Ecology, Mimesis, and Humor: Shining A Different Light on Ancient Egyptian Frog Lamps
2026-04-19 15:00 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | ARCE-NC Lectures, Rm 223 Dwinelle, UC Berkeley, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States
Photo credit:
Lamp decorated with frog legs and wheat ears, baked clay – Museo Egizio Turin P 2126
(Courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
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The American Research Center in Egypt, Northern California chapter, and the UC Berkeley Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures invite you to attend a lecture by Clara McCafferty Wright, Cornell University:
Ecology, Mimesis, and Humor: Shining A Different Light on Ancient Egyptian Frog Lamps
Sunday, April 19, 2026, 3 PM PDT
Room 223 Dwinelle Hall, UC Berkeley
This is an in-person lecture, not virtual. The talk will not be recorded.
About the Lecture:
In the Greco-Roman period, a rather curious form of oil lamp emerged—the Egyptian frog
lamp. Much of the scholarship about “frog lamps” focuses on potential religious symbolism
in Egyptian associations with frog deities, and how frogs as symbols might have functioned
in early Christianity in Roman Egypt. In this presentation, I do not attempt to refute these
lines of research, but rather to propose a different perspective, informed by Egypt’s
ecology and by other examples of mimesis in Greco-Roman Egyptian antiquity. From these
comparisons, I investigate how we might move beyond sacralizing approaches to more
wholistically understand the function frog lamps had in Greco-Roman Egypt. This talk
explores the many ways in which frog lamps mimic the real frogs and toads of Egypt.
Additionally, by comparing the effect of Egyptian frog lamps to other mimetic, humorous
artifacts from the ancient world, I argue that there is room for interpreting frog lamps as
objects of visual humor—not merely humble light sources or objects of religious
signiﬁcance.
About the Speaker:
Clara McCafferty Wright is a graduate student at Cornell University in Classical Archaeology and Art. Her primary research foci include Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt, and Greco-Roman reception of Egypt. She recently completed an MPhil degree in Egyptology at the University of Cambridge with a dissertation entitled, “Reconsidering Cleopatra VII: The Lost Narrative of Egypt’s Last Queen.” Clara earned her A.B. at Bryn Mawr College in 2019, where she double majored in Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology & Classical Cultures and Societies. At Bryn Mawr, she was a Hanna Holborn Gray Research Fellow and authored a thesis on Cleopatra VII’s political influence on the Isis cult in Italy. During her undergraduate degree, she also studied in the Egyptology programs at the University of Pennsylvania and the American University in Cairo. In addition, she established The Bryn Mawr College Magic Lantern Slide Digitization Project. Clara currently serves as the Public Outreach Officer of The American Research Center in Egypt—Missouri Chapter, and a team member of the Egyptology State of the Field Survey Project. Clara is passionate about diversifying our understanding of the ancient world to one which includes the narratives of disenfranchised members of societies, including women, enslaved people, and the working class. She has a strong interest in using the study of the past to empower people today by making information on the ancient world accessible to rural and underprivileged communities.
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Parking is available in UC lots all day on weekends, for a fee. Ticket dispensing machines accept debit or credit cards. Parking is available in the Lower Sproul garage near Dwinelle Hall, and in other nearby lots. A parking map of the campus is available at https://pt.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/campus_parking_map_august_2025.pdf. To find out how to get to room 223 in Dwinelle Hall, go to this website: https://dkess.me/dwinelle/. Not all entrances to the building will be unlocked, so it’s best to start from the main entrance.
About Northern California ARCE:
For more information, please visit https://www.youtube.com/@NorthernCaliforniaARCE, https://www.facebook.com/NorthernCaliforniaARCE, https://arce-nc.org, https://bsky.app/profile/khentiamentiu.bsky.social, and https://khentiamentiu.org. To join the chapter or renew your membership, please go to https://arce.org/membership/ and select “Berkeley, CA” as your chapter when you sign up.

The Coronado Expedition: The New Evidence
2026-04-21 18:30 - 19:30 (America/New_York) | FL
Dr. Deni Seymour (Jornada Research Institute) will talk about her work over the last few years during which she and her team discovered 17 sites left behind in southern Arizona by the Coronado Expedition of 1539-1542. The discovery of a Spanish townsite, overnight camps, and travel routes have revolutionized our understanding of the expedition – where they went, how they were organized, weapons they carried and what they did. Equally important are the insights gained into the Native Nations that lived in the area and interacted with the Spanish. Also, the discovery of a bronze cannon, the oldest European weapon found in the continental U.S.
Co-sponsored with the Museum of New Mexico Foundation, Friends of Archaeology.

