IEAA News and Information

The Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology is a Tennessee Center of Excellence. It is a component of the Department of Art at The University of Memphis, in Memphis, Tennessee (USA). The IEAA is dedicated to the study of the art, history and culture of ancient Egypt through teaching, research, exhibition, and community education.

The Egyptian Gallery is open by appointment only through Feb. 8, 2025. To schedule a tour, call 901-678-2224.

IEAA Events - Fall 2024

Nineteenth Annual William J. Murnane Memorial Lecture

By: Dr. Camilla Di Biase-Dyson

Senior Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology

Macquarie University

Location: University Center, Shelby Room 342 University of Memphis Campus

Paid parking is available in the Zach Curlin Garage adjacent to the UC.

Dr. Biase-Dyson received her BA and PhD in Ancient History from Macquarie University, and conducted postdoctoral research in Egyptology and linguistics. She has held the positions of Junior Professor for Egyptology at the Georg-August University in Göttingen and Research Fellow at the University of Vienna. Since 2020, Dr. Biase-Dyson has been Lecturer in Egyptology at Macquarie University.

Dr. Biase-Dyson's research explores how ancient texts and languages help us access ancient ways of thinking. Her current research focuses on word meaning in the Ancient Egyptian language, manuscript studies and object studies, and ancient medicine and body ontologies. Her approaches range from linguistics and cognitive science to literary analysis and anthropology. She utilizes the tools of digital corpus analysis for ancient languages, taking case studies from texts and materials of the Ramesside Period of Egyptian history, in the Late Bronze Age.

Eighth Annual Alumnae/Alumni Lecture Series

By: Dr. Robyn Price

Post-doctoral Research Associate

Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World

Brown University

Location: University Center, Fountain View Rm 350 University of Memphis Campus

Paid parking is available in the Zach Curlin Garage adjacent to the UC.

Dr. Price received her MA in linguistic anthropology at the University of Virginia, her MA in art history with a concentration in Egyptian art and archaeology at the University of Memphis, and her PhD in archaeology at the Cotsen Institute, University of California, Los Angeles. 

Dr. Price’s research involves the role of scent in ancient Egyptian mummification practices and in the social and economic power dynamics of New Kingdom Egypt (1550-1050 BCE). The application of aromatic materials like incense, perfumes, and flowers, applied to the deceased’s body as a step in the mummification process did not simply disguise the aroma of death. Rather, the overlaying of malodors with pleasing scents was an integral part  of the process of reinvigorating the deceased’s being. Through mummification and the ritual application of pleasantly fragrant scents, the deceased’s body was transformed, both symbolically and physically. Restricted access to expensive, non-native scents, however, limited who might be accorded this funerary privilege thereby codifying a social hierarchy through scent. Death rituals are rarely only for the deceased, however. They function as a performance for the living. Thus, scent, an integral aspect of ancient Egyptian funerary practices, was also the means by which the living could display their status. This presentation delves into the interplay between scent and ancient Egyptian funerary practices, emphasizing the profound significance of fragrance in denying death and in manipulating the living. 

Please note that this presentation may include images of material culture such as sarcophagi or resin soaked bandages associated with ancient Egyptian burials. It will not include photographs of the deceased persons themselves. 

Double Lecture by Visiting Egyptologists

“Recent Research on Ancient Egyptian Funerary Masks and Animal Mummies”

By Dr. Carlo Rindi Nuzzolo and Dr. Maria Diletta Pubblico

Wednesday, September 4^th, 2024

Reception: 6:15pm; Lecture at 7pm

UC Shelby Room 342

University of Memphis Campus

Dr. Carlo Rindi Nuzzolo, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Global Fellow currently attached to the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA and the Institute for Heritage Science (XRayLab, ISPC-CNR, Catania, Italy), will discuss his research on the manufacture of cartonnage mummy masks from Ptolemaic and Roman era Egyptian sites as part of his project  CRAFT (Cartonnage Regionalism in the Ateliers of the Fayum Territory).

