Archaeological Institute of America

AIA Atlanta: Rune Nyord on the Egyptian Book of the Dead
2026-04-16 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York) | Emory University, White Hall, Room 207, 1672 North Decatur Road, Atlanta, GA, 30322, United States
What: Dr. Rune Nyord is coming home to Emory!
Please join us to hear from a real Egyptologist! He will premiere a brand-new lecture based on his research since the publication of his latest book: Yearning for Immortality. This is a special presentation sponsored by the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA).
Who: Dr. Rune Nyord is Associate Professor of Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology at Emory University, where he is also Chair of the Art History Department. He is a sought after lecturer around the world, but his home is Emory University, and we are the beneficiaries.
Why: Dr. Nord will be sharing a brand-new lecture with us! He just published a new book last year Yearning for Immortality: The European Invention of the Ancient Egyptian Afterlife. Since the book was published, he has new research he is eager to share about the famous Egyptian “Book of the Dead,” which was a guide to the afterlife for ancient Egyptians.
When: Thursday, April 16, at 7:00pm
(Be on time! Due to Emory’s security policy, the venue doors will be locked at 7:15pm)
Where: Emory University, White Hall, Room 207
Address: 301 Dowman Dr, Atlanta, GA 30322
( see event website for venue details: http://tiny.cc/NyordAIA )
How: FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!
RSVP at http://tiny.cc/nyordAIA
To guarantee a seat, you must RSVP by Tuesday, April 14. (RSVP is not required but is appreciated to ensure we plan accordingly.)
If you RSVP by this deadline, you will be entered into a raffle to win a signed copy of Dr. Nyord’s new book! (You must be present to win.)
Fishburne Parking Deck at 1672 North Decatur Road, Atlanta, GA 30322
( see event website for venue details: http://tiny.cc/nyordAIA )
Lecture Title: “Egyptian Book of the Dead: Ancient Contexts, New Conclusions: The Ritual Logic of Book of the Dead Imagery”
by Rune Nyord
Event Website: http://tiny.cc/nyordAIA
Synopsis
Are we misreading ancient Egyptian art? For decades, we’ve interpreted the “Book of the Dead” through a modern lens, treating its illustrations like a travel brochure for the Great Beyond. This lecture flips the script. By looking at these images through the eyes of the people who used them, we’ll uncover a new, ritual-driven logic behind iconic scenes, like Weighing of the Heart and the Field of Reeds.
Speaker’s Bio
Rune Nyord is Associate Professor of Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology at Emory University. Before joining Emory in 2018, he held positions at the University of Copenhagen, University of Cambridge (Christ’s College), and the Free University Berlin. His research focuses on conceptions and experiences of representation, ontology, and personhood in ancient Egypt, especially as evidenced in Middle Kingdom (Middle Bronze Age, early 2nd millennium BCE) funerary culture, and drawing on a combination of archaeological and textual sources. He is also interested in the history of the discipline of Egyptology and ways in which it continues to influence contemporary practices and interpretations.

On Metals, Grasses, and Mollusks: A Local History of Ecology, Economy, and Empire in Roman Iberia
2026-04-17 17:30 - 18:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | University of Washington, Room TBA, Seattle, WA, United States