Archaeology and the Art Museum
2026-04-22 19:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago) | Alumni Hall 302 (“Trustees Room’), Knox College, Galesburg, IL, 61401, United States
Martha Sharp Joukowsky Lectureship

Social Justice and Archaeology at the Bade Museum
2026-04-23 17:00 - 18:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Badè Museum of Biblical Archaeology, 1798 Scenic Ave, Berkeley, CA, 94709, United States
Since the recent global pandemic, the Bade Museum has hosted a variety of online talks focused on the ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern world on a variety of themes related to modern social justice issues. Together with various partner institutions, but always the Archaeological Research Facility at UC Berkeley, staff has hosted over five and a half years of scholarly talks, all of which are posted on our YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/@bademuseum. While limited few can watch the talks through live streaming, most views come later after each zoom video is uploaded to the web. In less than 6 years, these videos have well over 50,000 views, a number that cannot be replicated in person. While topics like new approaches to ancient Nubia, unsilencing the archives, women and gender in the ancient world, Phoenician women and gender in the homeland and diaspora, and Disability in the ancient Middle East and Mediterranean might seem anachronistic; junior scholars and scholars on the margins of their fields have shown that they can study and publish work on antiquity relevant to modern issues while they themselves are breaking barriers in presenting their work to a globalized audience.
A lecture by Dr. Aaron Brody, Robert and Kathryn Riddell Professor of Bible and Archaeology and Director of the Badè Museum of Biblical Archaeology. We will begin at Berkeley time, 5:10pm, at the Badè Museum of Biblical Archaeology – 1798 Scenic Ave, Berkeley, CA.

Landscapes of Time and Memory: Foragers in the Mojave Desert
2026-04-23 17:30 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology, 60 George St., Providence, RI, 02912, United States

Digging in Circles: Miami's Prehistoric Legacy
2026-04-23 18:30 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Memorial Art Gallery, 500 University Avenue, Rochester, NY, 14607, United States

Digging in Circles: Miami's Prehistoric Legacy
2026-04-24 15:30 - 16:30 (America/New_York) | University of Albany – Uptown Campus, Campus Center West Multipurpose Room (Ground Floor), 1400 Washington Ave, 12222, United States

Stress, Sex and Death: Health and Survival in the Context of Medieval Famine and Plague
2026-04-24 17:00 - 18:30 (America/New_York) | TBA (Toronto), Toronto
The Ann Santen Endowed Lecture Time TBA

The Archaeology of Ancient Greek Dress
2026-04-28 17:00 - 18:30 (America/Chicago) | TBA (Rockford), Rockford, IL, United States
The Barbara Tsakirgis Memorial Lecture Time TBA

Gods? Beasts? Warriors? Interpreting the Imagery of Celtic Coinages
2026-04-29 18:00 - 19:15 (America/New_York) | Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Ilse and Leo Mildenberg Memorial Lecture:
Gods? Beasts? Warriors? Interpreting the Imagery of Celtic Coinages
Celtic coins present a remarkable world of varied, often fantastic images. The earliest coinages were generally close copies of Hellenistic coins from the Mediterranean world, but gradually they developed a distinct visual language. Elements of the original prototypes were adapted or became disjointed; because these were combined with new elements, the resulting designs can be difficult to understand today. Different regions also followed different iconographical traditions, leading to a wide variety of designs. In a later phase, the arrival of Rome on the political stage led to the re-appearance of coinages with a classical look, particularly in Britain.
In this lecture, David G. Wigg-Wolf, Honorary Professor of Leicester University, will trace the iconography of Celtic coins, from its origin to its later development, and will interpret their visual language and sociopolitical role.
David G. Wigg-Wolf was a senior researcher on the German Fundmünzen project in Frankfurt until 2009 and then a senior researcher at the Römisch-Germanische Kommission des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts until 2024. He now serves as honorary professor at Leicester University. His research interests include the production, circulation, and use of coinage in Western and Central Europe from the late pre-Roman Iron Age to the early medieval period, and digital numismatics.
To honor the memory of renowned numismatist and scholar Leo Mildenberg (1912–2001) and his years of friendship with Harvard University, a fund was established by his friends and colleagues and endowed in 2005 by his wife, Ilse Mildenberg-Seehausen.

