NEWS ARCHIVE
19 February 2007Romer to lecture in Sussex
John Romer, the great populariser of Egyptology via his TV series and books in the 1980s, is making a rare lecture appearance for Sussex Egyptology Society in Brighton on
April 28, 2007.
John will be exploring the design and construction of the Great Pyramid of 4th Dynasty pharaoh Khufu, a subject surrounded by centuries of myth and confusion. In his illustrated lecture he argues that the pyramid makers worked from a single plan whose existence has long been doubted and even denied.
4 September 2006
BES Directory - 2006-2007 edition now
available online
After a gap of two years, Sussex
Egyptology Society has once again taken on responsibility for the BES
Directory of British Egyptological Societies. The 2006-2007 edition is now available online with PDFs downloads (either of
individual society pages or the complete directory).
Website
'accessibility'
Our policy is to ensure that this site is as accessible as possible, particularly to those with visual disabilities. Click here for help with website access
February 1, 2005
Summer 2005 study day to focus on the Nile Delta
Dr Penny Wilson, director of the EES/Durham University
Expedition to Saïs in the Nile Delta, is presenting a study day
at Horsham on June 18 entitled Lords of the Delta - Understanding Lower
Egypt's Importance to the Ancient Egyptian Civilization. It will
consist of four lectures: 1. Early Settlement in the Delta and
Old Kingdom Colonization; 2. Eastern Delta Potentates: Middle
Kingdom to New Kingdom; 3. Saite Power and Policy; 4. From the
last Egyptian King to the Alexandrians. Penny's ongoing
experience of Delta archaeology puts her at the cutting edge of
developments in this important and still vastly under-researched
area of Egyptology. This study day offers a great opportunity to
get your head around the Delta.
July 10, 2004
Kent comes to Sussex again
Attending this year's annual SES Barbecue, the Society's main social event of the year, was newly-appointed SES president Professor Kent Weeks. Accompanied by his wife Susan and son Chris, Kent - the rediscoverer of Tomb KV5 in the Valley of the Kings, and Director of the Theban Mapping Project - ceremonially took over the Presidency from SES founder-President David Rohl. David and his wife Ditas are in the process of settling into a new life in Spain, although they will continue to be in close contact with the Society, and David is lecturing to us on November 27.
Professor Kent Weeks (wearing blue jacket) and David Rohl (in red waistcoat) with the Sussex Egyptology Society committee and Kent's wife Susan (on his left, in dark jacket) and son Chris (behind him) at the SES Barbecue in Storrington on July 10.
Photo: Astracolour Photographic Services
December 4, 2003
Kent is new Sussex president
Dr Kent R. Weeks, Sussex Egyptology Society's new Honorary President, in front of the information board at the entrance to his greatest discovery so far, KV5.
Dr Kent R. Weeks, one of the world's foremost Egyptologists and the rediscoverer of Tomb KV5 in the Valley of the Kings, is the new Honorary President of Sussex Egyptology Society.
"This is a real achievement for our Society", says chairman Janet Wilton, "and we are all looking forward to a long and fruitful relationship with Dr Weeks. When he visited us in 2002 to give a lecture on his work, our members were hugely impressed - but never did we dream that he would soon become our President".
Dr Weeks received an MA in anthropology from the University of Washington at Seattle in 1965, and worked on archaeological projects in Egypt and Nubia, particularly the Nubian salvage campaign. During this time he met and married Susan Howe, another student at Washington also working in Nubia. He received his PhD in Egyptology from Yale in 1970, and then worked for two years at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Egyptian Department and taught at the Department of History, Queens College, CUNY. In 1972 he returned to Egypt to teach in the Department of Anthropology of American University in Cairo, conducting two seasons of fieldwork at the Giza necropolis. For four years from 1974 he was Field Director of the University of Chicago Oriental Institute's Epigraphic and Architectural Survey at Chicago House, Luxor.
During 1977-88 Dr Weeks was Assistant Professor and then Associate Professor of Egyptian Archaeology at the University of California, Berkeley. Since 1988 he has been professor of Egyptology at American University in Cairo. In 1978, during his stay at Chicago House, Dr Weeks began the Theban Mapping Project, of which he remains Director. In 1987 he began examining an area north-east of the entrance to the tomb of Rameses IX, where he felt a long-neglected tomb might be located. By 1995, Dr Weeks realized that he had unearthed the largest tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
Kent Weeks succeeds David Rohl, the Society's first President, who has now stepped down and taken on the role of Past President.