Dr. Maria Diletto Pubblico, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Global Fellow at the Museo Egizio in Turin and the UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, will share her research on animal mummy wrappings as part of her project, SEAMS (A Study of Egyptian Animal Mummies Styles).

Both scholars will be studying antiquities in the IEAA collection to add to their database of objects. The lectures will focus on the use of modern technologies to acquire information about their manufacture that helps to answer questions about the dates and production sites of these unique types of objects.

IEAA Events - Spring 2024

• IEAA Family Day  - Saturday, April 13, 2024 from 12:00pm - 4:00 pm. 

• Twentieth Annual Legacy of Egypt Lecture, Dr. Luigi Prada, "Resurrecting the Words of the Gods: Neo-hieroglyphic Inscriptions in 19th Century Egyptomania" - Tuesday, April 23, 2024 at 7:00pm CDT 

Twentieth Annual Legacy of Egypt Lecture

"Resurrecting the Words of the Gods: Neo-hieroglyphic Inscriptions in 19th Century Egyptomania"

Dr. Luigi Prada

Date: Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Time: 7:00pm (reception at 6:15)

Location: University Center
Shelby Room 342
University of Memphis

Dr. Luigi Prada is Assistant Professor of Egyptology at Uppsala University, Sweden. He was educated in both Egyptology and Classics, firstly in Italy and then in England, receiving his DPhil in Egyptology at the University of Oxford. He works primarily on textual and cultural-historical studies, with a particular focus on the later phases of Egypt's history and language(s)/scripts. Prior to Uppsala, he held academic positions in the UK (Oxford), Germany (Heidelberg), and Denmark (Copenhagen). He is active in the field, both in Egypt as Assistant Director of the Oxford-Uppsala Epigraphic Project in Elkab, and in the Sudan.

This lecture will explore the cultural aftermath of Champollion’s decipherment of hieroglyphs in 1822, a linguistic breakthrough with wide social, political, and art historical influence. Throughout the European continent, royalty, and even popes, commissioned novel hieroglyphic inscriptions on monuments celebrating their power building upon the Egyptomania which had already gripped the world at the turn of the previous century as a result of Napoleon’s Egyptian expedition. This lecture will present this peculiar, half-scholarly half-populist, phenomenon, discuss a number of case studies through analysis of the original monuments, and contextualise them within the development of early Egyptology as a form of Europe’s colonial appropriation of Egypt. 

IEAA Family Day

Date: Saturday, April 13, 2024

Time: 12:00pm-4:00pm
Location: Art Museum of the University of Memphis
142 Communication and Fine Arts Building
3750 Norriswood Ave. 

Join us for an afternoon of Egypt-themed fun, including tours of the Egyptian exhibition and activities including making your own Egyptian amulets, learning to write your name in hieroglyphs, and much more! Free and open to the public. For more information, email ldhckley@memphis.edu or call 901-678-2649. 

Events and Programs Fall 2023

Eighteenth Annual William J. Murnane Memorial Lecture

Co-sponsored by the Institute of Egyptian Art & Archaeology and the Department of History at the University of Memphis

Dr. Jacquelyn Williamson
Associate Professor of Art and Archaeology of the Ancient Mediterranean World
History and Art History Department, George Mason University
 
“Nefertiti’s Sun Temple at Tell el-Amarna”

• When: Thursday, October 26, 2023
• Where: University Center Fountain View Suite (Room 350)  7 pm

7th Annual IEAA Alumnae/Alumni Lecture

Dr. Michelle Marlar
Director, Egyptian Archaeological Missions
Houston Museum of Natural Science

“The Osiris Temple at Abydos: Phases and Destruction”

• When: Thursday, September 21, 2023
• Where: Art & Communication Building (ACB) Rm 310,  7 pm

Events and Programs for Spring 2023

For more information about these events visit the IEAA Events page, or select highlighted text in one of the events below.

• Nineteenth Annual Legacy of Egypt Lecture
  Zoom with us to learn more about George Reisner on Thursday evening, April 6, 2023, with a lecture by Dr. Peter Der Manuelian, Barbara Bell professor, Harvard University, Cambridge. His virtual lecture will cover his interdisciplinary visualization and digital humanities approach to understanding the ancient world and his most recent publication, Walking Among Pharaohs, George A. Reisner and the Dawn of Modern Egyptology (Oxford, 2022).
  