New Insights into Changing Lifeways in Ancient Nubia
2026-04-30 18:00 - 19:30 (America/Phoenix) | Zoom, Virtual, FL, 33155, United States
Brenda J. Baker, PhD
Professor of Anthropology
Center for Bioarchaeological Research
School of Human Evolution and Social Change
“New Insights into Changing Lifeways in Ancient Nubia”
The Bioarchaeology of Nubia Expedition (BONE) focuses on the area between the Fourth and Fifth Cataracts of the Nile River in northern Sudan, enriching our understanding of the extent to which people peripheral to core areas where state-level societies operated were integrated. Interconnections are evident from the Kerma period (c. 2500-1500 BCE) on, incorporating exotic items such as carnelian and Red Sea mollusc shell beads and Egyptian vessels, though local craft production is evident. Analysis of strontium isotopes from tooth enamel shows a decrease in mobility throughout the Kerma period in this area, likely reflecting a shift in subsistence practices. Late Meroitic through Post-Meroitic period burials from the Qinifab School site cemetery (used c. 250-1450 CE) include extra-local items indicative of continuing access to far-flung exchange networks despite the construction of a network of stone-walled forts in the region and evidence of conflict commencing during this time. Inclusion of archery equipment in the graves of several males coincides with high rates of trauma reflecting interpersonal violence. These trends suggest that the disintegration of the Meroitic empire led to ongoing incursions and that control by the kingdom of Makuria and conversion of the local populace to Christianity was fraught. Avulsion of lower incisor teeth in nearly 10% of adult males and females became a new marker of identity in late Meroitic to medieval people of the region and new work reveals that tattoos were also far more common in ancient Nubia than previously recognized.
Biography
Brenda J. Baker is a professor of anthropology in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change, a core faculty member of the Center for Bioarchaeological Research and curator of the ancient Nubian collections housed at ASU. She directs the Bioarchaeology of Nubia Expedition (BONE) in northern Sudan and is the founding co-editor-in-chief of Bioarchaeology International (2015-present). Baker taught previously at Tufts University (1992) and Minnesota State University Moorhead (1993-94), and was director of the Repatriation Program and curator of Human Osteology at the New York State Museum from 1994-1998. She has served on the Executive Committee of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists (2012-2015), as an associate editor of the International Journal of Paleopathology (2010-2015) and Journal of Human Evolution (2020-present), and was a founding Steering Committee member of the Western Bioarchaeology Group (2012-2022). She is also a founding member of the American-Sudanese Archaeological Research Cener, serving on its advisory panel (2017-present). Baker’s teaching includes upper-division undergraduate courses such as the Global History of Health, Life and Death in Ancient Egypt, Bioarchaeology, undergraduate and graduate courses in human osteology, and graduate courses in Paleopathology, Children and Childhood in the Past, Nubian Bioarchaeology, and field methods.
Registration is required. Follow this link to register: https://asu.zoom.us/meeting/register/VrIBqv9sQ_CwgC39LZu8MQ#/registration

Book Talk with Sam Kean
2026-05-04 17:00 - 18:00 (America/Chicago) | Virtual Event, hosted by Nashville Parthenon & AIA-Nashville Society, TN, United States
Parthenon Symposium: Book Talk with Sam Kean Author of Dinner with King Tut
Monday, May 4, at 5:00 PM Central
Join author Sam Kean for a firsthand account of his adventures in experimental archaeology while writing Dinner with King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists are Re-creating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations.
In his most recent book, Sam Kean joined experimental archaeologists across the globe to fire medieval catapults, perform surgery and tattooing with ancient methods, build Roman-style roads, play ball like an Aztec, and feast Egyptian-style. These eccentric-sounding adventures are part of a serious undertaking—an attempt to recreate the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of ancient cultures. The details of what it was like to live in other times are often forgotten when we study history through famous monuments. As the world’s only full-scale replica of the ancient building, Nashville’s Parthenon serves as a suitable backdrop for an immersive look at ancient cultures.
Registration on Zoom required: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rAnKC38dQfKMmGOSJo39JA#/registration
Following this talk there will be an in-person discussion (author joins virtually) on Monday, May 4, 6 PM.

