New Egypt Centre Course – Causing Their Names to Live

2023 was a particularly busy year for the Egypt Centre as we marked our twenty-fifth anniversary. One of the highlights was the loan of 813 objects from Harrogate Museums, with the entire collection now available online to researchers. In connection with this, we launched the first temporary exhibition on the Harrogate material in October, which is called Causing Their Names to Live. This title takes inspiration from a common vivification formula found on statues, stelae, and other objects (Nelson-Hurst 2010; 2011). For the ancient Egyptians, one of the most important things was that their name would be remembered. In the autobiography of Montuhotep, the official says that “anyone who shall remember my good name, I will be his protector in the presence of the great god” (Landgráfová 2011, 179). Another official, Intef, even goes as far as to hire a Lector Priest “so that my name would be good, and so that the memory of me would last (until) today” (Landgráfová 2011, 38).

I am pleased to announce that the next Egypt Centre course will be called Causing Their Names to Live: The Lives of the Ancient Egyptians. This five-week course will examine the lives of some of the most famous—or infamous— individuals from ancient Egypt. This will include men such as the Vizier and Architect Imhotep, the Nomarch Khnumhotep II, and the revered Amenhotep son of Hapu. Women such as the God’s Wife Ahmose-Nefertari, the lady Naunakht, and the Chief Follower of the God’s Priestess Mutirdis will also be featured. Some of the individuals being discussed are even known from objects in the Egypt Centre collection. Chief among them is the infamous Paneb, whose offering stand is on display in the House of Life gallery. There is also the Servant in the Place of Truth, Khabekhnet, whose painted relief is on display in the House of Death gallery (fig. 1). By discussing these individuals, we will be fulfilling the wish of the ancient Egyptians by causing their names to live!

Fig. 1: Relief of Khabekhnet

In order to be as accessible as possible, this course will be run twice a week: Sunday evenings 6–8pm (UK time); Wednesday mornings 10am–12noon (UK time). Additionally, one of the sessions will be recorded and made available for a limited time to registered participants.

Week 1 (Sunday 21 and Wednesday 24 January)

Week 2 (Sunday 28 and Wednesday 31 January)

Week 3 (Sunday 04 and Wednesday 07 February)

Week 4 (Sunday 11 and Wednesday 14 February)

Week 5 (Sunday 18 and Wednesday 21 February)

 

Tickets for the course can be purchased here.

 

Fees for this course go directly to supporting the Egypt Centre. If you would like to support the Egypt Centre with an additional donation, you can do so here: https://www.egypt.swan.ac.uk/donate-to-the-egypt-centre/

Once registered, you will receive an email from Eventbrite with the Zoom link. Please remember to double-check check your email address is correct before booking and check your junk folder for any emails. If you have any queries, please contact Ken Griffin at k.griffin@swansea.ac.uk

 

Bibliography:

Landgráfová, Renata 2011. It is my good name that you should remember: Egyptian biographical texts on Middle Kingdom stelae. Prague: Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague, Czech Institute of Egyptology. 

Nelson-Hurst, Melinda G. 2011. The increasing emphasis on collateral and female kin in the late Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period: the vivification formula as a case study. In Horn, Maarten, Joost Kramer, Daniel Soliman, Nico Staring, Carina van den Hoven, and Lara Weiss (eds), Current research in Egyptology 2010: proceedings of the eleventh annual symposium, which took place at Leiden University, the Netherlands, January 2010, 116–123. Oxford; Oakville, CT: Oxbow.

Nelson-Hurst, M. G. 2010. “…who causes his name to live”: the vivification formula through the Second Intermediate Period. In Hawass, Zahi and Jennifer Houser Wegner (eds), Millions of jubilees: studies in honor of David P. Silverman 2, 13–31. Cairo: Conseil Suprême des Antiquités.