Channel Title: Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East Channel Description: The Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East (formerly the Harvard Semitic Museum) houses over 40,000 Near Eastern artifacts, most of which derive from museum-sponsored excavations in Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Tunisia. <video> Uncovering Stars in an Egyptian Temple: The New Sky over Esna Description: Speaker: Christian Leitz, Director of the Department of Egyptology, Institute for Ancient Near Eastern Studies (AINES), University of Tübingen, Germany The front vestibule–or pronaos–of the temple of Esna, well-known for its elaborate decorations, is one of the last examples of ancient Egyptian temple architecture. In 2018, the University of Tübingen, in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, launched a complete restoration of the vestibule. The six-year long project has revealed a magnificent astronomical ceiling, colorful columns, and close to two hundred ink inscriptions previously undescribed. This lecture gives an overview of the restoration project, focusing on the astronomical ceiling and its multiple features, such as the path of the sun and moon, stars used for keeping time, Egyptian constellations, and the twelve signs of the zodiac. About the Speaker: Christian Leitz is the Director of the Department of Egyptology and the Institute for Ancient Near Eastern Studies (AINES) at the University of Tübingen, Germany. He holds a PhD in Egyptian Astronomy and completed his Habilitation in Cologne, studying the Calendar of Lucky and Unlucky Days. His primary research interests include Greco-roman temples, astronomy, medicine, and zoology. Presented by the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East and the Harvard Museums of Scienc e& Culture. </video> <video> Exploring Egypt’s Middle Kingdom at the Site of Ancient Thebes Description: Antonio J. Morales, Assistant Professor of Egyptology, University of Alcalá; Real Colegio Complutense Visiting Fellow 2022, Harvard University; Director, The Middle Kingdom Theban Project One of ancient Egypt's high points of cultural, intellectual, and social life was the period referred to as the Middle Kingdom (2030–1650 BCE). The ancient city of Thebes (modern Luxor) was the Egyptian capital during the early stage of this period and the site of multiple funerary temples and tombs. In this lecture, Egyptologist Antonio Morales discusses an international and multidisciplinary project that is conducting archaeological, historical, and cultural research, as well as conservation work, in Deir el-Bahari and Asasif—two funerary areas at Thebes—to better understand the city’s role in the development of Egypt’s classical age. About the Speaker Antonio Morales is assistant professor in Egyptology in the Seminar of Ancient History at the University of Alcalá (UAH). He is currently based in Harvard’s Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations as Real Colegio Complutense Visiting Professor. Previously, he was lecturer in Egyptology and research associate at Freie Universität Berlin, postdoctoral researcher at Heidelberg Universität, and assistant researcher at Mainz Universität. He obtained his PhD in Egyptology from the University of Pennsylvania in 2013. Antonio Morales has participated in several expeditions to Egypt and is currently the director of The Middle Kingdom Theban Project, a research initiative concerned with the documentation, study, and publication of tombs of the late Eleventh Dynasty and early Middle Kingdom in the necropoles of Deir el-Bahari and Asasif at Thebes (Luxor). He has published multiple articles in scientific journals and contributions to books. </video> <video> The Living Dead in Ancient Egypt Description: Speaker: Julia Troche, Associate Professor, Missouri State University; Visiting Scholar in Egyptology and Assyriology, Brown University “Oh Unas, you have not gone away dead, but alive.” The Pyramid Text quoted here tells us that the ancient Egyptians believed in the continued influence of the dead in the lives of the living. The dead in ancient Egypt were supernatural intermediaries, folk heroes, and some were even deified, worshiped as gods in the Egyptian pantheon. This talk builds on the research found in Dr. Troche’s first book, Death, Power, and Apotheosis in Ancient Egypt (Cornell University Press, 2021) and invites audiences to learn about the spectrum of deceased actors in ancient Egypt. In particular, she delves into the process by which some of these dead were deified and the ramifications of this deification, such as challenging royal authority during the Pyramid Age. Presented by the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East