New Discoveries in the Anubis-Mountain Royal Necropolis at Abydos
2026-05-09 15:30 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Penn Museum, 3230 South Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States
Saturday, May 9
3:30 pm EST
In-person only at the Penn Museum, Anthro Classroom 345
No registration required
Speaker: Prof. Josef Wegner, Curator Penn Museum. Professor of Egyptian Archaeology, Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures, University of Pennsylvania
Title: New Discoveries in the Anubis-Mountain Royal Necropolis at Abydos
Abstract:
The most recent excavations of the University of Pennsylvania Museum at South Abydos have revealed new evidence for the long-term development of the royal necropolis anciently known as Anubis-Mountain. Initiated by King Senwosret III, ca. 1850 BCE the site continued to develop over several centuries with additional tombs added by kings of the late Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period. Fourteen royal tombs have now been identified. The recent (January 2025) discovery of a large Second Intermediate Period royal tomb has added new evidence on this later group of kings that includes Woseribre Seneb-Kay whose tomb and burial was excavated in 2014. Expanding excavations in recent seasons have provided new insights into how, and why, the Anubis-Mountain necropolis continued to attract kings from ca. 1850-1600 BCE.
Ongoing excavations at South Abydos in the royal necropolis named Anubis-Mountain in ancient times are adding new insights into the development of this site. Tombs of fourteen kings are now known. The most recent discoveries include a new tomb, the largest yet identified of the Second Intermediate Period. Other results are helping to explain how and why Anubis-Mountain became an important royal burial ground ca. 1850-1600 BCE.
Speaker Bio:
Josef Wegner is Professor of Egyptian Archaeology, and current Department Chair in the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also Curator in the Egyptian Section of the Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. He received his PhD in 1996 on the topic of the development of the Osiris cult at Abydos. He has been excavating at Abydos since 1994 were he and his team have been documenting the ruins of the funerary complex of Pharaoh Senwosret III of Egypt’s 12th Dynasty. These excavations include the Middle Kingdom town of Wah-Sut as well as the royal cemetery named Anubis-Mountain. Discoveries at Anubis Mountain include the tomb of King Seneb-Kay, as well as other tombs of rulers of the Abydos Dynasty. Dr. Wegner’s work has focused primarily on the archaeology of Egypt’s Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period. Dr. Wegner’s books include: The Mortuary Temple of Senwosret III at Abydos (2007); Archaism and Innovation, Studies in the Culture of Middle Kingdom Egypt (2007); Akhenaten and Tutankhamun: Revolution and Restoration (2009); The Sphinx that Travelled to Philadelphia: the Story of the Colossal Sphinx of Ramses the Great in the Penn Museum (2015); The Sunshade Chapel of Princess Meritaten from the House of Waenre of Pharaoh Akhenaten (2016); King Seneb-Kay’s Tomb and the Necropolis of a Lost Dynasty at Abydos (2021). Together with Dr. Jennifer Wegner and other members of the Penn Museum’s Egyptian Section, Dr. Wegner is co-curator of the soon to open (2026) reinstallation of the Museum’s Ancient Egypt and Nubia Galleries.
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Lectures are FREE to ARCE Members, $7 for University of Pennsylvania Museum Members and UPenn Staff and Faculty, $5 for Students with ID, and $10 for the general public.
Light refreshments served starting at 3pm.
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The American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) is a private, nonprofit organization founded in 1948 by a consortium of educational and cultural institutions to support research on all aspects of Egyptian history and culture, foster broader knowledge among the general public, and strengthen American-Egyptian cultural ties. The ARCE Pennsylvania Chapter (ARCE-PA) is the local branch of the national institution. We host monthly events including scholarly lectures, Egyptian-themed workshops, social events, and guided tours of the Penn Museum’s Egyptian galleries. For more information or to learn about the perks of membership, please send an e-mail to info@arce-pa.org, or visit our website at www.arce-pa.org.

Book Talk with Mary Beard
2026-05-10 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago) | Paschall Theater @ Montgomery Bell Academy 4001 Harding PikeNashville, TN, 37205United States, Paschall Theater, Montgomery Bell Academy, 4001 Harding Pike, Nashville, TN, 37205, United States
Parthenon Symposium: Book Talk with Mary Beard Author of Talking Classics: The Shock of the Old
Sunday May 10, 2:00 PM Central, at the Paschall Theater
AIA-Nashville Society and the Parthenon are proud to partner with Montgomery Bell Academy to welcome Mary Beard to the “Athens of the South”! Join distinguished classicist Mary Beard for a talk on her most recent exploration of the relevance of the ancient world in our contemporary lives. RSVP required: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/book-talk-with-mary-beard-tickets-1984904305209?aff=oddtdtcreator
In her newest book, Mary Beard explores our ongoing fascination with the ancient Greek and Roman worlds, starting with a personal, childhood encounter with a very old piece of bread on display in a museum. From this, she introduces the idea of the wonder, or “thauma,” that drew her into a lifetime of trying to understand everyday lives in the remote past. She confronts the uses and abuses of symbols from the ancient world, reminding us that although the ancient world is often politicized, it does not belong to partisans. She argues that the classics remain relevant because they teach us to debate complex and difficult topics. She welcomes everyone into classics, bringing curiosity and wonder to the study of the past.
Talk is free and open to the public with an RSVP. Copies of Mary Beard’s new book Talking Classics: The Shock of the Old will be available onsite for purchase through Parnassus Books while supplies last. There will be a signing line following the talk where books can be signed and/or personalized.
RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/book-talk-with-mary-beard-tickets-1984904305209?aff=oddtdtcreator
About the speaker:
Mary Beard is a distinguished classicist, bestselling author, and popular commentator, known for her pioneering scholarship and for her witty approach to making antiquity accessible. She is a professor emerita of classics at the University of Cambridge, a fellow of Newnham College, and professor of Ancient Literature at the Royal Academy, with many additional international academic distinctions. She has served as the classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement. Her books include The Parthenon, one of the most readable accounts of the thousands of years of use and re-use of the ancient Greek building. Among many other wide-ranging works, she is the author of SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome; Women and Power: A Manifesto; and How Do We Look: the Body, the Divine, and the Question of Civilization.
About the book: Talking Classics: The Shock of the Old by Mary Beard
Why the ongoing fascination with the ancient world? This witty, approachable book asks why—for better or (sometimes) worse—antiquity continues to exert such a powerful hold on the contemporary imagination. Recalling a formative childhood encounter with a four-thousand-year-old piece of bread in a museum, Beard introduces the idea of thauma, or wonder, that kick-started a lifetime engaging with classics. It was not the canonical “greats” of ancient literature and art that initially drew her in, she confesses, but rather the more intimate, messy, and humdrum evidence of daily life in the remote past.
Confronting the uses and abuses of symbols of the ancient world, Beard reminds us that the traditions and “masterpieces” of Greece and Rome have certainly been politicized, but they belong to neither the left nor the right. Happily, no one owns the past. She warns us not to let a sense of reverence or overfamiliarity dampen the “shock of the old,” arguing that one of the most important things that classics teach us is how to grapple with complicated and controversial things. “The Greeks and Romans are long dead, they cannot answer back, and you can say what you like about them,” she reminds readers. “The simple fact that classics belong to none of us can offer a safe space to argue about the most difficult debates we face now.”
Beard welcomes everyone into classics. “It is not compulsory to be excited by the ancient world,” she writes. “But it can be a shame not to be.” This charming, sharp, and readable book from one of the world’s most entertaining classicists offers something for both new and established fans of classics, bringing new wonder and curiosity to even the most ancient of ideas.

