Studying Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia at University:
A Conference for Sixth-Formers
2016
The first edition of the Conference (2016) was held at The British Museum, in London, on Thursday 5th May 2016.
The event was organised by Martin Worthington of the Dept of Archaeology, University of Cambridge. Jon Taylor of the British Museum acted as Event Manager.
The event was attended by 55 students, parents and teachers.
Feedback
Of the 32 respondents to the evaluation questionnaire, 9 rated the event 'good' and 23 rated it 'fantastic'.
Respondents' comments included:
"Brilliant, really opened my eyes to the opportunities available"
"A very enjoyable day which has encouraged me to research Mesopotamia more"
"This was fabulous!"
"It was fantastic; thank you for the experience"
"An awesome day, really enjoyed it and learnt a lot of new information"
"Amazing, I really enjoyed it and it was very informative. I'll definitely do Assyriology at university"
Programme
The main venue will be the Stevenson lecture theatre in the British Museum. Please aim to be seated by 10.20.
Subject to small adjustments, the programme is as follows.
|
10.25-10.30 |
Martin Worthington and Hratch Papazian (Cambridge) |
General introduction |
|
10.30-10.45 |
Dan Lawrence (Durham) |
Satellites and Cities in Near Eastern Archaeology |
|
10.45-11.00 |
Alice Stevenson (Petrie Museum, UCL) |
Before the Pyramids: the origins of the ancient Egyptian state |
|
11.00-11.15 |
Paul Nicholson (Cardiff) |
The Catacombs of Anubis at North Saqqara |
|
11.15-11.30 |
Selena Wisnom (Oxford) |
Will Trump take the kingship? Asking the entrails |
|
11.30-11.35 |
break |
|
|
11.35-11.50 |
Irving Finkel (British Museum) |
The Wonder of Cuneiform |
|
11.50-12.05 |
Michelle Middleman (Liverpool) |
Finding Reality in Old Kingdom Tomb Biographies |
|
12.05-12.20 |
Kate Spence (Cambridge) |
Egypt in Nubia: cultures in collision |
|
12.20-12.35 |
Martin Worthington (Cambridge) |
The rain, the wheat, and the trick |
|
12.35-13.00 |
lunch (bring your own sandwiches, there will not be time to buy them!) |
|
|
13.00-13.15 |
Yaǧmur Heffron (UCL) |
Archaeological Excavation: the Filthy Past |
|
13.15-13.30 |
Gemma Wood (Swansea) |
“The Lady of Slaughter” and the Egyptian calendar |
|
13.30-13.45 |
Richard Parkinson (Oxford) |
The archaeology of the heart: Reading Ancient Egyptian texts |
|
13.45-14.00 |
Andrew George (SOAS) |
Be my baby in Babylonia |
|
14.00-14.25 |
careers
|
|
|
14.25-14.30 |
vacate lecture theatre |
|
|
14.30-15.00 |
gallery tours (in small groups, led by University staff and/or students) |
|
|
15.00-15.30 |
treasure hunt (in small groups or individually) |
|
|
15.30-16.00 |
gallery tours (in small groups, led by University staff and/or students) |
|
Relevant University Open Days
For those who cannot come to the British Museum on May 5th, here are the dates of relevant Open Days and other events:
30th April: Oriental Studies Faculty Open Day, University of Oxford
17th-18th June: Pre-Application Open Days, Department of History, University College London (the Dept offers several courses on Ancient Near Eastern History)
24th-25th June: Liverpool University Open Day
29th-30th June: Oriental Studies Faculty Open Day, University of Oxford
30th June - 1st July: you can meet Egyptology and Assyriology teaching staff at the Cambridge University Open Day (booking not required). Contact person: Martin Worthington.
1st July: Cardiff University Open Day. Contact person for Egyptian Archaeology: Paul Nicholson.
4th-7th July: UCL Ancient World Summer School (includes Egypt and Mesopotamia).
17th-30th July: Summer School in Ancient Languages, University of Swansea (includes Hieroglyphs)
25th-28th July - St John's College, Cambridge, Archaeology Summer School. This will be a residential event, which will include excavation training, sample lectures, and interview workshops. Attendance is completely free, and there are a limited number of travel bursaries for participants from state schools. There will be a substantial component on Egypt and Mesopotamia (which are "tracks" one can specialise in within the Cambridge Archaeology degree).
31st August: deadline for submitting to the Gilgamesh21 project.
9th September: Cardiff University Open Day. Contact person for Egyptian Archaeology: Paul Nicholson.
10th September: Pre-Application Open Days, Department of History, University College London (the Dept offers several courses on Ancient Near Eastern History); Contact person: Chris Allen.
16th September: Oriental Studies Faculty Open Day, University of Oxford
24th September: Liverpool University Open Day
30th September: deadline for the Gerald Averay Wainwright Essay Prize - contact by email.
8th October: Liverpool University Open Day
22nd October: Cardiff University Open Day. Contact person for Egyptian Archaeology: Paul Nicholson.
Links
Recordings of modern scholars reading Babylonian and Assyrian poetry.
Manchester's free online taster courses in Egyptology.
The Gilgamesh21 project (deadline: 31st August)
Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, Ancient World Essay Competition