The (Re)Making of the Acropolis from the 1830s to the Present
2026-04-18 11:00 - 12:30 (America/New_York) | Smith College, Neilson Library Browsing Room (Room 102), 7 Neilson Drive, Northampton, MA, 01063, United States
Yannis Hamilakis, “The (Re)Making of the Acropolis from the 1830s to the Present”
Saturday, April 18 at 11:00am EST
Smith College, Neilson Library Browsing Room (Room 102)
SPEAKER BIO
Dr. Hamilakis is the Joukowsky Family Professor of Archaeology and Professor of Modern Greek Studies at Brown University. He is an archaeologist, writer, and exhibition curator, and a Guggenheim Fellow (Class of 2025). His main research and teaching interests are the socio-politics of the past, the body and bodily senses, the archaeology of eating and drinking, human-animal relationships, the ontology and materiality of photography, archaeology and nationalism, archaeological ethnography, the archaeology of contemporary migration, and critical pedagogy in archaeology. His main geographical research focus has been Greece and the Aegean, and although much of his fieldwork is to do with the prehistoric (Neolithic and Bronze Age) Aegean, he is equally interested in the archaeology of the contemporary. In fact, many of his projects are multi-temporal. Since 2010, he has co-directed the Koutroulou Magoula Archaeology and Archaeological Ethnography Project in central Greece, and since 2016 he has directed a field project on the archaeology of contemporary migration on Lesvos.
The 32nd Annual Phyllis Williams Lehmann Lecture is sponsored by the AIA–Western Massachusetts Society and Smith College.

Dung and Desert Copper: Environmental archaeology at the macro- and microscale
2026-04-18 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | Building 51 (Social Sciences), University of North Florida, 1 UNF Drive, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, United States
Kershaw Lectures in Near East Archaeology

From the Nile to the New World: Pharaohs, Founding Fathers, and Egypt’s Influence on America’s Pursuit of Identity, Liberty, and Legacy
2026-04-18 15:30 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Penn Museum, 3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States
Saturday, April 18
3:30 pm EST
In-person only at the Penn Museum, Anthro Classroom 345
No registration required
Speaker: Mena Melad, Founder and Editor of Luxor Times
Title: From the Nile to the New World: Pharaohs, Founding Fathers, and Egypt’s Influence on America’s Pursuit of Identity, Liberty, and Legacy
Abstract:
On the occasion of the United States’ semiquincentennial, America 250, this lecture explores the enduring presence of Egypt in the American imagination and its influence on the symbolic language of the American republic.
From the founding era, ancient Egypt occupied a notable place in the intellectual and cultural landscape of the early United States. Egyptian imagery and ideas associated with antiquity, permanence, and authority appeared in the symbolic vocabulary of the new nation. Over the past 250 years, Egypt has continued to appear in American cultural expression in diverse and evolving forms. This lecture traces how Egypt has been interpreted, integrated, and reimagined throughout American history, from the ideological world of the Founding Fathers to modern popular culture, including film, music, and visual media. Egyptian themes and symbols have repeatedly appeared in American public space and collective memory. Even in the emotional narratives of immigrants arriving in the “New World,” Egypt often stood visibly within the American landscape through monumental antiquities such as Cleopatra’s Needle in New York and the Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. These ancient monuments became part of the American cultural environment, linking the civilization of the Nile with the identity of a modern republic. The lecture concludes by shifting perspective to Egypt itself through the theme “Saving Nubia, Saving Egypt: Through Egyptian Eyes.” It examines how Egyptians experienced and interpreted the international campaign to rescue the Nubian monuments during the construction of the Aswan High Dam in the 1960s. By exploring Egyptian media outlets, public discourse, and the socioeconomic and political atmosphere of the time, the lecture highlights how this global heritage effort was perceived within Egypt and how it shaped modern understandings of heritage, identity, and international cooperation.
Through these interconnected themes, the lecture reveals a long and complex dialogue between Egypt and the United States that spans symbolism, cultural imagination, archaeology, and global heritage preservation.
Speaker Bio:
Mena Melad is an historian, Egyptology researcher, and cultural heritage communicator whose work bridges academic research, journalism, and public history. Melad is the founder and editor of Luxor Times Magazine, an international publication dedicated to archaeology, Egyptology, and cultural heritage in Egypt.
Melad has worked extensively in the field of public Egyptology and heritage interpretation. He served as a historical consultant for the preservation and restoration of Howard Carter’s House in Luxor, a project led by ARCE as a part of the centennial commemoration of the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922. He has also curated exhibitions and public programs exploring the history of archaeology, Egyptomania, and the global reception of ancient Egyptian culture. Through Luxor Times, Melad established a digital partnership with Google Arts & Culture to present Egyptian archaeological discoveries, historical archives, and cultural heritage stories to global audiences through online exhibitions and digital storytelling.
Melad’s research interests include Egyptian media archives as historical sources for Egyptology, the politics of archaeological discovery, heritage interpretation, and the influence of ancient Egypt on global cultural identity. Through his work, he continues to promote dialogue between scholars, institutions, and the wider public about Egypt’s past and its global cultural legacy.
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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.

Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East Tours Led by Harvard Students
2026-04-19 13:00 - 13:45, 2026-04-26 13:00 - 13:45 (America/New_York) | Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East, 6 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East, 6 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, 02138
Available during the Harvard academic year Sundays at 1:00 pm, October 5, 2025–April 26, 2026. See blackout dates.*
*Blackout dates: November 30, 2025–January 25, 2026, March 15, 2026 and March 22, 2026
This free tour, led by Harvard students, explores the Mediterranean Marketplaces: Connecting the Ancient World exhibition and how the movement of goods, peoples, and ideas around the ancient Mediterranean transformed the lives and livelihoods of people at all levels of society. Touch replicas and smell “ancient” scents as the students bring the past alive.
Visitors may drop in at the scheduled times. No reservation is required. Tours meet in the lobby and last approximately 45 minutes.
Groups of 10 or more may contact reservations to request other times. Please complete the reservation request form.

Western Horizons: Phoenician Colonization in the Iron Age Mediterranean
2026-04-19 14:00 - 15:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Steinmetz “Archaeological Center”, 2901 9th St., Manhattan Beach, United States
In the tenth century BCE, the Phoenicians — Iron Age Canaanites of the coastal Levant — sailed west to the Iberian peninsula and through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Atlantic Ocean. They subsequently established colonies in Spain, Portugal, Sardinia, Sicily, and North Africa. In this talk, we will look at the evidence for when and how this happened, and also ask why. What was the situation back home in the Levant that triggered this remarkable venture? And what impact did western exploration and colonization have on the Phoenicians in their homeland, as well as on the places where they settled. Presented by Dr. David Schloen.

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.

Expanding the Ancient World K-12 Educator Workshop | Digital Approaches to Global Art History: The Example of the Human Figure
2026-04-21 17:30 - 19:00 (America/New_York)
This workshop will take place online; a Zoom link will be provided via email to registered participants.
Registration is required at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdnphF1cS7-JSnFxoe7HAAelGJ4ufS2P1l8CEY8LC1NOgQQ4A/viewform
Expanding the Ancient World is a series of professional development workshops and online resources for teachers. Keyed to the NYC Department of Education Social Studies Scope and Sequence, this program is designed to offer K-12 educators opportunities to develop their knowledge of the ancient world and to provide classroom-ready strategies for teaching the past with reliable sources. Featuring inquiry-based workshops, flexible lesson plans, and up-to-date research, Expanding the Ancient World aims to equip teachers with information and skills that they can share with their students. CTLE credits will be offered to New York State teachers.
This workshop uses the prompt of a newly started digital project to consider how large scale narratives and individual objects can be integrated into curriculums and into classroom experiences. The project is Global Approaches to Early Representations of the Human Figure, currently browseable at https://gaerhf.org. GAERHF – as it’s known – starts with the broad premise that we as a species – as a group – have been looking at ourselves for a long time and have been making images of ourselves for a long time. The phenomenon is pervasive enough so that representing it in digital form and encouraging exploration via a website supports an art history that allows for many narratives to be present at the same time. Many cultures made images of the human figure. Sometimes those cultures were in dialog with others, thereby creating narratives of mutual influence. But that is not always the case. Regardless of degrees of contact, GAERHF can be a tool for recognizing complexity and sophistication in many pre-modern societies. Its scope is approximately 50,000 BCE to 1500 CE and it includes figures from anywhere they are made and in any medium. Within this large-scale context, individual objects are represented in such a way that users – educators or students – can define and explore flexible ranges of time and space as they consider how to frame the global approach inherent in GAERHF.
The workshop will start with an introduction to GAERHF. This will include an introduction to the digital technologies underlying the site but the focus will be on the content and the interactions it supports. Breakout groups will be given prompts as to possible uses of GAERHF in the classroom and for assignments. Because GAERHF is a very new project, these prompts will be practical but it is also hoped that the educators present will provide feedback that will inform the future development of this resource.
Workshop led by Sebastian Heath (Clinical Associate Professor of Computational Humanities and Roman Archaeology, ISAW).
Participants will receive 1.5 CTLE hours.
If you have any questions regarding the Expanding the Ancient World program please email ETAW@nyu.edu.
Please check isaw.nyu.edu for event updates.
ISAW is committed to providing a positive and educational experience for all guests and participants who attend our public programming. We ask that all attendees follow the guidelines listed in our community standards policy.