Egyptian Gardens and Greek Grids: The Middle Kingdom Funerary Garden at Dra Abu el-Naga, the Stele of Moskhion, and Greek Stoikhedon
2026-05-10 15:00 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | FL
The American Research Center in Egypt, Northern California chapter, invites you to attend a lecture by Dr. Patricia Butz, UC Riverside:
“Egyptian Gardens and Greek Grids: The Middle Kingdom Funerary Garden at Dra Abu el-Naga, the Stele of Moskhion, and Greek Stoikhedon”
Sunday, May 10, 3 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time
Live Oak Community Center (New venue!)
1301 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley
This is an in-person lecture, not virtual. The lecture will not be recorded.
About the Lecture:
Dr. Butz explores her research on a remarkable cross-cultural connection between Egypt and Greece in their use of grids and gridded texts. The word stoikhedon in Greek is used to describe the layout of alphabetic inscriptions in a grid formation from the late 6th century BCE onward. Dr. Butz argues that the phenomenon is attested to by Greeks, not because of a static crossing of horizontal and vertical lines but because of their understanding and incorporation of the dynamic inherent in Egypt’s own use of grids, specifically for garden planning and water distribution. Tomb paintings beginning in the Old Kingdom have long depicted gridded gardens, but the spectacular archaeological discovery in 2017 by Dr. José Galán and his Spanish mission (Scribe 6, Fall 2020) of a gridded funerary garden at Luxor dating to the Middle Kingdom has supplied the on-ground evidence. Dr. Butz shows how modules (stoikoi) were used in Egyptian agriculture, matching the only literary attestation for stoikhedon ever found — on the bilingual (demotic and Greek) magical Stele of Moschion, where the movement of letterforms on magical grids acts like water passing through these squares.
About the Speaker:
Patricia A. Butz (pronounced “Boots”) specializes in research addressing the Greek presence in Egypt and the Egyptian presence in Greece. Her attention to the paleography and layout of ancient inscriptions is longstanding, especially on the Greek stoikhedon style and its origins. She is the author of The Hekatompedon Inscription at Athens and the Birth of the Stoikhedon Style (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2010) and many articles on the subject of visual literacy in antiquity, including, “Dialogue at Edfu? The Dedications of Lichas, Son of Pyrrhus, and the Concept of Egyptian Double Composition” in the Proceedings of the Twelfth International Congress of Egyptologists (2023) and “The Memorial of Metrodoros: Greek Stoichedon from North Africa” in Abgadiyat, the Journal of the Center of Writings and Scripts at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (2013). She received her PhD. from the University of Southern California in Ancient Art History, where she also completed the master’s program in Museum Studies/Art History. She is affiliated with the University of California, Riverside, and is teaching courses, including Egyptian Art History, at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
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Live Oak location and parking:
This month, we’re meeting in the Fireside Room of the city’s Live Oak Community Center in north Berkeley. It’s in Live Oak Park, less than half a mile from the northern edge of campus. Parking is mainly on neighboring streets: Shattuck, Berryman, Milvia, etc. If you need disabled parking, please arrive early as spots are few.
Useful links:
Live Oak Community Center – https://berkeleyca.gov/community-recreation/parks-recreation/facilities/live-oak-community-center
Google map of vicinity – https://www.google.com/maps/@37.8838014,-122.2742405,16z?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDQxMy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
About Northern California ARCE:
For more information, please visit https://www.youtube.com/@NorthernCaliforniaARCE, https://www.facebook.com/NorthernCaliforniaARCE, https://arce-nc.org, https://bsky.app/profile/khentiamentiu.bsky.social, and https://khentiamentiu.org. To join the chapter or renew your membership, please go to https://arce.org/membership/ and select “Berkeley, CA” as your chapter when you sign up.

