Lecture: Feasts Fit for Pharaohs

An open lecture “Feasts Fit for Pharaohs: Food and Drink in Ancient Egypt”  by Prof. Salima Ikram, Distinguished Professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo  will be held on the occasion of “The International Conference on Food and Drink in Egypt and Sudan Throughout History”, focusing on the continuity and innovations that have occurred at times of change.

The conference and the lecture are co-organised by the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology Research Centre in Cairo (PCMA) and The Institut français d’archéologie orientale (IFAO).

The lecture will be held at 6:00 p.m., on Wednesday. 21st of March 2018 at the IFAO,
37 al-Sheikh Ali Youssef, Qasr al-Ainy, Cairo

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Lecture Abstract:

Food is crucial for human survival. However, it provides us with more than fuel for existence; it can be said to be a driving force in forming a culture or religion, and identifying a people. This lecture deals with the methodologies employed in studying food in ancient Egypt, and focuses on the ingredients available, how these might have been prepared, and what different consumption patterns reveal about various socio-economic and religious groups in ancient Egypt.

Prof. Salima Ikram is Distinguished Professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo, Extraordinary Professor at Stellenbosch University, and has worked in Egypt as an archaeologist for many years. After double majoring in History as well as Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology at Bryn Mawr College (USA), she received her M. Phil. (in Museology and Egyptian Archaeology) and Ph.D. (in Egyptian archaeology) from Cambridge University. She has directed the Animal Mummy Project, co-directed the Predynastic Gallery project and the North Kharga Oasis Survey, and is Director of the North Kharga Oasis Darb Ain Amur Survey and the

Amenmesse Mission of KV10 and KV63 in the Valley of the Kings. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, she has written several books (for adults and children) and articles, with subject matters ranging from mummification to the eating habits of the ancient Egyptians, the latter of which is the topic of her most recent researches.