Archaeology and the Art Museum
2026-04-22 17:00 - 18:30 (America/Chicago) | TBA (Western Illinois), Monmouth, IL, United States
Martha Sharp Joukowsky Lectureship Time TBA

AIA Archaeology Hour April 2026: Ecology and Slavery in St. Croix
2026-04-22 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
Join the AIA for as Justin Dunnavant (UCLA) presents the final AIA Archaeology Hour talk of the 2025-2026 season: “Ecology and Slavery in St. Croix.”
This presentation will be given at 8pm Eastern/7pm Central/6pm Mountain/5pm Pacific.
Register here.

Archaeology-Hour Screening: Ecology and Slavery in St. Croix
2026-04-23 17:00 - 18:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Whitman College Maxey Hall 207, 173 Stanton St., Walla Walla, WA, 99362, United States
Please join us for an in-person screening and informal discussion of the Archaeology Hour talk by Justin Dunnavant (UCLA).
The development of plantation slavery radically transformed societies and environments in the Americas. In this talk, Dunnavant will delve into the colonial practice of coral mining and its environmental impacts in the Danish West Indies. Drawing from archaeological, historical, and environmental data, Dunnavant reveals how the use of coral as the dominant construction material for colonial buildings left a lasting legacy on the landscape and seascape that is still evident today on the island of St. Croix.
This event is free and open to the public.

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
Martha Sharp Joukowsky Lectureship

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

Pilgrims and Co-Presence in the Sanctuary of Diana Nemorensis
2026-04-24 12:00 - 14:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | McCune Conference room, HSSB 6020, UCSB, Santa Barbara, California, 93117, United States
Local Annual AIA Lecture. Pizza lunch will be served!

Digging in Circles: Miami's Prehistoric Legacy
2026-04-24 15:30 - 16:30 (America/New_York) | Memorial Art Gallery, 500 University Ave, Rochester, NY, 14607

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

Dr. Shanti Morell-Hart: “Beyond the Swidden: Mesoamerican Agricultural Practices Past, Present, and Future”
2026-04-25 10:30 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | University of Dayton, 300 College Drive Ave, SC 114, Dayton, OH, 45469, United States
Doris Z. Stone New World Archaeology Lectures
How do we understand human negotiations of variable ecologies from the perspective of deep time, and identify historical shifts in these dynamics? How does such research help us to understand societal “collapse” as it has been framed by so many scholars (often outside of historical ecology and archaeology)? What cautionary tales or routes to innovation can we draw from these understandings? In this talk I address recent studies in Mesoamerica on ancient agriculture, as well as resilient features of human practice in negotiating tropical landscapes. I focus on several areas where I have carried out archaeological research in Guatemala, Mexico, and Honduras, with an emphasis on the analysis of plant residues. Broadly, I consider: How can we negotiate productivity and sustainability (through many cultural and natural definitions)? What alternate farming solutions can we offer, based in archaeological research and understandings of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK)? In this talk, I address contemporary issues in Mesoamerica, from the home garden, to the milpa, to the forest. What new agricultural strategies in tropical Mesoamerica have been inspired- – or discouraged– by ancient practices? What additional strategies might we consider in an era of radical environmental change?

