Same-sex desire is attested from ancient Egypt, but some proposed representations remain uncertain. Richard Parkinson, curator for Ancient Egypt and Sudan, British Museum, discusses the controversies surrounding one proposed gay couple from c 2300 BC and its political implications, and reflects generally on the difficulties of identifying desire in an ancient culture.
Submitted by Sean Williams on Fri, 07/31/2009 - 09:18
This year's Egyptological Colloquium, held in the British Museum's fantastic BP Lecture Theatre, was roundly applauded as a great success. No fewer than eighteen gifted minds took to the lectern, as a glut of opinions, theories, excavations and discoveries were explored to a large audience's enthralment. Some of the speeches were incredibly specialist; others not so. But what is certain is that the past week has seen some of the most compelling and intriguing axioms on one of Ancient Egypt's greatest pieces of iconography, the Book of the Dead. From colours to kingdoms, magic bricks to evil demons; the colloquium had it all in abundance. And Heritage Key is on hand to give you all the best of the event's ideas from the bleeding edge of Egyptology.
Highlighted Quote:
Studies on the Book of the Dead appear to be enjoying a modern renaissance, with its future looking as bright as ever.
Dr Richard Parkinson is one of the British Museum's most senior Egyptologists, assuming the title of Assistant Keeper of Ancient Pharaonic Culture at the London institution. Dr Parkinson is responsible for the care, collection and display of the museum's inscribed Egyptian artefacts. These include such famous items as the Papyrus of Ani and the Rosetta Stone - the redisplay of which Dr Parkinson was in charge in 2004. Dr Parkinson is also responsible for university liaison with the museum, and has worked on a great number of projects and papers since his move to the BM from Oxford University in 1991. Dr Parkinson's interests also wade into poetry of the Egyptian classic age (1940-1640 BC) - and he examines ancient manuscripts in terms of their sexuality, performance and cultural power. As well as qualifications on British shores, Dr Parkinson is also a visiting lecturer at the University of Koln and an honorary doctor at Sofia's New Bulgarian University.
Submitted by Sean Williams on Thu, 07/30/2009 - 10:28
The Egyptological Colloquium 2009, held on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, saw a glut of eager experts propose dozens of theories on the making, scribing and significance of the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. Some were more in-depth than others; some were downright inaccessible to all but the longest-serving Egyptologists.
