Press Releases

University of Reading Town Hall Lectures – you Sphinx you know Egypt's history!?

Release Date : 24 September 2007

This Autumn, five leading Egyptologists are providing the public with an opportunity to treasure by unravelling the mystery of Egypt's Golden Past, as the University of Reading Town Hall Lecture Series gets underway.

Organised by the University's School of Continuing Education, these fascinating fortnightly talks will explore 2000 years of Ancient Egyptian civilisation and will cover the great finds of the last two centuries, as well as give modern analysis of the artefacts, art, cities, practices and beliefs of the Egyptian culture.

The series begins on Monday 1 October with Revisiting a civilization: Great Discoveries of Ancient Egypt, in which Professor Alan Lloyd, the current Chair of the Egypt Exploration Society and President of the Thames Valley Ancient Egypt Society, will give an overview of the major sites and discoveries of the nineteenth and twentieth century.

He commented: "Ancient Egypt has handed down to us the most varied and most spectacular remains of any ancient civilization."

On Monday 15 October Lucia Gahlin offers insights into what she describes as "arguably the most famous discovery ever made" with Wonderful things: the treasures of Tutankhamun. Lucia is Amarna Archaeological Research Data Administrator at the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology and teaches extra-mural Egyptology for the Universities of Bristol and Exeter. She is a contributor to Routledge's The Egyptian World (ed. T.Wilkinson) due out this year.

She said: "Tutankhamun's tomb has provided a truly unique insight into the culture and materials of Ancient Egypt'." A special feature of this talk will be her interpretation of the latest CAT scan results on Tutankhamun's mummy.

The series continues on Monday 29 October when Professor Rosalie David OBE delivers Life Eternal: Mummification in Ancient Egypt. Rosalie is Director of the KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester.

She explained: "Today, scientific studies on mummies provide insight into the lifestyle, disease patterns and causes of death in ancient Egypt, and enable researchers to trace some disease patterns from antiquity to the present day."

Horizon of the Sun Disk: Akhenaten's city at el-Amarna will be the subject of Dr Kate Spence's lecture on Monday 12 November. Dr Spence is best known for her work in the field of Egyptian architecture and recently appeared on the BBC's Horizon programme.

She said: "In the 14th Century BC, the pharaoh Akhenaten began to build a town on a desert plain in Middle Egypt, intended to be his principal residence and centre of worship of the sun disk Aten."

This intriguing series concludes on Monday 26 November, when Oxford Professor of Egyptology John Baines explores How do we look at Egyptian art? This talk complements his recent publication: Visual and written culture in ancient Egypt.

He explained: "Ancient Egyptian art depicts people, objects and the world in different ways…how can we learn to view Egyptian pictures as ancient Egyptians might have done?"

"This lecture series is a wonderful opportunity for the public to find out more about a hugely interesting period of history," said Eleanor Betts from the University's School of Continuing Education. "Our speakers are once again of the highest calibre, so audiences are sure to be enthralled and entertained."

Tickets for the series are £34.00 (concessions £29.00) and may be purchased in advance from the School or the Hexagon Box Office (0118) 9606060 (e-mail: boxoffice@readingarts.com). Series tickets for TVAES members (£29) may only be purchased from the School. Single tickets (£9) are also available on the door on the night.

Ends

Notes for Editors:

1 October 2007 - Great Discoveries of Ancient Egypt (Professor Alan Lloyd)

15 October 2007 - Wonderful things: the treasures of Tutankhamun (Lucia Gahlin)

29 October 2007 - Life Eternal: Mummification in Ancient Egypt (Professor Rosalie David OBE)

12 November 2007 - Horizon of the Sun Disk: Akhenaten's city at el-Amarna (Dr Kate Spence)

26 November 2007 – How do we look at Egyptian art (John Baines)

For University of Reading media enquiries, please contact James Barr, Press Assistant, on 0118 3787115 or email j.w.barr@reading.ac.uk