. Sources from Egypt, Ugarit, and northern Syria all provide tantalising glimpses of a world of complex identities, shifting allegiances, and ex-pats in the service of foreign powers. Cuneiform sources from Assyria show that Egypt’s vassal, the Levantine city of Sidon, was sending messengers to the Assyrian king. Was this treachery, or was he doing the Egyptian king’s bidding? A hitherto neglected Egyptian papyrus offers some interesting answers…. 

Roland Enmarch is Senior Lecturer in Egyptology at the University of Liverpool, specialising in Egyptian written culture of Ancient Egypt. His research interests include Egyptian literature, and Egyptian expeditions and resource procurement. A former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, his publications include A World Upturned (2008) and Ancient Egyptian Literature: Theory and Practice (2013). He is co-director of the Anglo-French Hatnub archaeological mission.

Our in person lectures are held at the Pendulum Hotel, Sackville Street, Manchester, M3 1BB. Parking in Charles Street Multistory round the corner. Doors open 7:15pm (you can arrive as early as you like and enjoy a meal or drink at the bar). Event begins 7:45pm and runs to 9:15pm. All welcome. MAES members £3 on the door; guests £5.

This Monday (30th May) we have an EXTRA Zoom lecture! All welcome. Doors open 7:30pm (GMT+1); lecture 8-9pm. Free for MAES members. Guests £5 via Eventbrite – book here:

Alejandro Jimenez-Serrano: The elite of Elephantine during the 12th Dynasty: new data from the archaeological excavations in Qubbet el-Hawa

The discovery of 12th Dynasty tombs in Qubbet el-Hawa at the end of the 19th century permitted scholars to understand the Middle Kingdom in the southernmost province of Upper Egypt. This data increased dramatically, when Labib Habachi discovered their ka chapels erected in a household shrine dedicated to Heqaib, a late 6th Dynasty governor who became their mythic ancestor. New excavations carried out by the University of Jaen in Qubbet el-Hawa have shed light on how the local elite was internally organised. Additionally, the discovery of intact tombs has given us much more data about the funerary customs of the highest members of the local community during the late 12th Dynasty.

Prof. Alejandro Jimenez-Serrano is Mission Director of the University of Jaén’s Qubbet el-Hawa Project. He currently teaches Egyptology and the Archaeology of Egypt and the Near East at the university and has led the multidisciplinary project in Qubbet el-Hawa since 2008, overseeing archaeological excavation, translations of texts and on-site conservation of the many mummies and artefacts discovered there.

This Monday (9th May) we welcome back to MAES Robert Morkot to give a lecture at our normal venue – the Pendulum Hotel, Sackville Street, Manchester.

Robert Morkot: ‘Gem-aten: the sun-disc is found’ – the temple and town of Kawa in Sudan

The temples of Kawa were excavated by Oxford University led by F.Ll. Griffith between 1929 and 1931, and there is material in many museums, including Manchester. The temples uncovered were constructed by Tutankhamun and Taharqo, although there may have been a major temple beneath Taharqo’s from the reign of Amenhotep III. The name Gem-Aten clearly dates the temple to the ‘Amarna Period’ but was retained into later Kushite times.

Robert Morkot is an Ancient Historian with particular interests in north-east Africa, and in the reception of the ancient world and historiography. He has been particularly involved with Egypt, Sudan and Libya, but has a broader involvement in the ancient Eastern Mediterranean/Near East.

Everyone welcome. Members £4, guests £6. Doors open 7pm

This Monday! Join the Manchester Ancient Egypt Society for our monthly zoom lecture – welcoming back Myriam Seco Alvarez who will be revealing recent discoveries at the Thutmose III Temple of Millions of Years in Luxor!

The site of the Temple of Millions of Years of Thutmosis III has allowed the recovery of numerous materials from different periods of the history of pharaonic Egypt. n recent years there have been interesting discoveries at the administrative building located at the southern part of the temple and there have been done attractive advances at the sanctuary area. Likewise, further information has been achieved of simple burials from the end of the First Intermediate Period, some of them intact, and looted noble tombs from the Third Intermediate Period and Saite times. One of the latter contained desecrated mummies that had been reburied with shrouds and amulets.

Myriam is Associate Lecturer of the Department of Prehistory and Archaeology at the University of Seville, and is the Director of the Project for the Excavation and Restoration of the Temple of Millions of Years of Tuthmosis III in Luxor. She has participated in important excavation projects, including a Phoenician shipwreck off the coast of Tyre (Lebanon); the Bent Pyramid and the Seneferu Valley Temple, and as director of the underwater archaeological survey on the Red Sea coast. In 2019 she received the City of Seville Medal for her teaching, educational and research work.

Monday 11th April on Zoom – doors open 7:30pm, lecture begins at 8pm (GMT+1).

All welcome. Guests book via Eventbrite here:

This Saturday join the Manchester Ancient Egypt Society for a fantastic study day revealing the latest findings from human remains at the village of Deir el-Medina! A packed programme with lectures from Rosalie David OBE, Roger Forshaw, Keith White, Anne Austin and Amandine Merat. Guests are welcome – tickets are £40 and you can book on Eventbrite here:

Deir el-Medina has for many years provided extensive archaeological and inscriptional evidence about the daily lives of this special community. In recent years, however, a new mission has focused on examining the human remains of these families from the nearby tombs. The mission, carried out under the auspices of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities and the IFAO, was initiated and is led by Professor Anne Austin and now also includes a team from the KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology, University of Manchester.

At this study-day, members of the mission will present some recent discoveries and discuss issues relating to disease, dental conditions, diet (including water provision at the site), and textiles associated with the burials.

www.maesweb.org.uk

Campbell Price: The Legacy of Khaemwaset at Saqqara and Elsewhere

NEW!!! In a change to our previously advertised lecture, Campbell Price joins us in February!

Of any royal child who did not ascend the throne, Khaemwaset, fourth son of Ramesses II, is perhaps the best known and he is frequently mythologised as a proto-Egyptologist. Thanks to the many monuments and inscriptions he commissioned, we can get an idea of his great interest in being remembered both in association with, and independently from, his famous father. This lecture reviews his works and legacy.

Campbell Price undertook his BA, MA, and PhD in Egyptology at the University of Liverpool, where he is now an Honorary Research Fellow. After undertaking fieldwork at Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham, Saqqara and the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, in 2011 he became Curator of Egypt and Sudan at Manchester Museum, part of the University of Manchester and one of the UK’s largest Egyptology collections. In 2021 he was elected Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Egypt Exploration Society, the foremost UK charity supporting Egypt’s cultural heritage. Campbell has published widely on ancient Egyptian material culture and maintains special research interests in views of the past during the First Millennium BCE.

All welcome – free to MAES Members; Guests £5 via Eventbrite