MAES Study Day (online): The Natural World of Ancient Egypt

Colin Reader: The Geology of Egypt

After describing the modern landscape and introducing key elements of the ancient Egyptian worldview, we will roll back the clock some two billion years, to explore the geological origins of the Egyptian landmass. We will then explore the geological evolution of Egypt, from the very earliest phases of life on earth, through the age of the dinosaurs and onto the era of the great mammals. The developments that gave the geology of Egypt its distinct character are then explored, including the uplifting of mountains along the Red Sea coast, the evolution of the River Nile, and the formation of the vast desert areas beyond the Nile Valley. As the story unfolds, elements of Egypt’s archaeology are introduced, together with discussions of mining and quarrying and the ways in which the country’s rich geological heritage might have influenced the developing culture of ancient Egypt.

Drawing from his experience working as a geologist in the construction industry, Colin was first attracted to ancient Egypt by the controversy over the age of the Great Sphinx. He was invited to join the Saqqara Geophysical Survey Project, to map the soils and rocks of that incredible site and has travelled extensively in Egypt, both within the Nile Valley, but also across the Eastern and Western Deserts. Over the years, he has published a number of research papers, and a book, A Gift of Geology. He has also set up his own website www.giftofgeology.co.uk to make his work readily available.

Juliet Spedding: Egypt’s Ancient Wildlife (prerecorded lecture)

Ancient Egypt was a land with a rich and varied flora and faunal life, something that we can see in their tomb scenes and writing system. The wealth of archaeological, pictorial, and textual evidence available enables us to identify the species present in ancient Egypt, and to examine the relationship between the people of ancient Egypt and their animals. Using published analysis of animal remains, depictions, and texts, this talk will present the species present in ancient Egypt and explore the ways the ancient Egyptians interacted with the animal life and how this impacted on the indigenous wild species.

This study was part of the wider Leverhulme funded Biodiversity in Egyptian Archaeology During Societal Transitions (BEAST) project at the University of Liverpool, York University, and the American University in Cairo.

Juliet Spedding received her BA, MA, and PhD from the University of Liverpool. She has worked as a postdoctoral research associate on the Leverhulme Trust funded project Biodiversity in Egyptian Archaeology during Societal Transitions (BEAST) at the University of Liverpool, York University, and the American University in Cairo and on the Rome and Coinage of the Ancient Mediterranean (RACOM) ERC funded project, also at the University of Liverpool. She is currently employed as a Research Assistant at the British Museum on the Craft Interactions in a New Kingdom Industrial Landscape.

Judith Bunbury: Climate Variation in Ancient Egypt

With the discovery of the initial burying place of Tutmosis II has come the realisation that the environment of Thebes was not the same then as it is today. The New Kingdom Research Foundation has explored the evidence for ancient climate and environment in this area including sediments, buried plant remains and rock art and inscriptions. They are also developing new methods to analyse ancient environmental signatures using plant DNA. This talk will provide an update on our understanding of Egyptian environmental change and the most recent results from our studies.

Judith Bunbury is Senior Tutor of Wolfson College, Cambridge, a member of the Earth Sciences Department and of the New Kingdom Research Foundation. As a geo-archaeologist, she is fascinated by landscapes, ancient and modern, how they change and how they nourish and challenge those that live in them.

Piers Litherland: Economic and Political Implications of Wetter Weather in the Early New Kingdom

Regular rainfall in the early Eighteenth Dynasty provides a possible answer to the persistent puzzle about what propelled unification of Egypt at the start of the New Kingdom, and further drove the kings of the that period to establish an imperial presence in the Levant and beyond, and to push the boundaries of Egypt to their greatest southern extent. Evidence discovered and collated by the New Kingdom Research Foundation (NKRF) during the course of clearance work in the Wadi Bairiya, Wadi el-Agaala and Western Wadis on the West Bank in Luxor, suggests that the hunter-gatherer part of the economy would have expanded to provide entirely free additional grazing, wood, wildfowl, game, fish, reeds, and herbs. When captives brought back from the Levantine and Nubian campaigns were introduced, this brought free labour which would further have accelerated economic expansion. This expansion seems to have continued until the end of the reign of Amenhotep III, and it may be no coincidence that as the weather turned drier, a period of political disruption ensued during the later stages of the so-called Amarna Period.

Piers Litherland is the Head of the New Kingdom Research Foundation (NKRF) and has been Field Director and Mission Head of the NKRF joint-venture excavations with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in the Western Wadis on the West Bank in Luxor since their inception in 2014. He holds degrees from Oxford and Cambridge Universities and is an Honorary Research Associate of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at Cambridge University to which the mission is affiliated. His publications include The Western Wadis of the Theban Necropolis (2013) and The Shaft Tombs of Wadi Bairiya (2018).

If you have any problems with your booking, please contact us at: ManchesterAESociety@gmail.com

Doors open 9:30am GMT+1, lectures begin at 10am

The Manchester Ancient Egypt Society welcomes everyone with an interest in ancient Egyptian history. The oldest and largest Egyptology society in the UK, we organise an annual programme of lectures from visiting Egyptology professionals, as well as conferences, study days and regular trips to Egyptology collections in the UK and further afield. You can find out more about our activities on our website, meet some of our members, download the latest lecture programme and get details about how to join us. www.maesweb.org.uk

The Manchester Ancient Egypt Society is the oldest and largest in the UK and welcomes people from across the world to join us exploring the history of Egypt and the Nile Valley.