and Harvard Museums of Science & Culture. About the Speaker Dr. Julia Troche is an Egyptologist, historian, and educator. She holds a PhD in Egyptology from Brown University and a BA in History from the University of California, Los Angeles. She is currently associate professor at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri, (on sabbatical, 2023–24). She serves as a governor for the Board of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE), is vice president and cofounder of ARCE-Missouri, and sits on the American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR)’s diversity, equity, and inclusion committee. Julia’s first book, Death, Power, and Apotheosis in Ancient Egypt: The Old and Middle Kingdoms was published in 2021 with Cornell University Press. She is currently working on a book about the god Ptah for Bloomsbury, a textbook (with B. Brinkman) for Routledge, and a series of articles on Egyptomania and Imhotep that she hopes to turn into a public-facing book. </video> <video> Art of Intimidation Promo Description: Discover the augmented reality experience in the "From Stone to Silicone" Mesopotamian gallery using the Art of Intimidation lens. Animations, colors, music, sounds, and narration are based on scholarship. </video> <video> Rediscovering Sculptures of King Menkaure at the Giza Pyramids Description: Speaker: Mark Lehner, Director and President, Ancient Egypt Research Associates, Inc. Between 1908–1910, Harvard’s George Reisner found some of the most iconic pieces of ancient Egyptian art at the Menkaure Valley Temple at Giza—including four magnificent triad statues and the larger pair statue now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Over a century later, Ancient Egypt Research Associates (AERA) reinvestigated the temple. Join AERA President Mark Lehner to learn about new findings that span 300 years—from the time of Menkaure to the end of the Old Kingdom (2447–2153 BCE). Lehner also revisits the site where Reisner found the famous pair statue of the king and an unidentified woman–possibly his queen, mother, or a goddess–with surprising new results. About the Speaker: Mark Lehner is Director and President of Ancient Egypt Research Associates, Inc. (AERA). His forty years of archaeological research in Egypt includes mapping the Great Sphinx and discovering a major part of the Lost City of the Pyramids at Giza. Lehner directs the Giza Plateau Mapping Project (GPMP), which conducts annual excavations of Old Kingdom settlements near the Sphinx and Pyramids with an interdisciplinary and international team of archaeologists, geochronologists, botanists, and faunal specialists. From 1990–1995 Lehner was Assistant Professor of Egyptian Archaeology at the University of Chicago. He is now Associate at the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures of the University of Chicago. Lehner was born, raised, and began his college education in North Dakota. He went to Cairo in 1973 as a Year Abroad Student at the American University in Cairo where he received his BA in Anthropology. He lived in Egypt for thirteen years, working for American, Egyptian, British, French, and German archaeological projects. From 1979 until 1983, he was the Field Director and then Director of the Sphinx Project sponsored by the American Research Center in Egypt. In 1984, he began the Giza Plateau Mapping Project (GPMP), sponsored by ARCE and Yale University where Lehner received his PhD in Egyptology in 1990. In 1985 he founded AERA with Matthew McCauley. In 1988, the GPMP began to excavate in search of the settlement and infrastructure that supported the pyramid workforce. In 1995 AERA assumed financial and administrative responsibility for the GPMP. AERA’s interdisciplinary team has been discovering more of the Giza pyramid builders’ urban administrative center including workshops, storage buildings, bakeries, and barracks. In 2011 AERA became an NGO registered with the Egyptian government. Lehner has appeared on television in the National Geographic Explorer program, and on NOVA’s Riddles of the Sphinx and Secrets of Lost Empires series on ancient technology, including This Old Pyramid and Obelisk. He is author of The Complete Pyramids (Thames and Hudson, 1997). His work has appeared in National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Discover, and Archaeology Magazine. </video> <video> The Making of Art of Intimidation Description: Discover the scholarship behind HMANE's Art of Intimidation augmented reality experience for use in the From Stone to Silicone exhibit. Art of Intimidation brings large casts of ancient Assyrian palace wall carvings to life with animation, color, music, sound, and narration. </video> <video> Finding the God Osiris: Latest Excavations at Abusir and Saqqara Description: Miroslav Bárta presents the latest results from archaeological research at Abusir and Saqqara, two ancient Egyptian cemeteries. The exploration of several historically essential tombs dating to the Fifth Dynasty sheds new light on the rise and fall of the Old Kingdom empire and the introduction of the god of afterlife, Osiris, into ancient Egyptian society. Presented by the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East. About the Speaker Professor Miroslav Bárta is a Czech Egyptologist and archaeologist. He currently focuses on the study of Egyptian late prehistory and the Old Kingdom, a comparative study of civilizations and their rise and fall. He has led excavations at the site of Usli in Sudan and discovered settlements of early Christian communities at the El-Heyz oasis in Egypt’s Western Desert, organized expeditions to Gilf Kebir, where his expedition discovered the possible origins of ancient Egyptian civilization. Since 2010, he has been in charge of interdisciplinary excavations at the pyramid field of Abusir, where under his leadership, many discoveries have been made in recent years, including the tomb of the legendary sage Kairsu, the tomb of the priest Ptahshepses, and the temple of Ramesse II. He is the author of the theory of seven laws explaining the evolution of civilizations. Bárta is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the New York Explorers Club. </video> <video> How Egyptologist George Reisner went Walking Among Pharaohs Description: Speaker: Peter Der Manuelian Legion of Honor, San Francisco Sponsors: American Research Center in Egypt–Northern California Ancient Art Council of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Recorded May 5, 2024 </video> <video> Reconstructing Queen Amanishakheto’s Musical Instruments Description: Public Lecture: Susanne Gänsicke, Senior Conservator and ​​Head of Antiquities Conservation, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles Double reed pipes, known as auloi, were popular musical instruments in the ancient Mediterranean. In 1921, archaeologists exploring the necropolis of Meroë (northern Sudan)—as part of the Harvard University-Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition—found a large collection of auloi in the pyramid of Nubian Queen Amanishakheto. Susanne Gänsicke will discuss the discovery’s importance and what it reveals about the connections between Nubia and the Mediterranean world as well as the significance of far-reaching musical traditions. She will also share recent efforts to conserve and reconstruct these ancient musical instruments. Susanne Gänsicke is Senior Conservator and Head of Antiquities Conservation at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. She holds a certificate in Archaeological Conservation (Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Mainz, Germany, 1987), and was Objects Conservator at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) (1990-2016), where she remains a project member of The Auloi from Meroë (European Research Council grant project/ Stefan Hagel of the Austrian Academy of Sciences). She worked as site conservator in Egypt and Sudan and has taught conservation at the MFA, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard Extension School, the Metals Conservation Summer Institute (Higgins Armory Museum and the Metal Processing Institute at WPI, Worcester, MA), American Research Center in Egypt, and the Central Asian Museum Conservators Training Program, Tashkent, Uzbekistan. She served as Chair of the Publication Committee of the American Institute for Conservation 2005–2010, and is currently associate editor of the Journal of the American Institute for Conservation. Her research interests include materials and manufacturing techniques of ancient and historic metalwork, and the intersection of traditional craftsmanship and conservation. She is a member of CAST:ING (Copper Alloy Sculpture Techniques and history: an International iNterdisciplinary Group). In 2016, she received an Individual Grant for field work on metal preservation in Nepal (Asian Cultural Council, NY). She coauthored, with Yvonne Markowitz, Looking at Jewelry (J. Paul Getty Museum, 2019). </video> <video> The Mummies of Aswan: The Missing Link Description: Speaker: Patrizia Piacentini, University of Milan “La Statale” In recent years more than four hundred ancient tombs, dating from the 6th century BCE to the 3rd century CE, have been discovered on the West Bank at Aswan, Egypt, near the Aga Khan mausoleum. A multidisciplinary team, including the Egyptian-Italian Mission, has found more than a hundred individuals along with their funerary equipment. Piacentini will share the