2025 SPRING LECTURES
ZOOM LECTURE
Debora Heard, Phd Candidate
University of Chicago, Department of Anthropology
“Kushite Royal Priestesses in the House of the God”
Debora Heard is a Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology at the University of Chicago specializing in Nubian archaeology and Egyptian history and language. Her dissertation research engages in a comparative analysis of the inscriptions and iconography of Upper Nubian Kushite temples dedicated to the gods Amun and Apedemak.
For more than a decade, she has given lectured and taught courses on Nubia and Egypt at the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures (ISAC), the Kemetic Institute of Chicago, Chicago State University, the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and Smithsonian Journeys tours in Egypt. Debora has served as an intern in the Department of Egyptian and Nubian Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and as a curatorial assistant in the initial installation of the Picken Family Nubian Gallery at the ISAC Museum. She has excavated at sites in the Nile 4th-Cataract region in Sudan.
Debora is a member and serves on the DEI Committee for the American Society of Overseas Research. She is also a member of the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations, the Sudan Archaeological Research Society, the Society of Black Archaeologists, and the American Sudanese Archaeological Research Center. Finally, she serves as the organizer and a founding member of the William Leo Hansberry Society, an organization dedicated to increasing the number of African-descended people in the disciplines of Egyptology, ancient Nile Valley and Northeast African Studies by promoting access to training, field work, funding, and, mentoring opportunities at all stages of professional development.
Abstract:
Following Egypt’s conquest of all of Nubia in the 18th Dynasty, one of the ways these New Kingdom rulers expressed their dominance over the region was through the construction of religious temples at various sites in Upper and Lower Nubia. It is not known whether the Nubians continued to operate these temples after regaining their independence around 1,050 BCE. However, there is evidence that by the time the Kushite king Piankhy left his capital in Upper Nubia to take control of Egypt as the founder of the 25th Dynasty, at least some of the Amun temples in Nubia were operational. The worship of the god Amun and the incorporation of Egyptian culture and ideology of kingship were the bases for the legitimate establishment of Kushite rule over Egypt. Yet, even in apparently “Egyptian-looking” contexts, these Kushite rulers displayed their own cultural particularities. One of these was the prominent role of women in religious contexts.
In the religious temples of the reigning kings and queens of Kush, we see that it was not only the ruler who was responsible for performing rituals for the gods but also other members of the royal family. In particular, royal women as priestesses were depicted performing various roles in temple scenes or recorded in royal texts. This lecture will analyze the iconographic, textual, and archaeological data to explore what their roles and responsibilities were in ensuring the successful fulfillment of the royal responsibilities to the gods.
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*For those of you are ARCE-PA Friends (non-ARCE members, Penn Museum Members, Penn Staff & Faculty, and Students), please reach out to us at info@arce-pa.org. Once you register, then you will receive an email with the instructions for the ZOOM lecture log-on.
Questions? Please email us at info@arce-pa.org
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Entrance fees for ARCE-PA In-Person Lectures are:
$10 for the general public
$7 for Penn Museum members/Penn Staff/Penn Faculty
$5 for Students with ID
FREE for ARCE-PA Members, ARCE Members, & children under 12, unless otherwise stated.
All ARCE-PA entry fees will be taken at the door only of the lecture venue at the ARCE-PA table.
Light refreshments will be served starting at 3 pm.
Per the Penn Museum COVID-19 protocols, masks are optional.
If you are interested in joining ARCE or need to renew your membership*, please visit:
https://www.arce.org/membership
*Please do not forget to associate with the "Pennsylvania Chapter" in order to stay up to date with ARCE-PA events.
January 2025
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February 22, 2025
ZOOM LECTURE
Debora Heard, Phd Candidate
University of Chicago, Department of Anthropology
“Kushite Royal Priestesses in the House of the God”
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March 29, 2025
2025 Korsyn Lecture
Dr. Kathleen Sheppard
Professor of History and Director of the Center for Science, Technology, and Society, Missouri S&T
“Amelia Edwards’ United States Lecture Tour and the Beginnings of American Egyptology“
Classroom L2 3:30pm
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April 2025
TBA
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May 10 2025
Dr Antonio Morales
University of Alcalá (UAH, Madrid)
Lecture Title TBA
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JUNE 2025
Meet up at a Museum is back!
Brooklyn Museum!
