COMMUNITY SCHOLARS PROGRAM GENERAL/MUSEUM COLLECTIONS Ancient Egypt: The Ancient Egyptian Collection of the Oriental Institute Museum The Oriental Institute Museum houses one of the most important collections of Egyptian antiquities in North America consisting of over 25,000 artifacts obtained through early purchases, shares of finds from jointly sponsored expeditions, and the Oriental Institute's own excavations in Egypt. Much is owed to the pioneering vision of James Henry Breasted, founder of the Oriental Institute, who was responsible for acquiring large portions of the material in the early 20th century. Breasted saw the value of building a wide-ranging collection that reflected the many facets of ancient Egyptian life and culture. The museum on the south side of Chicago thereby became a premiere institution for the study and public display of Egyptian antiquities. This talk will provide an introduction to the Egyptian collection of the Oriental Institute, covering its foundation, its growth, and its many highlights including a statue of King Tutankhamun, which is the tallest Egyptian statue in the western hemisphere. Ancient Egypt: The Ancient Egyptian Collection of the Oriental Institute Museum Since its founding in 1919 by James Henry Breasted, the first American Ph.D. in Egyptology, the Oriental Institute has been a premier center in the world for the research of ancient Egypt. From Breasted Hall to the Nile, scholars in the OI have contributed to the study Egypt in archaeology, linguistics, literature, economy, history, society, religion, and more. In addition to a legacy of research, Breasted inaugurated an important collection of antiquities, from colossal statues to mummies, tomb inscriptions to papyrus scrolls. In this lecture, we will learn about the OI's research in Egypt and the history of its museum collection, and take a virtual tour of what is on display (and what is locked away in the museum's vaults!). We will get up-close looks at important artifacts, and make connections to major and ongoing research work here and in Egypt, such as the Epigraphic Survey, the Chicago Demotic Dictionary, and the Tell Edfu Project. Ancient Mesopotamia: Highlights from the Oriental Institute Collection Speaker: Sam Harris, PhD candidate in Mesopotamian archaeology The Oriental Institute Museum houses a world-class collection of artifacts from Mesopotamia. At this event, we will use the highlights of this collection to discuss the people and societies of ancient Mesopotamia as well as the often fascinating histories of the objects themselves. 1
The Bible and the Ancient Middle East For over 2,000 years, the Hebrew Bible has been considered sacred scripture by Jews and Christians. It also contains traditions held in high regard by Muslims. One of the most influential books ever written, it is also one of the most important artifacts of ancient Middle East. In what ways does the literature of the Bible look like other contemporary literature? Is there any evidence outside of the Bible for the events depicted in it? Did the biblical writers share a worldview with other cultures of their time? In this lecture, we will explore the Hebrew Bible and its world, and trace the new discoveries and revolutionary approaches to biblical scholarship that have emerged through the research of organizations like the Oriental Institute. Epigraphic Hebrew and the Hebrew Bible Speaker: Andrew Burlingame, PhD student in Northwest Semitic Philology The Hebrew Bible regarded by many as Scripture certainly constitutes the largest and best known text written in Israel during the first millennium BCE. But it is not the only text from this period. In fact, archaeological discoveries over the last century and a half have continued to bring new texts to light that were authored by the ancient inhabitants of Israel and Judah, as well as their neighbors, the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, and Philistines. In this presentation, we will look at a number of fascinating texts, including military letters, monumental inscriptions boasting of royal deeds, burial inscriptions, and a plea made to a judge by a daylaborer whose cloak had been taken. We will also look at texts that might not at first glance seem interesting at all lists of names and products from Samaria and other sites, which, despite their appearance, are actually quite significant for our understanding of ancient Israel s history. We will consider the ways in which what we learn from the epigraphic sources relates to what we read in the Hebrew Bible. The Phoenicians Speaker: Andrew Burlingame, PhD student in Northwest Semitic Philology Among the inhabitants of the ancient Levant, the Phoenicians are perhaps some of the best remembered. Rumored by classical sources to have invented the alphabet (a form of which we still use today) and renowned for their skilled seamanship, which made them both wealthy as maritime traders and formidable as naval opponents, the Phoenicians left their mark in history and geography. In this talk, we will consider the early history of these fascinating people, whose travels took them far from the Lebanese coast to sites all over the Mediterranean and even as far as Wales. We will discuss the texts they left behind, which shed light on their political organization and their religious beliefs and practices. We will also consider examples of their art and craftsmanship some of the finest of the time. Rediscovering and Preserving the Past: German Excavations in Mesopotamia Closely intertwined with our understanding of ancient Mesopotamia is the history and work of the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft (German Oriental Society), founded in Berlin in 1898. The "rediscovery" of the ancient land between the two rivers began before this time, with explorers and travelers venturing to the area during the high Renaissance, the first projects based in Assyria conducted by the rivals Great Britain and France, and the decipherment of cuneiform script in the late 19th century. Yet it was with the founding of the DOG and the work of such key 2
