LECTURE ON EARLY EGYPTIAN KINGSHIP

From: Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities (the_ssea_at_yahoo.ca)
Date: 11/15/04 

Date: 15 Nov 2004 13:41:41 -0800

Friday, November 26th, 2004 at 8:00 pm in Rm. 323, 4 Bancroft Ave. on
the main campus of the University of Toronto, Prof. David O'Connor
will give a lecture entitled "Early Kingship's Other Dimension: Recent
Discoveries About the Royal Mortuary Enclosures of Abydos".

    The practice of sacrificial burials at First Dynasty (ca.
2950-2775 BC) royal tombs and enclosures has been suggested by
Egyptologists since the late 19th century but has never been proven.
Excavations running from 2001 to 2003, guided in part by magnetic
surveys of buried structures, located two new royal mortuary
enclosures. The royal mortuary enclosures of the First and Second
Dynasty kings are amongst the most puzzling features of Egyptian
archaeology. Scholars still argue about their functions and meaning,
but our excavations since 1986 have revealed much surprising new
evidence about them. The recent discovery of the earliest enclosure
yet known–dating to king Aha, which means literally ‘the Fighter,' at
the very beginning of the First Dynasty (ca. 2950 B.C.)–has told us
more about these monuments than was ever known previously, and has
yielded especially important information about the practice of human
sacrifice in early Egypt. This rare custom is attested only for the
First Dynasty (ca. 2950-2775 B.C.) and is dramatic proof of the great
increase in the prestige and power of both kings and elite that
occurred at this time.
David O'Connor received a diploma in Egyptology from the University of
London and a Ph.D. in Egyptology from Cambridge University, England.
He is Curator Emeritus of the Egyptian Section University of
Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and Professor
Emeritus in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of
Pennsylvania. Currently, Dr. O'Connor is the Lila Acheson Wallace
Professor of Ancient Egyptian Art at the Institute of Fine Arts, New
York University.
     Since 1964 Dr. O'Connor has been co-Project Director of the
Pennsylvania-Yale-Institute of Fine Arts excavations at Abydos in
southern Egypt. His recent work in Abydos has included the discovery
of twelve boat graves (1991) and the excavation of an enormous and
enigmatic cult enclosure, one of several built in Abydos for early
Egyptian Kings (ca. 3,000-2,700 B.C.E.). Field work on the enclosure
in 1997 revealed that it may be the earliest built and that its
location bears a significant relationship to the twelve boat graves.
Besides his work in Abydos, Dr. O'Connor has excavated at a number of
sites in Egypt and Sudan commencing in 1960 as a field archaeologist
working under the late Professor W. B. Emory.
     Dr. O'Connor has published a number of books and articles on
Egyptian and African history. These include Amenhotep III :
Perspectives on His Reign (ed. 1998), Ancient Nubia, Egypt's Rival in
Africa (1994), A Short History of Ancient Egypt (1990), Ancient
Egyptian Society (1990) and Cities and Towns in Egypt's Golden Age:
the Art of Living in the New Kingdom (1982).He is currently preparing
a book on the field work at Abydos for the Thames and Hudson series
New Aspects of Antiquity.

For more information contact ssea@bigfoot.com or visit
http://www.geocities.com/ssea.geo

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