Certificate of Completion
At the end of this course you will be able to download a personalised certificate of completion from the classroom. A great way to keep track of your learning and celebrate your Egyptological journey.
Gilding and Godliness In Ancient Egypt With Dr Campbell Price
4 lectures delivered over 2 afternoons. Sunday 1st & 8th December 2024
2pm UK time
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 15th January.
Gold dominates our impression of Ancient Egypt. Yet the beautiful objects it was used to embellish distract us from the significance of gold and gilding in rituals of transformation. This course examines the roles of gold from sourcing and extraction to fashioning and deposition. We take a fresh look at iconic golden museum pieces for the light they might shed on underlying belief. Particular attention will be paid to metaphysical concepts of image-making, especially the role of an institution known as the ‘Domain of Gold’, and the fundamental elite funerary beliefs that centred on the precious metal and its analogous materials.
Lecture 1: Sourcing and working gold We will examine ancient Egyptian methods of sourcing, exploiting and working gold, especially from the southern land of Nubia, from the use of maps to the status of goldworkers.
Lecture 2: Fashioning objects and their meanings Exploring the composition of individual works of sculpture and jewellery embellished with gold, we assess individual museum objects from Predynastic times to the Late Period and consider their meanings.
Lecture 3: The ‘Domain of Gold’ Less well-known, the broader significance of the metal is reflected in the institution known as the ‘Domain of Gold’ (Hwt-nbw) – more of a trade guild than a physical space, but one into which one had to be initiated in order to activate images.
Lecture 4: Funerary applications of gold Not only were the funerary applications of gold designed for transformation but a number of other materials aimed to have the same ritual effect as the precious metal. Special attention will be paid to goddesses and the transformation of the deceased into a deity.
Dr Campbell Price
Campbell Price is Curator of Egypt and Sudan at Manchester Museum, one of the UK’s largest Egyptology collections. He undertook his BA, MA and PhD in Egyptology at the University of Liverpool, and is currently Chair of Trustees at the Egypt Exploration Society. He has published widely, most recently Totally Chaotic History. Ancient Egypt Gets Unruly! (with Greg Jenner; Walker, 2024) and Brief Histories: Ancient Egypt (Orion, 2024). Campbell has lectured extensively throughout the UK and internationally, and regularly accompanies tours to Egypt
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