figures as Robert Koldeway and Walter Andrae in Mesopotamia that a new level of sophistication and technique was brought to archaeological excavations in the Middle East. This new scientific approach to archaeology led to fascinating discoveries at such capitals as Babylon, Assur, and Hattuša, and forms of the basis of modern day archaeological excavation methods. LITERATURE/LANGUAGES Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths and Religious Philosophies In the words of one Egyptologist, Egyptians lived in a universe composed not of things, but of beings. In order to describe the relationships of the beings who made up the visible world, ancient Egyptian philosophers developed a sophisticated "natural philosophy" that was embedded into a theological framework. Although it is common to find ancient beliefs derided as "primitive" in popular literature, Egyptian religious philosophies had a rational internal logic that can be found if we only look for it. Often we discover that what had seemed unnatural or irrational turns out to be expressive thought experiments concerning the inner workings of how the ancient Egyptians conceived of their universe. This talk will provide an overview of ancient Egyptian creation myths and religious philosophies from an indigenous perspective in an attempt to foster a sympathetic understanding of ancient Egyptian thought and not dismiss it as absurd fantasies. Ancient Egyptian Thought and Literature A thousand years before Socrates, an Egyptian poet lamented the fleetingness of life: "One generation passes away and the next remains, since the time of the ancients... The blessed nobles are buried in their tombs, but as for these tomb builders, their places are no more. What has become of them?" These words were prophetic: Egyptian civilization, in its splendorous tombs, was mostly buried beneath the sands for almost two thousand years, until the decipherment of hieroglyphs in the early 19th century. In this lecture, we will discover a long-lost worldview infused with a sense of the divine permeating every corner of the cosmos. We will explore the Egyptians sense of the rhythms of nature, as well as their habits of thought and ways of making sense of things. Our special focus will be the ample literature that has survived from Egypt, in the form of poetry, hymns, stories, proverbs and more. We will also trace the influence and readership of Egyptian literature, from the Bible to ancient Greece. The History of Writing and the History of the Alphabet Speaker: Andrew Burlingame, PhD student in Northwest Semitic Philology For over five thousand years, people have at various times and places made use of writing to make language visible and permanent. The earliest written documents we possess today are written in cuneiform, with Egyptian hieroglyphics appearing on the scene shortly thereafter. The earliest attestations of alphabetic writing come even later. This talk will discuss how these writing systems emerged and the purposes for which their earliest inventors used them. We will 3
also see how they changed over time and how the alphabet that we use today relates to the earliest alphabets extant. The Languages and Scripts of Ancient Egypt In studying languages from ancient Egypt, scholars are forced to grapple with the written record only, as there are no native speakers or audio recordings of the languages in actual use. Writing was invented quite early in Egypt, in the two to three centuries preceding 3000 BCE. A variety of scripts developed for expressing the ancient Egyptian language;; their use depended upon the geographical area, temporal period, media, and contexts of the inscription. Likewise, neighbors could borrow and adopt the Egyptian script for their own language, for example Meroitic, or radical social changes could cause the adoption of foreign scripts to write Egyptian, for example Coptic. This talk will provide an overview to the various languages used in ancient Egypt, the scripts used to write them, the various types of texts produced with them, and their historical contexts. Mesopotamian Mythology Speaker: Sam Harris, PhD candidate in Mesopotamian archaeology The gods, goddesses, heroes, and demons of Mesopotamia populate an unforgettable mythological world. From legends of Gilgamesh and Sargon to myths of Ishtar, Marduk, and Tiamat, we ll share the stories and beliefs of this ancient culture and explore some of their echoes in later belief and literature. Myth and Magic in Ancient Mesopotamia From colossal human-headed winged bulls at gateways to clay tablets inscribed with incantations and prayers, the world of ancient Mesopotamia was rich with objects and practices that we might categorize as myth and magic, things that we would regard as relatively removed from daily activities and thought. Yet to the people of this ancient land, myth and magic played a fundamental role in all areas of life. Through object highlights taken from the Mesopotamia collection at the Oriental Institute, we will review some of the most well-known myths from Assyria and Babylonia, material objects associated with these myths, practices and materials associated with healing and protection, and the lives of the practitioners associated with these crafts. Wisdom Literature of the Bible and the Near East In 1924, the Egyptologist Adolph Erman discovered that a portion of the biblical Book of Proverbs was based on the Ancient Egyptian Teaching of Amenemope, an immensely popular collection of wise sayings that was studied by Egyptian scribes for centuries, but then lost to history until modern times. Scholars now realize that several books of the Hebrew Bible have much in common with an international type of literary activity known from Egypt and Mesopotamia that we call Wisdom Literature. Scribes and teachers collected sayings of the wise, composed dialogues on philosophical subjects, and circulated fables, parables, and tales. Some authors worked closely with their royal court and temples, while others were more 4
