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View this email in your browserour next lecture"Watery Landscapes in Ancient Egypt& Why They Mattered"We continue our 2018-2019 lecture season with a talk by Dr. John Baines (University of Oxford). We look forward to seeing you there! our next lecture"Watery Landscapes in Ancient Egypt& Why They Mattered"We continue our 2018-2019 lecture season with a talk by Dr. John Baines (University of Oxford). We look forward to seeing you there!
LectureDetailsJohn Baines is Emeritus Professor of Egyptology in the University of Oxford. His chief research interests are in Egyptian art, religion, literature, and the comparative modeling of social forms and institutions. Throughout his career he has sought to integrate the study of ancient Egypt into the wider discourse of the humanities and social sciences. When:Thursday,Nov. 22 at 7.30 pm Where: Sidney Smith HallRoom 1072100 St. George Street Cost:FREELecture AbstractMost studies of ancient Egyptian landscapes focus on Upper Egypt, with its narrow Nile valley and pervasive background of the desert and the rock escarpment. Indeed, patterns of preservation of sites disproportionately favour the Nile valley and desert regions. Yet from prehistoric times onward watery environments are depicted, and from no later than the third millennium they are often those of the delta. Such environments were integral to architectural forms and ritual settings. The delta landscape was much more enveloping for those who lived within it, while for travellers it lacked the relief and visibility of Upper Egypt. Its characteristics spoke to the importance of water and the river, to the impermanence that human society seeks to overcome, and to the perpetual renewal promised by the abundant growth implicit in water. The focus on these crucial environments is evident also in elite pastimes, with their partly ritual associations.