From Pyramids to Pest Control: Life and Death in Kahun
Professors Steven Snape and Joyce Tyldesley
5 x Monday Evenings 6th Jan- 3rd Feb 2025. Times: 7.30-9pm (UK Times) to join live.
We love to see you for the live lectures, but if you have to miss one, don't worry, you can of course catch up (or watch again) at your leisure via the recordings. You will have access to the recorded lectures for a whole month after the last live lecture. Recordings will be available until 3rd March.
What would you see if, like our cover image, you were able to peek through the window of an ancient Egyptian house? The story of ancient Egypt is so often told from the perspective of the pharaoh and their elite supporters, but what would it be like if you could wander around an ancient town and get a glimpse of real ancient Egyptians, to visit their homes, meet their families and to join them at work?
The town of Kahun is the most important archaeological site from Middle Kingdom Egypt because it allows us to examine the lives of ordinary Egyptians through a kaleidoscope of astonishingly rich evidence. This evidence includes personal possessions, household goods, papyrus documents and the houses of the town itself, giving testimony to the ways in which the men, women and children of Kahun lived, worked, worshipped and played.
If this were not enough, we also have the nearby pyramid of Senwosret II whose presence was a core reason for the creation of the town, and which remained closely connected to it. Finds from the pyramid complex, including the so-called ‘Treasure’ give us an insight into the rich burials of royal women in the Middle Kingdom.
Join us for this series of 5 lectures where we will visit one site at one period in time, to consider what life was like in Kahun during the Middle Kingdom.
Professors Steven Snape and Joyce Tyldesley OBE
Steven Snape is Honorary Professor of Egyptian Archaeology at the University of Liverpool, he has taught undergraduate and postgraduate students since 1994, and he was Director of the Garstang Museum of Archaeology. He is a specialist in the history and culture of the New Kingdom. He has extensive fieldwork experience in Egypt and has directed several archaeological excavations at sites including the Eastern Delta, Abydos, and the ongoing work at the Ramesside fortress of Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham. At Abydos Steven directed fieldwork for the University of Pennsylvania at the Seti I Cenotaph Temple Complex. Steven’s Ph.D was on the excavations of John Garstang at Abydos from 1906-1909. His current research focus is on the sacred landscape of ancient Egypt.
Joyce Tyldesley teaches Egyptology online for Manchester University. Author of a wide variety of academic and popular books for adults & children, including books to accompany the television series Private Lives of the Pharaohs, Egypt’s Golden Empire and Egypt. In January 2008 her book Cleopatra: Last Queen of Egypt, was the Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4. Her play for children, The Lost Scroll, premiered at Kendal Museum in 2011. Her book Tutankhamen’s Curse ( Tutankhamen in the USA) was awarded the 2014 Felicia A. Holton Book Award by the Archaeological Institute of America. Her most recent book, Tutankhamun: Pharaoh, Icon, Enigma, was published in 2022.”
Booking instructions
To book your place on this course you must add this product to your basket and go through the checkout process. You can pay with PayPal or your debit card, or you can select to post a cheque or make a bank transfer. Once your payment is received and complete you will have access to the course pages from your profile page. By booking a course you are agreeing to our Terms and Conditions which can be read here.
Session links will be available in the course Classroom. Room opens 30 minutes before the lecture begins. If you do not have the course link or have any other queries please get in touch.