For details of Dr Weeks's work, visit the website of the Theban Mapping Project, www.kv5.com
November 23, 2002
David Rohl to launch new book
Bestselling Egyptological author, TV archæologist and Sussex Egyptology Society president David Rohl is launching his new book The Lost Testament at a meeting of the Sussex Egyptology Society in Worthing on November 23. He will be presenting two illustrated lectures - one on the archaeological evidence for the Israelite sojourn in Egypt's Eastern Delta, and one on the route of the Exodus through Sinai. Copies of the book will be on sale and David will be signing them. The event begins at 2.00 p.m. at Davison School, Selborne Rd, Worthing; entry is free for members, £3 for visitors. Contact the SES for more details.
Study Day 2003
Following her very successful introductory-level study day for the SES, "Ancient Egypt in a Nutshell", in January 2002, Lucia Gahlin of Bristol University and the Petrie Museum is returning to Sussex on February 15, 2003, to present another day of well-illustrated lectures and discussion based on her own Amarna work and research. "Akhenaten's Miraculous City: the archaeological site of Tell el-Amarna" will be held at Davison School, Worthing, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are available now, at £12.50 per person (the ticket price includes tea/coffee, but delegates should bring a packed lunch).
June 30, 2002
Sussex Egyptology Society launches www.egyptology-uk.com
Mid-2002 saw the launch of a new Egyptological website, www.egyptology-uk.com. The home of Sussex Egyptology Society (SES), it also acts as a focus for Britain's Egyptological scene.
"We have wanted to relaunch our society's website for some time," says SES press officer Mick Oakey, "and since we are currently also producing the BES Directory of British Egyptological Societies, it made good sense to include up-to-date contact information for all the other groups in the UK."
The SES expects the new website to grow steadily over the coming months, and invites feedback from devotees of Egyptology throughout the UK and beyond. "I have been in touch with groups up and down the UK while compiling the BES Directory," says Mick Oakey, "and have been struck by the amount of goodwill and enthusiasm that exists in the Egyptological community. We want to harness that to help ensure that everyone interested in the subject can have the chance to become more involved."
Comments and suggestions about the new site are welcomed - send them to mail@egyptology-uk.com
June 8, 2002
SES visits Griffith Institute
To see Howard Carter's original digging diaries and excavation records at first hand, and check the sharpness of Harry Burton's giant glass negatives of Tutankhamun's treasures, is an unforgettable experience - and one that members of the SES shared on a visit to the Griffith Institute (GI) at Oxford on June 8.
The Society eagerly accepted Dr Jaromir Malek's generous invitation to take a guided tour of the GI - the world's only dedicated Egyptological archive - which is housed just a few yards from the Ashmolean Museum. As well as viewing a wide variety of treasures including paintings and sketches by Amelia Edwards, and perfectly-preserved squeezes of some of Egypt's best-known tomb reliefs, visitors were given a demonstration of the GI's own website, an extraordinarily detailed information resource which is proving to be a powerful means of disseminating the archive's content to students and scholars worldwide.
Over the past year the SES has been making full use of the GI website during the Society's educational visits to schools, where pupils have been able to research details of Tutankhamun's tomb contents with spectacular speed and success.
The Griffith Institute website is at http://www.ashmol.ox.ac.uk/Griffith.html
May 15, 2002
Kent comes to Sussex
Professor Kent Weeks added Brighton to his whistlestop visit to the UK in mid-June, when he fitted an illustrated talk to the SES in between his other two lecture engagements in Glasgow and London.
After a summary of the work of the Theban Mapping Project (TMP) - its activities range far beyond surveying, to encompass a pivotal role in encouraging the preservation of the monuments of the Luxor area and their improved presentation to visitors - Prof Weeks updated the audience on the latest progress in his excavation of KV5, the tomb of the sons of Ramesses II.
Prof Weeks also provided a sneak preview of the summer 2002 upgrade to the TMP's website, which offers innovative and detailed free access to the Project's work. "Fly-throughs" of tombs, the ability to take measurements off plans, sophisticated search facilities and "zoomifiable" aerial photographs are just a few of the features of this breathtaking site.
The TMP's website is at http://www.kv5.com
Click here
to return to top of page | Back to main News page
