Today’s talk forms the final episode in my series on funerary decoration in Graeco-Roman Egypt, and explores the fascinating practice of cremation and the disposal of ashes in a variety of receptacles. We will have a look at the types of vases used and their placement in the various cemeteries of the very special city of Alexandria during the Ptolemaic Period. Join me to discover more on

Judith Corbelli holds the degrees of BA Hons, M.Phil and Ph.D of the University of Liverpool 
 

 Monday Sept 1st Zoom 7pm
 

Despite playing a pivotal role in ancient Egyptian history, Deir el-Ballas is not very well known. It was the forward capital of the Theban kings during their drive to expel the Hyksos invaders in the north and reunite the land. Founded by Seqenenre Tao around 1550 B. C. Deir el-Ballas served as the campaign palace for the Kings Seqenenre, Kamose, and Ahmose. It was first excavated by George Andrew Reisner working for the Hearst Expedition of the University of California, Berkeley in the years 1900-1901, but it was but never published and was long forgotten.
As a student in the 1980s I came across the records of the site in Reisner’s archives in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and was able to pend several seasons surveying, mapping and excavating there to understand those records better.
Almost ten years ago, now, Mustafa Waziri who was then Chief Inspector at Qena, asked me to come back to the site because it was in danger of destruction by the expansion of the neighboring modern village. Working as the Ancient Egyptian Heritage and Archeology Fund with Salima Ikram of the American University in Cairo, we are continuing work to protect, preserve and publish this important ancient city.

Peter Lacovara (B.A. 1976, Boston University; Ph.D. 1993 The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago) is the Director of The Ancient Egyptian Archaeology and Heritage Fund. He was Senior Curator of Ancient Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern Art at the Michael C. Carlos Museum from 1998 to 2014. Previously he served as Assistant Curator in the Department of Ancient Egyptian, Nubian and Near Eastern Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Currently, he is also Consulting Curator for the Egyptian Collection at the Albany Institute of History and Art and Visiting Research Scholar at the American University in Cairo.

His archaeological fieldwork has included excavations at the Valley of the Kings at Thebes, the Palace-City of Amenhotep III at Malqata in Western Thebes, Abydos, Hierakonpolis and at the Giza Plateau, and currently he is directing the survey and restoration of the site of Deir el-Ballas. His publications include studies on Daily Life and Urbanism in Ancient Egypt, Egyptian Mortuary Traditions, and the Material Culture of Ancient Egypt and Nubia.

In addition, he has also taught at Syracuse University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Georgia State University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has been the W. K. Simpson Distinguished Visiting Professor at the American University in Cairo.