Why Has African Archeology Been Ignored
2026-05-23 12:00 - 13:30 (America/New_York) | FL
Deepening our understanding of African heritage often starts in spaces that celebrate our history, but while museums house these stories, it is archaeology that unearths them.
While the world is well-acquainted with the architectural wonders of the Mediterranean and the Near East, the vast archaeological landscape of the African continent has often remained on the periphery of global conversation. This session is designed to explore the structural, logistical, and historical reasons behind this gap in our shared human story.
From the complexities of preserving heritage in diverse climates to the economic challenges of long-term excavation, we will look at the practical hurdles that have shaped the field of African archaeology, highlight the groundbreaking work currently being done to bring these ignored narratives back into the global spotlight, and explore opportunities for youth in Africa to participate in fieldwork across the continent and build careers in heritage preservation, culture advocacy, and archaeology.
Join us this May and connect with a continental and international community of storytellers, historians, archaeologists, culture advocates and heritage enthusiasts working to ensure Archaeology in Africa takes center stage in global discourse.
What to Expect:
1. The Logistical Landscape: An overview of the unique challenges of archaeological research on the continent.
2. Beyond the Surface: A look at sophisticated ancient African innovations in metallurgy, urban planning, and trade.
3. The Tech Revolution: How new technologies like satellite imaging and 3D mapping are revealing sites that were previously inaccessible.
4. Future Directions: A discussion on the importance of diversifying the global archaeological record for a more complete understanding of history.

Walter Farmer collection and Akenaton
2026-05-30 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago) | FL
Dr. Jack Green (Associate Director of Collections and Curatorial Affairs, Washington and Lee University) will present a lecture entitled “Tell es-Sa’idiyeah Cemetery (Jordan) and its connections to ancient Egypt and Persia.” A reception and chance to talk with the speaker will be held afterwards.

Accessing Abydos: Excavating Bricks and Archives for Answers About Early Kingship
2026-06-14 15:00 (America/New_York) | Redwood City Woman’s Club, 149 Clinton Street, Redwood City, CA, 94062, United States
About the Lecture:
The site of Abydos is critical for understanding the rise of Egyptian kingship and the foundations of the pharaonic state. The earliest kings built their tombs far in the desert at Abydos, ringing them with sacrificial burials. But the largest monuments built by these kings were not tombs but temples, also at Abydos, and also often provided with sacrificial burials. Built much closer to the floodplain and settlement site, these structures, known to archaeologists as funerary enclosures, remain somewhat enigmatic.
One such funerary enclosure still stands today, its mud-brick walls looming over the landscape some 4700 years after it was built. The standing monument is the last of the line; its predecessors are present only as foundations, no longer visible except when archaeologists clear the sand from them. Why are all earlier funerary enclosures mere stubs? Published explanations have focused on deliberate destruction, arguing that each building “died” as its king did, leaving only one standing at a time. However, recent work in the unpublished archives of the past 30 years of excavations held in New York suggest that neither the evidence nor its interpretation is nearly so straightforward.
In this talk, we will look first at the history of archaeology at the Abydos funerary enclosures and what knowledge has been produced there. We will then dive into the excavation of an archive, the work being done to bring unpublished material to light, and how this is reshaping thoughts about early kingship. In doing so, we will confront important matters not only about the ancient past, but about how archaeologists work, and how exciting it can be to confront evidence that makes us change our minds.
About the Speaker:

Dr. Laurel Bestock is the Joukowsky Family Associate Professor of Egyptology and Archaeology at Brown University, as well as a visiting professor and director of excavations at Abydos at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. A field archaeologist with longstanding interests in kingship and monumentality, she has directed projects at Abydos and at the Middle Kingdom fortress of Uronarti in the Sudan. She is part of a team that is developing Kiosk, archaeological recording software that is used by excavations around the world. Though a native Californian, Laurel left to pursue degrees in the cold way back in 1995 and has missed the West Coast ever since. In her spare time she spins yarn, and is preparing to bring her obsessions together in the classroom next semester by teaching a course on the Archaeology of Textiles.