Megiddo: Past, Present, and Future
2026-04-25 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago)
Dr. Zachary Dunseth, University of California – San Diego will deliver the Kershaw Lecture. A reception and chance to talk with the speaker will be held afterwards.

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

New Insights into Changing Lifeways in Ancient Nubia
2026-04-30 18:00 - 19:30 (America/Phoenix) | Zoom, 4985 SW 74th Court, Miami, 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

There Is More To Egypt than Tut: Challenges for Egyptology and Egyptologists
2026-05-02 10:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | Rye Free Reading Room, 1061 Boston Post Road, Rye, NY, 10580, United States
The Archaeological Institute of America, Westchester Society, and the New York chapter of the American Research Center in Egypt are pleased to present to present the following free online symposium “There Is More To Egypt than Tut: Challenges for Egyptology and Egyptologists.”
Date: May 2, 2026
Time: 10:00 AM-1:00 PM ET.
The program is hosted by the Rye Free Reading Room. To register click here.
The purpose of the symposium is to do exactly what the title expresses. King Tutankhamun is the universal face of Egypt to the world. Egypt is blessed with an abundance of art, architecture, and writing. But there is more to the study of Egypt than material objects.
The speakers in this symposium will address issues in chronology based on the First Intermediate Period, the Hyksos based on the Second Intermediate Period, race and Nubia, women and the relation of Egyptology to other “ologies.”
There will be a ten minute break between the third and fourth speakers.
Periodization and the creation of a new Egyptian History
Thomas Schneider, Professor of Egyptology and Near Eastern Studies (on leave 2023-7),
University of British Columbia
The conventional periodization of ancient Egyptian history as a sequence of ‘kingdoms’ and ‘intermediate periods’ (and subperiods, such as “the Ramesside period”, dynasties) is a legacy of the 19th and early 20th c., partially informed by a chronological grid conveyed in Manetho’s Aigyptiaca. This conventional sequencing of history is perpetuated in all recent histories of ancient Egypt, whose narratives and summary chronological tables make something appear historical that is mere practical convention. Despite the fact that Egyptological scholarship has fundamentally changed our understanding of Egyptian history over the past 100 years, the field has never attempted any alternative historical periodization that assesses phenomena of historical (dis)continuity and cohesion based on current knowledge. This lecture will discuss the importance of periodization as a historiographical tool and chart a way forward towards a new periodization of Egyptian history.
Prior to coming to University of British Columbia in 2007, he taught at multiple institutions. From 2018-20, he was Associate Vice President (International) at the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China. From 2016-7, he served in a part-time role as Advisor to the President at Quest University Canada. From 2014-8, he was a member of the UBC Senate and worked, among other projects, on a Responsible Conduct of Research Initiative by the Dean and Vice Provost, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. From 2021-2022, he was the founding Executive Director of the Pacific Alliance of Liberal Arts Colleges (PALAC). On January 1, 2023, he took up the position of Chief Executive of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (www.apru.org).
He is the founding editor of the “Journal of Egyptian History” (2008-2014) and was the editor of “Culture and History of the Ancient Near East” (Brill, 2006-2013) and “Near Eastern Archaeology” (American Schools of Oriental Research, 2012-2018).
There’s more to Egypt than Egyptians
Dani Candelora, College of Holy Cross
In Egyptology, the Hyksos are at best dismissed as an irrelevant blip in pharaonic power, and at worst vilified as the invading barbarians of Manetho’s narrative. Ongoing research, both reinvestigating well-known texts and uncovering new archaeological evidence, has shown that neither are accurate. Instead, the Hyksos were multicultural rulers with links to broader West Asian power networks, and their reigns influenced Egyptian culture in arenas from warfare to religion, technology to language. Despite being accepted as Egyptian kings by most Egyptians, and even respected by later Egyptian dynasties, the negative Theban political rhetoric has overwhelmingly colored the Hyksos’s treatment in the field. These kings are an important part of Egyptian history, and should be recognized for the legacy they left behind.