first results of this archaeological research, highlighting the multicultural environment of the necropolis and possible diverse geographical origins of the people buried there. About the Speaker: Patrizia Piacentini, is a member of the Academy of the Lyncean (Rome), the Ambrosiana Academy (Milan), and a corresponding member of the Advisory Committee of the Shanghai Archaeology Forum, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. She is also professor of Egyptology and Egyptian Archaeology at the University of Milan (since 1993). In 2022, the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (Paris) awarded her the Gaston Maspero Lifetime Achievement Award. At the University of Milan, Piacentini sits in different committees. She has been coordinator of the PhD Program in Literature, Arts and Environmental Heritage (2018–2021). Since 1999, she has managed the scientific and organizational direction of the Egyptological Library and Archives which she founded at the same university. She is director of EIMAWA, the Egyptian-Italian Mission at West Aswan which excavates and studies a large necropolis used from the 6th century BC to the 3rd century AD She serves on scientific and presidential committees of Egyptological foundations and associations, including the Fondation Michela Schiff-Giorgini (Lausanne), and has been the representative for Italy of the International Association of Egyptologists (2015–2023). She has also been invited as Gale Visiting Fellow of The Australian Centre for Egyptology at Macquarie University, for lectures at Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth (2019). Author of numerous monographs and scientific articles, she has organized Egyptology-themed exhibitions in various countries around the world and numerous conferences. She is also founder and editor of the journal EDAL, Egyptian and Egyptological Documents Archives Libraries (Milan), and serves on the scientific or editorial boards of several journals, including Aegyptus (Milan). </video> <video> From Stone to Silicone: Art and Empire Description: This video accompanies the From Stone to Silicone exhibition at the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East. Discover the history of large carved wall reliefs from the ancient palace of Ashurnisirpal II in what is now Nimrud, Iraq. "These are in fact graphic novels that are telling very particular stories, and they were meant to impress—and in their own words—to strike fear and splendor into their viewers." </video> <video> Divine Mortals: Royal Ancestor Worship in Deir el-Medina Description: Speaker: Yasmin El Shazly, Deputy Director for Research and Programs, American Research Center in Egypt The Egyptian craftsmen and artists who created and decorated royal tombs during the New Kingdom period (ca. 1550–1070 BCE) lived in Deir el-Medina. Today, this well-preserved village is a key source of information about the daily lives, artistic practices, and religious traditions of ancient Egyptians. Yasmin El Shazly discusses the importance of ancestor worship in Deir el-Medina—particularly of Amenhotep I and his mother Ahmose-Nefertari. Prominently featured in homes, artwork, and tombs, these two royal figures held important positions in the Egyptian “hierarchy of being” and exerted great influence over the daily lives of Deir el-Medina residents. About the Speaker Dr. Yasmin El Shazly is Deputy Director for Research and Programs at the American Research Center in Egypt. She previously held the position of General Supervisor of the Department of International Organizations of Cultural Heritage and International Cooperation (2016–2018) and Assistant to the Minister for Museum Affairs (2015–2016) at the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities (now the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities). She was also head of the Registration, Collections Management, and Documentation Department at the Egyptian Museum, Cairo (2009–2016) and a member of the Museum’s Board of Directors (2010–2013). Dr. El Shazly is currently a member of several boards, including ICOM Egypt (Vice Chair), Interdisciplinary Egyptology and Kitab (Editorial Board Member). She has taught courses at the American University in Cairo, Cairo University, and AMIDEAST. Dr. El Shazly earned her BA from the American University in Cairo and her MA and PhD from Johns Hopkins University. Her PhD dissertation, entitled Royal Ancestor Worship in Deir el-Medina during the New Kingdom, was published by Abercromby Press in 2015. She has published several academic papers and has appeared in numerous documentaries, the last of which was PBS’s Tutankhamun: Allies and Enemies. </video> <video> Outside the tomb of Idu, G 7102 Description: This video is