• Special Food Lecture by Dr. Amr Khalaf Shahat
  Explore with us the foodways of ancient Egyptians on Monday evening, March 20, 2023, with a lecture by Dr. Amr Khalaf Shahat, Postdoctoral researcher at Costen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles. His in-person and virtual lecture will cover the results of an interdisciplinary analysis using archaeobotany and isotopic methods on unpublished ancient Egyptian food remains from Nag ed Deir and Deir el Ballas.
  

• Seventeenth Annual William J. Murnane Memorial Lecture
  Join us via YouTube on Thursday evening, December 15, 2022, for the Seventeenth Annual William J. Murnane Memorial Lecture by Dr. Marc Gabolde, Professor of Egyptology at Paul-Valéry University – Montpellier III, Montpellier, France. His virtual lecture will bring us up-to-date on his research and reconstruction of the mysterious monument build by King Ay for his predecessor Tutankhamun.

• Special Lecture on Tutankhamun by Dr. Peter J. Brand
  Explore with us Tutankhamun's afterlife in the evening of Friday, November 4, 2022 with a lecture from Dr. Peter J. Brand, Professor of History at the University of Memphis. His lecture presents Tutankhamun's journey in the afterlife through his funerary items including, coffins, golden death mask, jewelry and other items on or near his body.
  

• Sixth Annual IEAA Aluminae/Alumni Lecture
  Join us the evening of Thursday, October 27, 2022, for a presentation by Dr. Mark Janzen, Associate Professor of Archaeology and Ancient History at Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN. His lecture presents new findings on the identity of the pharaoh responsible for a section of battle reliefs on the exterior wall at Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt. He will also bring us up up-to-date on his team's fieldwork at Karnak. Dr. Janzen earned his doctorate in the Department of History at the University of Memphis in 2013.
  

• Ancient Egypt Family Day on the Internet - This activity is no longer available
  Join us for a fun and FREE online public event with lots of fun and interesting activities for all! Content will be available from April 18 through September 30, 2022. 
  This year we also have links to resources for educators and parents.
  

IEAA Director to Give Special Lecture at the University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee

Dr. Lorelei H. Corcoran, Professor of Art History (Egyptian art and archaeology) and Director of the Institute of Egyptian Art & Archaeology at the University of Memphis will present a lecture on "Wonderful Things’: Decoding Tutankhamun’s Jewelry”.

This event is free and open to the public in the evening of Thursday, October 20, 2022.

Join Dr. Corcoran for her in person lecture on the most beautiful and enigmatic examples of Tutankhamun’s jewelry and accessories and analyze them for their value as representing the ancient Egyptians’ design preferences, their love of the interplay between text and image, and the religious and historical significance of these items. In the 100 years since the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, there have been blockbuster exhibitions and numerous films and publications about its discovery and the “wonderful things” found in it. Most publications are catalogues of categories of objects or discussions of individual objects and few explore the significance of the choices made contributing toward an overall decorative program of meaning. This talk will present some of the most beautiful and enigmatic examples of Tutankhamun’s jewelry and accessories and analyze them for their value as representing the ancient Egyptians’ design preferences, their love of the interplay between text and image, and the religious and historical significance of these items. 

This lecture is presented by the Egyptology Graduate Student Associate and American Research Center in Egypt Tennessee Chapter.

• When: Thursday, October 20, 6:00 p.m. Memphis time.
• Where: Art and Communications Building, Room 314, Main Campus, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee
  Pay parking is available for $3.00/hr. in the Fogelman Garage (Lot 40, PG1) on Fogelman Drive (formerly Fogelman Drive) 

IEAA Assistant Director to Give Special Virtual Lecture at de Young Museum, San Francisco, California

Dr. Joshua Roberson, Associate Professor of Art History (Egyptian art and archaeology) and Assistant Director of the Institute of Egyptian Art & Archaeology at the University of Memphis will present a lecture on "No One Should Brave the Underworld Alone": Traversing Eternity in the Age of Ramses the Great. This event is free and open to the public both in-person and online in the afternoon of Saturday, October 15, 2022.

