A 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.
The Ancestors and Domestic Gods
with Dr Penny Wilson
6x Monday Evenings 3rd August - 7th September 2026
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 7th Oct.
This 6 week course will look at the amazing world beyond ‘daily’ Egypt in the minds of its people. A world of ghosts, spirits and gods. This divine and supranatural world was packed with powerful gods, demi-gods and those humans who had passed into it after death.
Using case studies, the talks will examine the relationship of living ancient Egyptians with their ‘ancestors’ and family members in the afterlife. From kings to farmers, all levels of society engaged with those who had died in some way. We will look at how this relationship with deceased ancestors shows itself in the archaeological record, through, for example, the practice of naming children in the next generation, the setting up stela, inscriptions and images in various forms, revisiting and moving the bones of those who had died. The dead were seen as a force that could influence the lives of the living who petitioned them for help in various ways. Using mediators such as wise and revered individuals, animal-versions of the gods or sending pleas to them in the form of letters.
The home was full of such memories and also of supranatural beings who brought and could take away illness, assist those in times of danger and trouble and stand by to protect the family. These talks will explore how these so-called ‘domestic gods’ were contacted and the benefits they could bring.
Week 1. 3rd August
Predynastic period: burials and early gods, evidence for ancestor (divine) worship
Week 2. 10th August
Making the name live: Tombs and offering cults – why?
Week 3. 17th August
Human cults and the world in-between.
Week 4. 24th August
Deir el Medina and Amarna – our best evidence?
Week 5. 31st August
Visiting and being in sacred landscapes
Week 6. 7th September
Past-Present Continuity
Dr Penny Wilson
Penny Wilson is an Emeritus Professor in Egyptian Archaeology in the Dept. Archaeology at Durham University, where she has worked for the last 20 years and before then, she was Assistant Keeper in the Dept. Antiquities, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. She studied at Liverpool University, where she completed her PhD, now published as ‘A Ptolemaic Lexikon’. She is currently the Director of the Delta Survey Project for the Egypt Exploration Society and field director of the Royal City of Sais Project. Her interests include religious life in Ancient Egypt, settlement archaeology and the Late period to Late Antique Nile Delta. Her publications include field reports on the Sais excavations and Delta survey work as well as ‘Sacred Signs’ an introduction to the role of hieroglyphs in ancient Egypt. eritus
Booking instructions
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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.