Danielle Candelora is the Assistant Professor of Classics and Egyptology at the College of Holy Cross. She received her B.A. from Brown University, her M.A. from the University of Chicago, Oriental Institute (now Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures), and her Ph.D. in Egyptian Archaeology from the University of Chicago, Oriental Institute (now Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures). Her dissertation was “Redefining the Hyksos: Immigration and Identity Negotiation in the Second Intermediate Period” and she has maintained that interest in her academic career. Her research and teaching interests are Immigration and Identity Negotiation, Egyptian/Near Eastern/Mediterranean Art, Architecture, Material Culture, and Archaeology, Interdisciplinary Theoretical Approaches to Identity, Border Construction and Maintenance, Strategic Use of Art and Architecture in Self Representation and Politics, Cross-Cultural Exchange of Artistic Motifs and Technological Transmission, Ancient Art and Archaeology in Museum Collections, Egyptian Intermediate Periods. She just published Immigration and Borders in Ancient Egypt. Elements in Ancient Egypt in Context, (Cambridge University Press) and is working on The Hyksos and Immigrant Communities in the Second Millennium BCE: Foreign Identities and Their Impact on Egypt.
True Colors: Racecraft in the Archaeology of Egypt and Sudan
Dr. Uroš Matić, University of Graz, Austria
This paper examines how ideas about “race” have shaped the study of ancient Egypt and Sudan from the nineteenth century to the present. Rather than treating race as a biological fact, it uses the concept of “racecraft” of Karen Fields and Barbara J. Fields to show how race developed as a changing set of assumptions and interpretations. Drawing on theories from the history and sociology of knowledge, especially the work of Ludwik Fleck, the study explores how racial thinking continued to influence archaeology even after it was officially rejected. Finally, the study reassesses changes in ancient Egyptian representations of Nubians. Earlier interpretations viewed the significant mid–Eighteenth Dynasty changes in Nubian iconography as artistic documentation of real physical features of newly encountered populations in Upper Nubia. In contrast, this paper demonstrates that these visual changes primarily reflect shifts in ancient Egyptian political and ideological strategies.I am an archaeologist and Egyptologist specialized in violence, ethnicity, gender and settlement archaeology of ancient Egypt.
He obtained my PhD at the Institute for Egyptology and Coptic studies of the University in Münster in 2017. His doctoral thesis deals with violent treatments of enemies and prisoners of war in New Kingdom Egypt. The thesis was marked with a double summa cum laude and rewarded with Philippika prize for 2018 of the German publishing house Harrassowitz. It was also awarded with the Best Publication Award of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in 2020.
From 2018 to 2019 he conducted Post Doc research at the Institute for Egyptology and Coptic studies of the University of Münster on cosmetic substances and utensils in Egyptian New Kingdom Nubia. During this research he was a guest scholar at the OREA-Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. This research was conducted within the German DAAD PRIME Post Doctoral program for 2018-2019.
He was a lecturer at the University of Münster (2016-2021), University of Vienna (2022), University of Innsbruck (2024-2025) and University of Graz (2022-present).
Women of a Fractured State: First Intermediate Period Women’s Agency and Visual Literacy
Sue Kelly, Czech Institute of Egyptology, Charles University, Prague.
The dissolution of Old Kingdom centralised authority catalysed a profound evolution in women’s visual literacy, unique in Egyptian history. While Memphite tradition governed female figures through rigid, passive constraints, the fracturing of state control during the First Intermediate Period allowed women’s iconography to deviate from established canons, reflecting a more expansive visual vocabulary.
