Institute of Egyptian Art & Archaeology

Fifth Annual LEGACY OF EGYPT Lecture

"City of One Hundred Gates: Luxor in the Past Two Millennia"

Hypostyle Hall, Karnak Temple, Luxor

Dr. Nigel Strudwick, Assistant Keeper, Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum, will present a free public lecture on Wednesday, April 16, 2008.

Luxor, ancient Thebes of the hundred gates, is probably the largest archaeological site in Egypt, and covered with temples and tombs. The greatest religious structure in the ancient world - the temple of the god Amon at Karnak - is found there. Luxor is also the source of many of the objects which today grace museums in Egypt, the USA and Europe. Although the most well-known of this material comes from the time of the Pharaohs (ca. 3000-332 B.C.), Luxor boasts another 2,000 years of more recent history.

From the conquest of the Greek ruler Alexander the Great in 332 B.C. until the revolution of A.D. 1952, Egypt was under the control of non-Egyptians. Luxor today provides us a microcosm of these 2000+ years of history, mostly bypassed by the modern tourist. The effects of these different presences - Greek, Roman, Christian, Muslim, as well as European colonialism and the birth of Egyptology - will be explored in this lecture.

Entrance to the Temple of Luxor

Lecture: 7:00 p.m.
Reception: 6:15 p.m.
Location: Fogelman Executive Center, room 123
330 Innovation Drive (formerly Deloache Ave.)
The University of Memphis Campus

Internationally known, Dr. Nigel C. Strudwick is an Assistant Keeper in the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum in London and is currently a visiting professor of Art History at the University of Memphis (spring 2008). He has excavated in Egypt for many years and has a long-standing interest in the tombs of the nobles at Thebes. Currently he is director of the excavation of the tomb of Senneferi (Theban tomb 99). At the British Museum he is concerned with the sculpture collection, traveling exhibitions, and technological issues.

Dr. Strudwick publishes extensively on ancient Egypt. His list of books includes both scholarly and popular works on ancient Egyptian history and archaeology. An extremely versatile scholar, he has recently published a volume of translations of ancient Egyptian texts from the Old Kingdom (ca. 2500-2000 B.C.) and several books on Egyptian objects in the collections of the British Museum. Some of his fieldwork and publications are done in collaboration with his wife, Helen, also a noted Egyptologist. Dr. Strudwick received his Ph.D. from Liverpool University.

For a brief photographic tour of other monuments from Luxor, or other sites in Egypt, visit the Color Tour of Egypt on our web site.

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