Renowned Egyptologist hosts lecture April 12

Egyptologist Peter Lacovara will talk about “Life and Death in the Pyramid Age: The Emory Old Kingdom Mummy” April 12 at 5:30 p.m. in Room 114 Belk Library and Information Commons at Appalachian State University.

The program, sponsored by the Doorways International Program Series, is free and open to the public.

Lacovara will discuss the oldest Egyptian mummy in the Western Hemisphere – a 4,000-year-old Old Kingdom mummy retrieved from excavations at the sacred cemetery of Abydos in Middle Egypt in 1920.

His lecture will shed light on ancient Egyptian rites and rituals regarding the afterlife. Specifically, he will chronicle the development of the burial site of Abydos and the cult of Osiris, with reference to the current excavations where the Old Kingdom mummy was found nearly a century ago.

Lacovara is one of the country’s foremost experts in Egyptology, and is senior curator of Ancient Art Collections at Emory University’s Michael C. Carlos Museum in Atlanta. He has written and contributed to numerous books and publications on Egyptian art.

His fieldwork includes site supervision and excavation at locations such as the Valley of the Kings at Thebes, the Sphinx/Isis Temple, and now at the palace of Amenhotep III at Thebes, where Lacovara is currently excavating.

Since Lacovara came to the museum, Emory University has become one of the South’s leading centers for ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern art. In 1999, Lacovara was the driving force behind the museum’s acquisition of a collection of ancient Egyptian mummies. Included in that collection was a mummy identified as Ramesses I, the patriarch of one of ancient Egypt’s greatest dynasties.

In 2003, a delegation led by Lacovara returned the pharaoh to Egypt and residence at the Luxor Museum. Currently, Lacovara is excavating at the palace of Amenhotep III at Thebes.

This Doorways session is organized by John Stephenson in the Department of Art, and co-sponsored by the Belk Library Doorways series, Office of General Education, the Office of the Dean of Fine and Applied Arts and the Department of Anthropology.

The Doorways series provides a platform for people to share their research and knowledge on international issues and build relationships on campus based on interest in international affairs. For more information on this program or the Doorways series, call (828) 262-4967.