Nov. 15 Northern Cal. Souk & Egyptology Lecture: How the High Priests

[Glenn Meyer]

The Northern California Chapter of the American Research Center in Egypt; the Department of Near
Eastern Studies, UC Berkeley; and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, UC Berkeley, are sponsoring
the following lecture:

Ancient Archaeologists: How the High Priests of Osiris Transformed Abydos During the New Kingdom

By Dr. Stephen Harvey
Stony Brook University

LECTURE: 2:30 p.m. Sunday, November 15, 2015
SOUK: 1:30 p.m. Come early for the chapter's annual Souk and stock up on holiday gifts.
LOCATION: Room 20 Barrows Hall, Barrow Lane and Bancroft Way, UC Berkeley

No charge, donations are welcomed.

ABOUT THE LECTURE:

Perhaps like the popes of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the High Priests of Amun based Karnak
temple in Luxor (ancient Thebes) at times held such power that their might rivaled that of the
rulers they served. At Abydos, pilgrimage center and main site of the worship of Osiris, the god of
rebirth and resurrection, the High Priests of Osiris during the New Kingdom (ca. 1525 - 1085 BCE)
also held significant power, but their stories are less well-known to the general public. One
family of powerful clerics at Abydos rose to great prominence during the time of the legendary
pharaoh Ramesses the Great, and the best-known of these High Priests, a man named Wenennefer, left
monuments of unusual creativity and innovation all across the sacred landscape of Abydos. Acting
much as archaeologists do today, Wenennefer and some of his circle seem to have researched
monuments, tombs, and places sacred to the earlier kings of Egypt, leaving traces of their activity
in some of the oldest sites connected both to Osiris, the king of the underworld, and to the
earliest kings of Egypt. Recent excavations by Stephen Harvey's team and others have revealed
further evidence of the extent and nature of the fascinating activity of these ancient intellectuals
and scholars, who did much to leave their own mark upon one of Egypt's most important spiritual centers.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Egyptologist and Director of the Ahmose and Tetisheri Project at Abydos, Egypt

Since 1993, Stephen Harvey (Ph.D., U. of PA) has been Director of the Ahmose and Tetisheri Project,
which centers on excavation of the monumental complex of King Ahmose at Abydos, under the aegis of
the Pennsylvania-Yale-Institute of Fine Arts, NYU Expedition to Abydos. Dr. Harvey’s fieldwork in
and around the pyramid complex of Ahmose (ca. 1550-1525 B.C.) has provided important new insight
into temple architecture and decoration at the outset of Egypt’s New Kingdom. His book on the
excavations to date is forthcoming from the Oriental Institute Press, University of Chicago. He has
also worked on archaeological projects in Egypt at Giza and Memphis, as well as in the U.S., Syria,
and Turkey. Currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Stony Brook University, Dr. Harvey has been
consulted on and interviewed for a number of television documentaries for NOVA on PBS, the History
Channel, and National Geographic (among others). He has also been a popular lecturer for many years
on tours to Egypt and the Near East sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution, the Field Museum, the
Explorer’s Club, the Petrie Museum in London, and the Archaeological Institute of America. He has
taught several courses for the Bloomsbury Summer School in London and in Egypt

For more information on Northern California ARCE go to http://arce-nc.org/lectures.htm or send email
to Chapter President Al Berens at heb...@comcast.net.

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Glenn Meyer
Publicity Director, Northern California Chapter
American Research Center in Egypt