Swansea University Interdisciplinary Research Week – Research Institute for Arts and Humanities Public Lecture
This Research Institute for Arts and Humanities (RIAH) Public Lecture forms part of Swansea University Interdisciplinary Research Week, which runs throughout the week 21st – 25th November 2011. The week aims to showcase the breadth of interdisciplinary research excellence ongoing at Swansea, promote best practice amongst the research community and stimulate new ideas and collaborations.
Lecture title: “Dancers, Donkeys, and Dirt: New Discoveries from the Time of the Black Pharaohs from South Asasif, Egypt”
Speaker: Dr Elena Pischikova, Mission Director of the South Asasif Conservation Project (http://southasasif.com/), Supreme Council of Antiquities, Egypt and the American University in Cairo
Date: Thursday 24th November 2011
Time: Refreshments will be served from 6.15pm and the lecture will start at 7pm
Venue: Faraday Lecture Theatre, Faraday Building, Swansea University
Admission: Free of charge, all welcome
Event summary: Krakhamun, the First aq Priest of Amun, lived in the days when Ancient Egypt was ruled by Nubian pharaohs – the 7th century BCE. Buried in the South Asasif cemetery, on the west bank of the Nile, his tomb is part of a series rediscovered in 2006 by a mission led by Dr Elena Pischikova, Director, South Asasif Conservation Project, Supreme Council of Antiquities, Egypt; Research Scholar, American University in Cairo
Though damaged by smoke, people and centuries of misuse, the tombs still stand. Their painted ceilings, stunning reliefs and elegant architecture have not been obliterated, merely hidden beneath layers of soot, veiled by dust and cobwebs and blocked by piles of debris.
In late August and September 2011, Dr Pischikova, together with the cross-disciplinary team of Dr Kasia Szpakowska, Senior Lecturer in Egyptology, College of Arts and Humanities and Dr Adam Booth, GLIMPSE Research Officer in the Glaciology Group, College of Science, funded by the Bridging the Gaps project (http://www.swansea.ac.uk/research/activity/interdisciplinary/btg/), used geophysical imaging – or ground penetrating radar (GPR) – methods to examine the site.
The excavation team’s discovery has brought to light something completely unexpected that will change Late Period Egypt scholarship and our understanding of the past, forever.
For further information about the lecture contact RIAH, Tel: 01792 295190, or email: riah@swansea.ac.uk.
