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“To Shake or Not to Shake: A New Interpretation of a Devastated Foreign Landscape Depicted at Luxor Temple”
February 25, 2016 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
This free presentation will be given by Danielle Phelps, sponsored by Archaeological Institute of America’s Central Arizona Society and the Arizona Chapter of the American Research Center in Egypt at Pueblo Grande Museum, 4619 E. Washington St., Phoenix, at 6:00 PM.* On the exterior western wall of Luxor Temple is a carved battle scene amongst the scenes that are depictions from Syria, dating to the time of Ramesses II (ca. 1291 to 1213 BCE). The scene portrays only a collapsing migdol (a type of Syrian settlement structure) and its associated vineyards and gardens, which appear broken and uprooted. There are no human or animal figures nor any hieroglyphs which would provide more information about why the ancient Egyptians would depict this type of scene. This presentation will examine the art historical significance of the devastated landscape and propose that the scene depicts the remains of a natural disaster, an earthquake, which the ancient Egyptians came upon during their military campaigns, whereupon they declared an Egyptian victory over the already ruined landscape. Danielle Phelps is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Anthropology at the University of Arizona.
* This is not an Old Pueblo Archaeology Center event. For more information contact Almira Poudrier at apoudrie@asu.edu.