subversive. In this lecture, discover this long-lost but recently discovered school of thought and literature from the Ancient Near East, learn how its worldview is like and unlike our own, and see many books of the Bible in a new light, such as Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job, and Psalms. ART, ARCHITECTURE & CULTURE Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt When looking at Egyptian art, the poet Rainer Maria Rilke claimed he saw the "pollen of blossoming divinity." The art and architecture of ancient Egypt indeed leave onlookers with a sense of awe and grandeur. At the same time, when compared to the art of ancient Greece or the Italian Renaissance, Egyptian art may seem inaccessible or archaic to us. In this lecture, using some of the masterpieces of Egyptian art, including some artifacts in the Oriental Institute Museum, we will discuss a few simple rules of thumb to keep in mind when exploring the Egyptian gallery of a museum. We will also explore the most important features of Egyptian architecture, so you can understand the original contexts of much of what you see. Ancient Craftsmen and Artists This talk explores the craftsmanship and artistry of the art and architecture from the ancient Near East using object highlights from Babylonia, Assyria, and Persia, as well as references from ancient textual sources. A variety of questions will be discussed, including who were the artists and craftsmen in the ancient Near East, how were these great works of art created, why particular materials were chosen (for example, availability, appearance, workability, and cultural value), for whom they were created, and their interactive and experiential qualities within their ancient context. Cylinder Seals: Mesopotamian Art in Miniature One of the most distinctive and remarkable art forms of the ancient Near East is the cylinder seal. Join us to see these tiny objects come to life, not only as art objects, but as representations of social realties and mythic tales, as administrative technologies and markers of status. Images of Kingship in the Ancient Near East From the Early Dynastic period of the third millennium BC through to the Neo-Babylonian Empire of the late first millennium BC, the Mesopotamians manufactured images of kings in a variety of forms, including statues, steles, stone reliefs, figurines, and seal designs. Both local and exotic materials were used to create these forms, for example, baked clay, monumental and semi-precious stones, metals, ivory, and decorative paint. This talk explores the cultural significance of these images of kings, looking at the raw materials with which they were made, their visual and experiential qualities, their audience and placement within the ancient 5
landscape, and their expression of conceptions of kingship and divinity throughout Mesopotamia. Mesopotamian Temples and Palaces Ancient Mesopotamia was home to a rich architectural history. From the fourth through the first millennium BC, ambitious kings constructed great palaces and temples as part of royal building programs, presenting an image of strength and grandeur to locals and visitors alike. These buildings were composed of an impressive collection of visual materials, including carved wall reliefs, glazed bricks, wall paintings, and royal and divine statues, many of which have been recovered from excavations of capital cities and are known from references in the ancient texts. This talk will explore the glorious visual and architectural traditions of Mesopotamian royal monuments and the lasting importance of this rich cultural heritage. Photographs of Persepolis: Their Past, Present, and Future The Oriental Institute Museum exhibition Persepolis: Images of an Empire presents large-format photographs of the ruins of one of the greatest dynastic centers of antiquity, built at the height of the Achaemenid Persian empire (550 330 BC). The photographs, taken during the Oriental Institute's Persian Expedition (1931 1939), record the forests of columns, monumental audience halls, and stone relief carvings of the people who came from all corners of the empire to honor the Persian king. The show also explores the practice of photography itself and the nature of these photographs as both scientific records of an archaeological site and artistic visions of the ruins of a once powerful empire. This talk will explore the origins and continuation of this Achaemenid imperial visual legacy, with the dynastic center of Persepolis standing as a pinnacle of its success, as well as the role that photography, as a new apparatus of representation, played in constructing an image of the Orient and otherness in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. The Royal Cities of Assyria Speaker: Sam Harris, PhD candidate in Mesopotamian archaeology From the earliest days of archaeological excavations in Mesopotamia, the palaces and temples of the great cities of the Assyrian empire places like Nineveh, Nimrud, Khorsabad, and Assur have captured the imagination of scholars and the public. At this event, we will take a virtual tour of ancient Assyrian royal cities, discuss the history of this massive empire in the first millennium BC, and address current concerns about the preservation of archaeological heritage in a time of war. Visions of an Imperial Legacy: The Art, Architecture, and Cultural Influence of Persepolis From the rule of Cyrus the Great to the fall of the Achaemenid Persian Empire (550 330 BC), the Achaemenid kings constructed a visual landscape that through its art and architecture broadcast an idealized message of harmonious order, power, and unity. Through a collection of 6
