The Bibliotheca Alexandrina Antiquities Museum is organizing a lecture entitled “Religious Dawns: The Dawn of the Pyramid Age and the Dawn of Christianity in Ancient Egypt through Brigham Young University (BYU) Egypt Excavation Project”. The lecture will be held on Sunday, 11 March 2018, at 12:00 noon, in the 3rd Floor Floating Room (F3). The lecture will be delivered by Dr. Kerry Muhlestein, Professor of Ancient Sculpture, Brigham Young University (BYU).
The lecture will discuss the Seila Pyramid built by Snefru which—because of its unique ritual features and its relationship to the Meidum Pyramid—casts light on the dawn of the Pyramid age. The Seila Pyramid sheds light on the transition from north-south to east-west orientation and its association with the worship of Ra. Moreover, it urges us to question some of our assumptions about the purpose of pyramids.
Furthermore, the nearby cemetery of Fag el-Gamous tells us about the burial preparation of the poor people in Fayoum during the transition to Christianity. The lecture will explore how burial practices changed or remained the same, and how the Egyptian culture influenced Christian burials and made them unique compared to elsewhere. Finally, the speaker will elaborate on the role of the BYU Egypt Excavation Project as a window into two key religious transitions in Egyptian history.