Redwood City Woman’s Club location and parking:
This month, we’re meeting on the Peninsula, in the Redwood City Woman’s Club, two blocks off Broadway in central Redwood City. The 1911 bungalow, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, dates from the year women won the vote in California and worked in groups like this one to secure their roles in public life. The club is fully ramped and wheelchair-friendly. For users of public transit, it’s walking distance from Caltrain. Best freeway access is from Highway 101’s Whipple Avenue exit. Parking is along the street, though given advance notice, we can set up a couple of disabled spots on the north side of the building.
Useful links:
Redwood City Woman’s Club
Google map of vicinity
About Northern California ARCE:
For more information, please visit https://www.youtube.com/@NorthernCaliforniaARCE, https://www.facebook.com/NorthernCaliforniaARCE, https://arce-nc.org, https://bsky.app/profile/khentiamentiu.bsky.social, and https://khentiamentiu.org. To join the chapter or renew your membership, please go to https://arce.org/membership/ and select “Berkeley, CA” as your chapter when you sign up.

America’s First Egyptologist and the Creation of the ISAC Museum
2026-06-20 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago) | The Historic Longview Farm House, 13525 Clayton Road, St. Louis, MO, 63141, United States
Dr. Kate Ayres (Institute for the Study of Ancient cultures at the University of Chicago) will deliver her lecture entitled “America’s First Egyptologist and the Creation of the ISAC Museum.” A reception and chance to talk with the speaker will be held afterwards.

Petra Byzantine Church
2026-07-25 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago) | Longview Park, 13525 Clayton Road, Town and Country, MO, 63141, United States
Dr. Peter Warnock, Adjunct faculty member in Anthropology at Muskegon Community College, and board member of the St. Louis Society of the Archaeological Institute will discuss the archaeological discoveries at the Byzantine church in Petra, Jordan. A reception will be held afterwards to talk with the speaker.

Here Comes the Sun: A diachronic study on the role of music during the Amarna Period
2026-08-16 15:00 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/FcyP-FNRSbqg_kpujlRXuA
The American Research Center in Egypt, Northern California chapter, invites you to attend a Zoom lecture by Waleed el-Hawatky, The American University in Cairo:
“Here Comes the Sun: A diachronic study on the role of music during the Amarna Period”
Sunday, August 16, 2026, 3 PM PDT
This meeting is virtual, and not in person. It will be recorded.
Zoom registration link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/FcyP-FNRSbqg_kpujlRXuA
Image Credit: Relief of People Driving off Birds, ca. 1352–1336 B.C.E.. Limestone, pigment, 8 1/4 x 21 1/4 in. (21 x 54 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 60.197.3. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum,www.brooklynmuseum.org)
About the Lecture:
Music has played and continues to play a prominent role in the lives of individuals and in society, hardwired into the human experience and integral to our understanding of the world in both its tangible and intangible manifestations. This was no different in dynastic Egypt, where abundant iconographic and physical evidence from the Old Kingdom on shows music being performed in every context and at every level of society. Music appears not only to gain prominence during the Amarna Period but also to develop innovations, including new instrument designs and musical ensembles, all of which are well documented in the rich visual culture of the Amarna Period. This paper explores music in this era, with an emphasis on the royal court, demonstrating its increased role as compared with the first part of the 18th Dynasty with evidence garnered from representations in tombs, temples and texts, as well as physical instruments, amulets, figurines and other material objects associated with music. Through both an Egyptological and musicological approach, this study not only elucidates the function and possibly accelerated evolution of musical innovation in the Amarna Period, but also the implications of the social and gender roles observed in musical practice within the framework of the Aten ideology, perhaps even inspired directly by it.
About the Speaker:
Waleed el-Hawatky is an Egyptologist and Musicologist with an MA in Egyptology & Coptology from The American University in Cairo. Born and raised in California to Egyptian immigrants, el-Hawatky is a newcomer to Egyptology, coming from a background in genetics and public relations, bringing disciplinary versatility to his work. A composer, performer and recording artist of nearly three decades, el-Hawatky specializes in ancient Egyptian musicology, seeking new approaches to the study of ancient music in hopes of eventually constructing a comprehensive lexicon on the ancient Egyptian musical tradition, contributing to the wider study of daily life in ancient Egypt.
How to Register:
Register for the lecture by clicking on this link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/FcyP-FNRSbqg_kpujlRXuA
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the lecture.
There are a few things you should know before you join the lecture:
* Advance registration is required. When you click on the link to register. you will receive instructions by email on how and when to join, along with a link on which you will click to join the meeting. Save the email, as you will need the link it contains to join the meeting. Please register now. Please do not share the join link with anyone, it is unique to your email address. Try to join at least 10 minutes before the meeting. When you do join the meeting, be prepared to be put in the waiting room until the lecture starts at 3 pm. This is a security measure.
* If you haven’t already installed Zoom, you should download and install the Zoom program (app) well before you try to join the meeting. There IS an option to use your web browser to join the meeting instead of the Zoom program, but the browser interface is limited and depends greatly on what browser and what operating system you’re using.
* For tutorials on how to use Zoom, go to https://learn-zoom.us/show-me. In particular, “Joining a Zoom Meeting” should show you what you need to do to join our lecture.
* All meeting attendees can communicate with everyone, or with individual participants, using the chat window, which can be opened by clicking on the chat button and which you can probably find at the bottom middle of your Zoom viewing screen. Participants will be encouraged to hold their questions for the speaker until after the lecture, and will also be encouraged to address their questions for the speaker to everyone, not just to the speaker, so that all can see them. “Everyone” is the default chat option.
If you have any questions, please email glenn@glennmeyer.net or arcencZoom@gmail.com.
About Northern California ARCE:
For more information, please visit https://www.youtube.com/@NorthernCaliforniaARCE, https://www.facebook.com/NorthernCaliforniaARCE, https://arce-nc.org, https://bsky.app/profile/khentiamentiu.bsky.social, and https://khentiamentiu.org. To join the chapter or renew your membership, please go to https://arce.org/membership/ and select “Berkeley, CA” as your chapter when you sign up.