Join Dr. Roberson for his live stream on youtube and in-person lecture on the change in Ramesside Age Egyptian religious thought which is expressed through the labyrinthine maps that contain imagery of the Egyptian cosmos, deities, demons, the damned, and the blessed dead in Nineteenth Dynasty tombs and temples. This hybrid (in-person and simulcast online) event is presented by the De Young Museum in San Francisco.

For more information about his presentation visit: https://deyoung.famsf.org/calendar/no-one-should-brave-underworld-alone-traversing-eternity-age-ramses-great

• When: Saturday, October 15, 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. Memphis time (2:00 - 3:30 p.m. PDT).
• To attend via the live stream on youtube, follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msndkKEfFLo

IEAA Director to Give Special Virtual Lecture at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Dr. Lorelei H. Corcoran, Professor of Art History (Egyptian art and archaeology) and Director of the Institute of Egyptian Art & Archaeology at the University of Memphis will present a lecture on The “Mummy Portraits” of Roman Egypt: Status, Ethnicity, and Magic. This event is free and open to the public both in-person and online on the evening of October 6, 2022.

Join Dr. Corcoran for her in-person and Zoom lecture on the production and function of the “mummy portraits” that were popular throughout Egypt in the Roman period and discover what these images reveal about the religious beliefs and multi-layered ethnicities of their subjects. Her lecture is part of the exhibition at the Harvard Art Museums: Funerary Portraits from Roman Egypt which is open through December 31, 2022. This hybrid (in-person and simulcast online) event is presented by the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East and the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture in collaboration with the Harvard Art Museums. For more information about her presentation visit: https://hmsc.harvard.edu/mummy-portraits-roman-egypt

• Watch the recorded lecture at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8gFUR1Oeqs
• Learn more about the exhibit Funerary Portraits from Roman Egypt at: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2022/09/face-to-face-with-ancient-egyptians/
• View the online digital companion to the exhibit at:  https://harvardartmuseums.org/tour/funerary-portraits-from-roman-egypt-facing-forward-2

Federal Agents Seek IEAA Help to Identify Potentially Stolen Egyptian Artifact

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Memphis, TN, seized a package on August 17 that contained an ancient Egyptian canopic jar lid. They contacted Egyptologists from the University of Memphis' Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology who cornfirmed the authenticity of the piece.

The lid depicts the deity Imsety, who protects the deceased person's liver from harm. Canopic jars were made in sets of four and contained the internal organs which were removed from the body as part of the mummification process. The lids were often in the shape of four gods - human, jackal, baboon and falcon - who were thought to magically protect the jars' contents. This lid dates to the Third Intermediate Period (1,069 BCE - 653 BCE).  For more information, see the article on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection web site: https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-media-release/memphis-seizes-ancient-egyptian-artifact.

Professor in the News - The New York Times

Dr. Lorelei H. Corcoran, Professor and Director of the Institute of Egyptian Art & Archaeology, was quoted in the NY Times article, “Archaeologists Find Mummies with Golden Tongues,” a feature in the Science Section, February 3, 2021. An expert on Egyptian mummies of the Roman period, Dr. Corcoran was consulted to comment on the recent discovery at the Egyptian site of Taposiris Magna of mummies with gilded tongues found during the Egyptian-Dominican excavation in search of the remains of Cleopatra VII and Marc Antony.

(Photo Credit: The New York Times)

The Pharaohs' Golden Parade

Video Resources

Past Online Events
Past lectures sponsored by the IEAA are available on the CCFA Memphis YouTube page or in the IEAA Online Events Archive.

Videos of Egyptian Artifacts
University of Memphis graduate students in Art History create videos of objects in the IEAA's Egyptian collection. As part of a class assignment under the guidance of Dr. Lorelei Corcoran, three students each selected, researched and produced a short video on an ancient Egyptian object. Watch these videos on the University of Memphis' YouTube page or in IEAA Collections Videos