a supplement to the display about a painting by John Lindon Smith of the tomb of Idu. The painting is on view at the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East. </video> <video> The Power of Antiquity in the Making of Modern Egypt Description: Virtual Public Lecture by Wendy Doyon, Historian of Archaeology and Modern Egypt Ancient Egypt conjures images of pharaonic temples, tombs, and pyramids, and perhaps, even the familiar illustrations from children’s books and magazines showing kilted workers on the Nile toiling away on their kings’ great monuments. But what is the relationship between these images—along with the deep history they evoke and the processes of discovery that made them visible—and the history of modern Egypt? In this talk, Wendy Doyon will discusses the relationship between state, archaeology, and labor in Mehmed (or Muhammad) Ali’s Egypt—an autonomous khedival, or viceregal, state within the late Ottoman Empire—and explain how the power of the Egyptian state in the nineteenth century was built, in large part, on the creation of modern antiquities land and the organization of Egyptian workers as state assets controlled by Mehmed Ali Pasha and his dynasty-building successors. About the Speaker Wendy Doyon is an historian of archaeology and modern Egypt. She is currently writing a history of Egyptian archaeology and its political economy in nineteenth-century Egypt based on her doctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the co-creator and media manager of Abydos Archaeology, an educational program of the Institute of Fine Arts, NYU excavations at Abydos, Egypt, where she is also an NEH grant collaborator on “The Abydos Royal Breweries and the Emergence of Kingship in Egypt” research project. Her recent publications have appeared in the Journal of the American Oriental Society (JAOS), Unmasking Ideology in Imperial and Colonial Archaeology (Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press), Histories of Egyptology: Interdisciplinary Measures (Routledge), and British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and Sudan (BMSAES); she also writes regularly for the Abydos Archaeology blog at abydos.org. She holds a PhD in History from the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in Museology from the University of Washington, and a BA in Linguistics and Anthropology from the University of Washington. </video> <video> Forever Is Now: Contemporary Art at the Pyramids of Giza Description: Speaker: Nadine Abdel Ghaffar, Founder & Curator, CulturVator|Art D’Égypte Forever Is Now is a contemporary art exhibition at the 4500-year-old UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Pyramids of Giza. Against the backdrop of ancient Egypt’s cultural heritage, the contemporary installations are a testament to the continual evolution of art, the transformative power of storytelling, and cross-cultural exchange. Join Nadine Abdel Ghaffar, founder of CulturVator|Art D’Égypte, to explore how contemporary art intersects with ancient history, and how artists from diverse backgrounds use this historical space to celebrate humanity’s timelessness and the search for meaning and connection in art. About the Speaker: Nadine Abdel Ghaffar, a visionary French-Egyptian curator, with Greek ancestry, cultural consultant, and ambassador who bridges the rich heritage of Egypt with the dynamic world of contemporary art and design. As the founder of Art D’Égypte, Nadine has revolutionized the art scene in Egypt and beyond, organizing groundbreaking exhibitions that blend contemporary and ancient art in iconic settings such as the Egyptian Museum and the Pyramids of Giza. Her work has received international acclaim and UNESCO patronage, showcasing the profound connections between Egypt’s past and its vibrant present. Under Nadine’s leadership, Art D’Égypte has evolved into CulturVator, a multidisciplinary cultural consultancy that activates spaces for artistic and cultural promotion across various fields including fashion, design, and film. She creates cultural bridges to promote Egypt’s legacy on the international stage by collaborating with global brands like DIOR. Nadine’s dedication to empowering female artists and her recognition as a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government exemplify her commitment to advancing the arts and cultural heritage. </video>

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The Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East (formerly the Harvard Semitic Museum) houses over 40,000 Near Eastern artifacts, most of which derive from museum-sponsored excavations in Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Tunisia.

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