archival photographs, this talk will explore the origins and continuation of this visual legacy, the dynastic center of Persepolis standing as a pinnacle of its success, and its lasting influence in both antiquity and the modern day. The archival photographs, taken during the Oriental Institute's Persian Expedition (1931 1939), record the forests of columns, monumental audience halls, and stone relief carvings of the people who came from all corners of the empire to honor the Persian king. We will also explore the practice of photography itself and the nature of these photographs as both scientific records of an archaeological site and artistic visions of the ruins of a once powerful empire, as well as the role that photography, as a new apparatus of representation, played in constructing an image of the Orient and otherness in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Building the Pyramids Egypt and Nubia were home to many pyramids built over a span of 2,000 years, but it is the three pyramids belonging to Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure on the Giza plateau that continue to hold the fascination of the world. Building these monuments required the recruitment and organization of large work forces along with their support staff. This talk will highlight the most recent research regarding their construction and the impact it had on ancient Egyptian society. Exciting excavations in the shadow of the Giza pyramids at Heit el-ghurab over the last 20 years have revealed the city from which these construction projects were administered. In 2015 a most unbelievable discovery was made when a team working along the Red Sea coast at a site called Wadi al-jarf found the discarded journals and papers of a man who worked acquiring resources for building the Great Pyramid for Khufu at Giza. Never before has so much been known about the daily life of the pyramid builders. Building the Pyramids The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only member of the Seven Wonders of the World that still stands, but did you know that there are over 30 pyramids from Ancient Egypt, and that pyramids were built for more than 1,000 years? The Pyramids of Ancient Egypt are some of the largest and most impressive structures mankind has ever built. Enigmatic as they seem, however, Egyptologists and archaeologists have unlocked their mysteries over the past centuries. Separate fact from fiction and learn what the pyramids were, how they were built, and why the Ancient Egyptians sacrificed so much to build them. Magic and Medicine in Ancient Egypt Across the ancient Mediterranean world, Egypt was renown for its magical and medical lore. Scholars traveled from afar to visit its unparalleled libraries, study its age-old texts, and learn the wisdom of its priestly scholars. The categories we label as magical or medical were not nearly as distinct in Egypt as we believe them to be in the modern world today, but they existed on a continuum concerning treatment of ailments attributed to a mixture of physical and spiritual causes. This talk will discuss how the ancient Egyptians viewed these categories by surveying the surviving evidence for the practice of magic and medicine. The evidence reveals a complex, 7
nuanced, and sophisticated approach to patient care carried out by knowledgeable practitioners who understood such things as the workings of the circulatory system and the pulse long before this knowledge was attributed to Hippocrates. In what may be surprising to our current conceptions, it turns out that the same scholar-priests were responsible for the professional work of both magician and doctor. Magic and Medicine in Ancient Egypt Magic and medicine are two of the great legacies of Egyptian civilization. To us, these two concepts are completely at odds with each other. When it comes to the Ancient Egyptians, however, how can we make sense of the fact that the same Egyptian word meant both prescription and magic potion? Why would an Egyptian physician, who had generations of medical cases, hypotheses, diagnoses, and treatment courses at his disposal when treating a patient, sometimes recite a spell, or appeal to a myth? Join us in this lecture as we answer these questions and learn how, for the Egyptians, the practical and symbolic worlds of magic and medicine were intimately related. We will also see how their legacy impacted the wider Mediterranean world, with examples in Greek, Hebrew, and Christian thought and practice. Science in the Ancient Levant Speaker: Andrew Burlingame, PhD candidate in Northwest Semitic Philology When we think of scientific studies today, many images come quickly to mind microscopes, white lab coats, test tubes, and, of course, powerful databases to keep track of all of the information that has been collected. But the identification and storing of important information is by no means new, and the ancient Middle East has produced many texts that can be considered scientific. In this talk, we will consider one group of such texts those coming from an important coastal city in northern Syria and dating to the 13th century BCE. These texts allow us to understand how the city s ancient inhabitants thought about science. We will see examples of texts discussing veterinary medicine, the forecasting of the future, and the treatment of human ailments (including hangovers!). Water in the Ancient Near East Speaker: Sam Harris, PhD candidate in Mesopotamian archaeology The management of water resources is a fundamental issue of human survival. In this talk we will discuss the special problems and potentials of water in the ancient Near East, the technical and social systems ancient peoples used to address them, what happened when these systems broke down, and the ways archaeologists can reconstruct ancient water use. 8