2010 Egyptian Study Society Programs

Unless otherwise noted, ESS meetings are held at 7:00 PM on the third Monday of each month in Ricketson Auditorium at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. These meetings are open to all and guests are welcome. We may ask guests for a small, optional donation, usually $2.00, to help us cover costs.

January 19 (Tuesday)	Todd Swanson will present "Ritual and Transformation in Abydos." The Greek historian Herodotus referred to Egypt as the “most religious of all nations.” Typically, within cultures, religious ferment reaches its height during times of uncertainty and crisis.  At the end of the 18th dynasty, Akhenaten’s reign sent tremors throughout the Egyptian cultural system.  After Tutankhamen, three pharaohs left no successors, adding to the sense of instability and fear that led to the neo-conservative, restorationist response that took hold during the reign of Seti I and found its culmination during the reign of Ramses the Great.  This presentation looks at the Seti’s temple in Abydos, Seti’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings, stelae, and literary references to gather indications of religious experience in rituals in the context of historic and cultural transition.
February 16 (Tuesday)	James Lowdermilk will present "How to Create the 365-Day Calendar." The ancient Egyptians used a calendar counting 365 days every year. This lecture will explore how, where, and when it was created.
March 15 (Monday)	Jeanne Nijhowne will present "War, Incest, and Murder: Just an Average Century in the Ancient Near East." When the Ptolemies took over the rule of Egypt in the late 4th century BC, they adopted not only the trappings of Egyptian culture but also pharaonic dreams of territorial expansion. This brought them into direct conflict with another great remnant of the Alexandrian empire, the Seleucids, based in Babylon. Over the next hundred years, the Ptolemies and Seleucids fought a series of six wars in what is now Syria. The Ptolemies demonstrated they had every intention of being worthy successors to the Egyptian pharaohs. Dr. Jeanne Nijhowne is a Near Eastern archaeologist who works at Tell Mozan in northeastern Syria. This is the third lecture she has presented to the ESS.
April 19 (Monday)	Egyptologist Dr. Otto Schaden will speak about KV63, his discovery in the Valley of the Kings.
May 17 (Monday)	Mohamed Shata will speak. Topic TBA.
June 21 (Monday)	Jane Bigelow will speak about the gardens of ancient Egypt.
July 19 (Monday)	Mahmoud Kodier, "Families of Ancient Egypt."
August 9 (Monday)	Dennis McDonald, "The Opening of Tut's Tomb." Joint meeting with CAS.
September 20 (Monday)	Dick Harwood, "The White Desert."
October 18 (Monday)	Bill Petty, "Tut's Trumpets."
November 15 (Monday)	Dennis Pricolo will speak about the Ptolemys.
December	No lecture

 

Past lectures

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