This lecture examines the emergence of female agency through the deliberate manipulation of artistic codes. Rather than a byproduct of provincialism, this transition reflects a systematic shift in women’s funerary representation. Six iconographic transitions: the adoption of male-coded striding postures; the inclusion of authoritative attributes like the staff and ankh; the renegotiation of spatial positioning on monuments; the representation of expanding social categories; the integration of active gestures; and rare chromatic anomalies, such as using red skin to signify female vitality are examined.
Furthermore, these self-presentations provide textual records of women adopting both ‘ideal’ and ‘career’ biographies—the dual pillars of Egyptian self-thematisation. By adopting these new modes of representation, women challenged Old Kingdom decorum and asserted a sophisticated, distinct presence in the visual record. These are, fundamentally, ancient female voices articulating how they chose to be commemorated for eternity.
Sue Kelly is an Egyptologist and early-career researcher whose work sits at the intersection of social theory and the material record. Her research focuses on the ‘Social Power’ of ancient Egyptian women, across the dynasties one through to eleven., employing a data-driven approach to reconstruct the agency, influence, and contributions of women within the complex hierarchy of the Old Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period. Her overarching aim is to continue the longitudinal study to map developments, transitions, and changes across the four different political environments: state formation, maturation, collapse, and reunification.
Her book, Unveiling Female Social Power (c. 3080–2180 BCE), serves as a testament to this methodology. By conducting a statistical analysis of female titles, Dr. Kelly challenges long-standing narratives that have historically marginalized women’s roles in Egyptian statehood. Her work demonstrates that female agency was not a peripheral phenomenon but a vital, functioning component of the socio-political infrastructure, measurable through the distribution of titles and the management of elite resources.
Dr. Kelly earned her PhD in 2021 and completed her initial post-doctoral fellowship in 2023 at Macquarie University, Sydney. She is currently concluding a prestigious Marie Curie Actions Fellowship at the Czech Institute of Egyptology.
There’s nothing new about that! How Egyptology can offer fresh perspectives on contemporary scientific and societal challenges
Frederik Rogner, Vienna, Austria
At the dawn of Egyptology’s third century, Egyptologists have both successfully received and adapted approaches from other fields, and themselves developed hypotheses and methods which can be fruitfully applied to the study of diverse cultural phenomena, far beyond the boundaries of Egyptology and of ancient Egypt. At the same time, Egyptological outreach that is deliberately aimed at the wider academic community and tries to actively contribute to ongoing interdisciplinary discourses, remains rather low.
This paper addresses these issues, with a particular view to the scientific and societal relevance and potential of humanities at large. I will conclude by addressing two areas where insights from Egyptology can offer perspectives and strategies for better understanding (and, as a result, dealing with) seemingly ‘new’ challenges in contemporary society, namely AI driven image production and expressions of political power.
Frederik Rogner has obtained his BA in Ancient Civilizations and his MA in Egyptology and in Classical Archaeology from the University of Basel. In 2019 he completed his binational doctoral studies at the University of Basel and the École Pratique des Hautes Études – Université Paris Sciences et Lettres. His PhD thesis deals with issues of visual narrativity and pictorial storytelling and their application in the ancient Egyptian New Kingdom. He was a member of the Graduate school of Eikones, the Center for the Theory and History of the Image in Basel. Rogner’s research interests include multimodal synergies of pictures and writing in ancient Egypt, the semantics of form and layout in two- and three-dimensional space, and the use of images as communicative tools throughout human history. He has conducted several research projects at the Netherlands Institute for the Near East (Leiden) and at the University of Geneva. He currently holds a position in the Austrian federal administration.
Contact Information:
Dr. Peter Feinman
President
AIA Westchester Society
Vice President
ARCENY Society
President
Institute of History, Archaeology, and Education
feinmanp@ihare.org

