For press information, contact Dr. Lorelei Corcoran, 901-678-2555

The Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology at the University of Memphis will host two public lectures in November. Both are about excavations in the royal Egyptian city of Amarna.

On Thursday, Nov. 4, at the fifth annual William J. Murnane Memorial Lecture, noted British Egyptologist Barry Kemp will present an illustrated lecture, “Towards a Better Understanding of Amarna: Recent Research in the City and Its Main Cemetery,” in the University Center’s Fountain View Room at 7:30 p.m. A reception at 7 p.m. will precede the lecture.

The event is co-sponsored by the Tennessee Interest Group of the American Research Center in Egypt.

Amarna, photo courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society, London, UK.

In recent years, Amarna, the royal city of pharaoh Akhenaten and his queen, Nefertiti, has seen the completion of the topographic survey of the desert behind the city, the study of material excavated from a group of houses, and excavation at the main cemetery, including a study of its human remains. The material found and the discussions it has generated have brought Amarna into a clearer focus.

Kemp is professor emeritus of Egyptology at the Department of Oriental Studies and the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge in England, and longtime director of Tell Amarna Excavations. He has directed the excavation and archaeological survey at Amarna for the Egypt Exploration Society since 1977.

Among Kemp’s numerous field reports and publications is Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, which has become a key textbook in many university Egyptology and ancient history courses.

Public parking for the event is available at the Zach Curlin parking garage adjacent to the University Center.

On Friday, Nov. 5, Dr. Jerry Rose will discuss “Akhenaten’s People Speak: Tell el-Amarna, Egypt (c. 1325 BCE)” in the Fogelman College of Business & Economics, Room 127. A reception will begin at 2:30 p.m., followed by the program at 3.

Rose, professor of anthropology at the University of Arkansas, is a leading expert in bioarcheology, the study of human bones. He is part of a team of scientists working in Amarna, excavating and analyzing the human remains from the cemeteries of workers who helped build the capital city of the Akhenaten and Nefertiti. His research has revealed details of the workers’ difficult lives amidst the splendor of that royal court. Rose’s extensive publications document his work on disease and mortality in the United States, Egypt, and Jordan.

Parking is available at the garage on Innovation Dive, adjacent to the Fogelman College.

More information is available from Dr. Lorelei Corcoran at 901-678-2555.