Celebrating Twenty Years of the Egypt Centre!

In September 2018, the Egypt Centre museum of Egyptian antiquities, situated on Singleton campus of Swansea University, celebrated its twentieth anniversary. Twenty years previously, on the 28th September, the Museum was opened to the public. With over 5,000 objects, the Egypt Centre contains the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities in Wales. Most of these objects are currently understudied and unpublished. Therefore, as part of our anniversary celebrations, I am pleased to announce that we will be hosting a two-day conference focusing on the objects in the collection. Wonderful Things: The Material Culture of the Egypt Centre, will take place on the weekend of 25-26th May 2019. This event brings together sixteen scholars from Wales to present on both Egyptian and non-Egyptian material. What's more, some of the objects presented will also be available for object handling! The timetable of events (subject to change) is as follows:

Saturday 25 May
09:45–10:00 Welcome address TBA
10:00–10:30 Wendy Goodridge (The Egypt Centre) – The Egypt Centre: Past, Present, and Future
10:30–11:00 Kenneth Griffin (The Egypt Centre) – The Life Cycle of an Object: The Lintel of the Overseer of Craftsmen, Tjenti
11:00–11:30 Coffee & Handling session 1
11:30–12:00 Kasia Szpakowska (Swansea University) – Daemons in My Bedroom
12:00–12:30 Phil Parkes (Cardiff University) – The Long History of Coffin AB118: From Ankh-pa-khered to Cardiff University
12:30–13:30 Lunch
13:30–14:00 Troy Sagrillo (Swansea University) – Djehuty-em-hat, King of Ashmunayn and the Chronology of Late Libyan Egypt
14:00–14:30 Carolyn Graves-Brown (The Egypt Centre) – Funny Looking Gods on a Third Intermediate Period Coffin
14:30–15:00 Coffee & Handling 2
15:00–15:30 Amr Gaber (Swansea University) – A Stela of the Mother of the Buchis Bull
15:30–16:00 Paul Nicholson (Cardiff University) – Bronze Clamps and Bull Mummies from the Bucheum and Beyond 

Fig. 2: AB118 (@CUConservation, Cardiff University)

Sunday 26 May
10:00–10:30 Dulcie Engel (The Egypt Centre) – Objects from a Victorian Gentleman’s Cabinet of Curiosities: The John Foulkes Jones Collection at the Egypt Centre
10:30–11:00 John Rogers (Swansea University) – All the Words Unspoken: A Faience Flute and the Materiality of Music
11:00–11:30 Coffee & Handling 3
11:30–12:00 Christian Knoblauch (Swansea University) – Abydos in Swansea
12:00–12:30 Katharina Zinn (University of Wales Trinity Saint David) – So Much Choice for a Good Sleep: Headrests and the Egypt Centre
12:30–13:30 Lunch
13:30–14:00 Nigel Pollard (Swansea University) – Central Power and Local Tradition in the Roman Empire: Roman Coins from the Egypt Centre
14:00–14:30 Ersin Hussein (Swansea University) – Show Us Your Metal! Investigating the Materiality of Artefacts Held in the Egypt Centre
14:30–15:00 Coffee & Handling 4
15:00–15:30 Richard Johnston (Swansea University) – Visualising the Votive: Revealing Mummified Animals using X-rays
15:30–16:00 Syd Howells (The Egypt Centre) – Dr. William Price and the Welsh Pharaohs (EC1149 & EC1943)
16:00–16:30 Summing up

Fig. 2: Silver drachm of Trajan (EC1494)

Talks will take place in the Mall Room of the Taliesin Create (Singleton Campus, Swansea University), with the handling sessions in the adjacent Studio. Due to the size of the venue, the event will be limited to sixty people. The cost for the event (both days) is £30, which includes lunch and coffee breaks. Booking for this event is essential. If you would like to attend, please download the booking form and return it ASAP along with your payment to ensure attendance. For any questions, please email me at k.griffin@swansea.ac.uk. We look forward to sharing our research with you!