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.

Spectacles of Cultural Heritage Destruction in Global Media
2026-05-04 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago) | https://www.archaeological.org/event/spectacles-of-cultural-heritage-destruction-in-global-media-2/
Charles Eliot Norton Memorial Lectureship

Book Club: Dinner with King Tut
2026-05-04 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago) | Centennial Park Conservancy, Parks Permit Office at 2565 Park Plaza, Nashville, TN 37203., Centennial Park Conservancy, Parks Permit Office, 2565 Park Plaza, Nashville, Tennessee, 37203, United States
AIA-Nashville Society Book Club
Join us for a free Parthenon Book Club meeting on Monday, May 4, at 6 PM. This event is free and open to the public, with RSVP required. All are welcome. RSVP required: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/parthenon-book-club-dinner-with-king-tut-tickets-1975611659656?aff=oddtdtcreator
*Due to HVAC renovation at the Parthenon, this event will take place at the Parks Permit Office at 2565 Park Plaza, Nashville, TN 37203.
THIS QUARTER’S BOOK SELECTION: We will be discussing Dinner with King Tut by Sam Kean. Reserve your seat with a free RSVP. Looking to purchase the book? Head over to Parnassus Books and mention the Archaeological Institute of America-Nashville Society book club at the Parthenon for a 10% discount.
ABOUT THE BOOK: Dinner with King Tut by Sam Kean
Description from Nashville Public Library:
From “one of America’s smartest and most charming writers” (NPR), an archaeological romp through the entire history of humankind–and through all five senses–from tropical Polynesian islands to forbidding arctic ice floes, and everywhere in between.
Whether it’s the mighty pyramids of Egypt or the majestic temples of Mexico, we have a good idea of what the past looked like. But what about our other senses: The tang of Roman fish sauce and the springy crust of Egyptian sourdough? The boom of medieval cannons and the clash of Viking swords? The frenzied plays of an Aztec ballgame…and the chilling reality that the losers might also lose their lives?
History often neglects the tastes, textures, sounds, and smells that were an intimate part of our ancestors’ lives, but a new generation of researchers is resurrecting those hidden details, pioneering an exciting new discipline called experimental archaeology. These are scientists gone rogue: They make human mummies. They investigate the unsolved murders of ancient bog bodies. They carve primitive spears and go hunting, then knap their own obsidian blades to skin the game. They build perilous boats and plunge out onto the open sea–all in the name of experiencing history as it was, with all its dangers, disappointments, and unexpected delights.
Beloved author Sam Kean joins these experimental archaeologists on their adventures across the globe, from the Andes to the South Seas. He fires medieval catapults, tries his hand at ancient surgery and tattooing, builds Roman-style roads–and, in novelistic interludes, spins gripping tales about the lives of our ancestors with vivid imagination and his signature meticulous research. Lively, offbeat, and filled with stunning revelations about our past, Dinner with King Tut sheds light on days long gone and the intrepid experts resurrecting them today, with startling, lifelike detail and more than a few laughs along the way.
2026 BOOK CLUB DATES: RSVP!
Monday, August 3, 2026 – Helen of Troy, 1993 by Maria Zoccola
Monday, November 2, 2026 – The Rescue Artist by Edward Dolnick

Film Screening: La Chimera
2026-05-07 17:30 - 20:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Whitman College, Kimball Theatre, 324 Boyer Ave, Walla Walla, WA, 99362, United States
Please join the local chapter of the AIA (Archaeological Institute of America) for a screening of the award-winning film, La Chimera (2023).
A masterpiece of magical realism, this independent-film (written and directed by Alice Rohrwacher) will take us on a journey through multiple afterlives… the ancient erupting through the modern. The fable follows a rumpled English archaeologist named Arthur, and his merry, wayward crew of tombaroli — who survive by looting ancient-Etruscan tombs. Yet there are larger quests involved. They are at once mythic, illusory, and unobtainable, and they bring into collision the worlds of antiquities-trafficking, the priceless-priced, and the search for lost love.
There will be an informal reception with popcorn, cookies, and non-alcoholic beverages at 5:30pm. The film will begin at 6pm and will be followed by another opportunity to mingle and converse. This event is free and open to the public. Brought to you by the Whitman College History Department.

New Discoveries in the Anubis-Mountain Royal Necropolis at Abydos
2026-05-09 15:30 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Penn Museum, 3260 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.