Current Research in Tennessee Archaeology (CRITA)
2026-09-12 09:00 - 15:30 (America/Chicago) | FL
AIA-Nashville Society is excited to invite you to Current Research in Tennessee Archaeology (CRITA) on September 12, 2026! Organized by the Tennessee Division of Archaeology, this special program will be held in person from 9:00-3:30 at the Tennessee State Library and Archives in Nashville, Tennessee. See details below for free parking information. With morning and afternoon talks, this free day-long showcase is open to the public, bringing together professional archaeologists, students, and the interested public to learn about recent research into Tennessee’s archaeological heritage. This event is free and does not require registration.
More info: https://bit.ly/CRITA-2026
See website above for venue information, morning and afternoon program abstracts, and associated events.
Due to the January 2026 ice storm, CRITA has been rescheduled to September 12, 2026!
Full website link: https://www.tn.gov/environment/program-areas/arch-archaeology/current-research-in-tennessee-archaeology–crita-/2026-crita-program.html

The Mystery of the Midas Monument
2026-09-14 16:30 - 18:00 (America/New_York) | FL
The Elizabeth S. Ettinghausen Lecture

Spokane Monthly Archaeology Lecture
2026-09-17 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W 1st Ave, Spokane, WA, 99201, United States
Join us for our monthly lectures on a variety of archaeological topics!

Religion at the Boundaries and the Archaeology of Interreligious Engagement
2026-09-21 14:00 - 20:30, 2026-09-23 17:00 - 21:30 (America/New_York) | FL
Kershaw Lectures in Near East Archaeology
Time and Location TBA

Columbus Society Kershaw Lecture in Near East Archaeology with Dr. Erin Darby
2026-09-22 16:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | FL
Kershaw Lectures in Near East Archaeology
Topic and Time TBA

SAIG 2026 Dissertation Lecture: "Remembering Collapse: Understanding Ritual at Abandoned Late Bronze Age Sites on Crete through the lens of Social Trauma Theory" with Sarah Malik Bell
2026-09-22 17:00 (America/New_York) | FL
Please join the Student Affairs Interest Group for their annual Dissertation Lecture featuring Sarah Malik Bell, who received her PhD from Brown University in 2025, for her talk, “Remembering Collapse: Understanding Ritual at Abandoned Late Bronze Age Sites on Crete through the lens of Social Trauma Theory” on Tuesday, September 22nd at 5:00 PM ET/2:00 PM PT. The lecture will be held on Zoom – please register here.

Abstract:
This talk will discuss social trauma theory—a theory that is currently applied almost exclusively to social traumas originating in the contemporary moment—and its applicability to ancient archaeological contexts. Bell will discuss the ritual practices covered in her dissertation and map the periodic renewal of these practices against the material evidence for subsequent episodes of social change on the island of Crete. She will show that, as social trauma theory allows us to predict, embodied ritual practices became vital resources in the repeated reification of post-collapse identities during times of increased social threat on the island. She will also touch on regional variation and sociopolitical change to discuss long-term sociopolitical developments on Crete, including the development of the Cretan Poleis.

About the Speaker:
Sarah Malik Bell, PhD is Assistant Professor of Art History and Archaeology at Berea College. She received her PhD in archaeology from the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World at Brown University, specializing in the ritual visitation of abandoned sites associated with social trauma in both the ancient and the contemporary worlds. Her current research continues to focus on the material legacies of difficult heritage and the role these legacies play in healing and/or perpetuating past trauma.

TBD: Topic - Ancient Western Asian Seals
2026-09-23 18:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York) | Penn Museum, 3230 South Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States
TBD

Consider the Lobster: The Acholla Archaeological Project (Tunisia)
2026-09-24 16:00 - 21:30 (America/New_York) | FL
Charles Eliot Norton Memorial Lectureship
Time and Location TBA
