Swansea to Host the Sixth EES Congress in 2022

Readers to this blog may have already heard the exciting news that Swansea University will host the sixth Egypt Exploration Society Congress (EESCon 6) in 2022. We were informed last week that Swansea (fig. 1) was chosen by the board of the Society, to whom we are very grateful. The Congress will be organised by colleagues and students from the Egypt Centre, the Department of Classics, Ancient History, and Egyptology, and the Object and Landscape Centred Approaches to the Past (OLCAP) research group in collaboration with the EES. 2022 is a monumental year for Egyptology with centenary events to mark the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun and the bicentenary of Jean-François Champollion announcing his breakthrough with the decipherment of the Rosetta Stone. 2022 is also an exciting year for the ancient subjects at Swansea, with the Classical Association Conference taking place in April next year.

Fig. 1: View of Singleton Campus of Swansea University

The Congress provides a platform for researchers to present their ongoing projects and discoveries to a broad audience of peers and the interested public through brief 20-minute presentations and posters. Because of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the previous Congress (hosted by Durham University in 2020) took place exclusively via Zoom. This helped the Society to engage with different audiences, both academic and non-academic, while also greatly increasing accessibility. Following on from this success, the Congress will be hosted online with hybrid (in-person and online) panels for some of the event. The Egypt Centre has a strong track record for hosting events both in person and online. Since April 2020, we have hosted numerous online events, which have attracted over 15,000 members of the public and academics from close to fifty countries around the world. With EESCon 6, a call for papers will be announced in November 2021 via the EES website and tickets can be reserved from May 2022.

Swansea University is one of the few places in the UK were students can enrol in a Single Honours BA degree, an MA, and a PhD in Egyptology. Therefore, we have a strong group of students, several of whom presented on their research at the last Congress (fig. 2). Swansea University also conducts active fieldwork in Egypt and the Sudan. For example, Dr Christian Knoblauch co-directs the Uronarti Regional Archaeology Project (URAP) in the Sudan, and is the assistant director of the Abydos Middle Cemetery (AMC) project in Egypt.

Fig. 2: Swansea student and Egypt Centre volunteer Sam Powell ready for her presentation

Swansea University has had a strong association with the EES for many years: the editorship of the Journal of Egyptian Archaeology was based at Swansea for fifteen years between 1970 and 1985: first by Professor Gwyn Griffiths (1970–1978) and then by Professor Alan Lloyd (1979–1985). Professor Lloyd also served as president of the EES between 1994–2007 and participated in EES excavations and survey work at North Saqqara and the Teti Pyramid Cemetery in 1972–73 and 1976 respectively. Additionally, around one fifth of the collection in the Egypt Centre collection can be traced back to EES excavations. This includes objects from Abydos, Amarna, Armant, and Sesebi. Given the museum’s strong focus on object-based learning (OBL), we hope to make some of the objects available for handling sessions during the event (fig. 3).

Fig. 3: Object handling session at the Egypt Centre

We look forward to welcoming people to Swansea, whether in person or remotely, in 2022!