2014 - 2015 Archives - Calgary SSEA

Lecture: Tomb Contents of New Kingdom Ancient Egypt

Posted in 2014 - 2015, Event, Lecture

Date: 7:30 – 9:00 pm, 01-May-2015

Cost: Meetings are Free to members, Guests $5 – Students with ID $2

Description:

The tombs of the New Kingdom Egyptians are remarkable for their contents. Ranging from tools for daily tasks to religious equipment to assist the deceased’s resurrection in the afterlife, they give modern researchers insights into ancient customs, beliefs and daily practices. As such, they represent a ‘time capsule’ for ancient Egyptian society during ups and downs during the New Kingdom. Through this lecture, the audience will gain a greater appreciation for funerary practices during the New Kingdom and attain a visual library to recognize the variety of tomb equipment displayed in today’s museums.

About the speaker:

Julius Szekrenyes is the Calgary Chapter’s SSEA president. He has had a life-long interest in Ancient Egypt and has taught Ancient Egyptian history at U. of C. Continuing Education for 16 years.

Location:

Room EDC 287 in the Education Block at the University of Calgary.

Lecture: A Survey of Ancient Egyptian Art

Posted in 2014 - 2015, Event, Lecture

Note that this lecture is held in the following week due to Friday being a holiday.

Date: 7:30 – 9:00 pm, 10-Apr-2015

Cost: Meetings are Free to members, Guests $5 – Students with ID $2

Description:

Ancient Egyptian art has a unique and timeless appearance that has captivated people’s imaginations since Egyptology began. Its seemingly raw fortitude and presence communicate a sense of grandeur to the viewer that has given pharaonic civilization a unique ‘flavour’ amoungst art historians. This lecture is meant to survey Egyptian art’s basic principles. By studying the cannons of proportion, composition style and mediums of representation, it is hoped that the attendees will have a greater appreciation of Egyptian art and its influence on some of today’s architecture and artistic styles.

About the speaker:

Nicholas Wernick has a PhD in Egyptian Archaeology from the University of Liverpool’s Dept. of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology and has been a member of the Calgary chapter of the SSEA for over 10 years. His research interests are primarily focused on New Kingdom Egyptian warfare, ancient logistics, cultural interactions in the LBA Levant, and technology transfer in the ancient eastern Mediterranean. In addition to his academic pursuits, Dr. Wernick also holds degrees and certifications in computer information systems.

Location:

Room EDC 287 in the Education Block at the University of Calgary.

Lecture: Herodotus and the Technologies of the Egyptians

Posted in 2014 - 2015, Event, Featured, Guest Speaker, Lecture

Date: 7:30 – 9:00 pm, 06-Mar-2015

Cost: Meetings are Free to members, Guests $5 – Students with ID $2

Description:

The Greek historian Herodotus is said to have visited Egypt in the mid-fifth century BCE to research background for his study of the two great wars between the Greeks and the Persians. Book Two of his Histories gives a long and detailed account of Egypt’s political and military exploits from the Bronze Age to the Classical period, and contains the world’s first ethnographic account of a foreign people, their society, and their technologies. The last of these is the focus of this evening’s presentation, which will explore the evidence that Herodotus has left us about Egyptian agriculture, language, and construction. His account of the building of Khufu’s pyramid, for one famous example, is the only ancient written source on the topic, but was hardly contemporary: Herodotus was as far removed from the Fourth Dynasty pharaohs as we are from the Roman conquest of Provence. We’ll try to sort out what was factual from uninformed hearsay.

About the speaker:

John Humphrey recently retired after 41 years of teaching and research in the Department of Greek and Roman Studies at the University of Calgary. Originally a Roman imperial historian, his interests wandered first into archaeology (he spent three decades on excavations in Greece and Turkey) and then to the history of ancient technology (the subject of his two books). He has led dozens of UofC travel study tours to all but four of the Mediterranean countries, including Egypt, Libya, Syria, Greece, and Turkey.

Location:

Room EDC 287 in the Education Block at the University of Calgary.

Lecture: Medicine, Health and Disease in Ancient Egypt

Posted in 2014 - 2015, Event, Featured, Lecture

Date: 7:30 – 9:00 pm, 06-Feb-2015

Cost: Meetings are Free to members, Guests $5 – Students with ID $2

Description:

Ancient Egyptians endured a wide variety of threats to health and life, including trauma, acute and chronic infections, parasites and tumors. Their treatments for these were amulets and magic, prayers and numerous medical prescriptions, none very effective. This lecture will illustrate diseases and treatments from Egyptian tombs, mummies and papyri.

About the speaker:

Julius Szekrenyes is the Calgary Chapter’s SSEA president. He has had a life-long interest in Ancient Egypt and has taught Ancient Egyptian history at U. of C. Continuing Education for 16 years.

Location:

Room EDC 287 in the Education Block at the University of Calgary.

Lecture: Discussions about Verdi’s Aida

Posted in 2014 - 2015, Featured, Guest Speaker, Lecture

Date: 7:30 – 9:00 pm, 07-Nov-2014

Cost: Meetings are Free to members, Guests $5 – Students with ID $2

Description:

This talk will introduce Verdi’s Aida in the historical and political context in which it was composed. The talk with discuss the concept of “oriental” music as it was understood in Europe during the nineteenth century and the way in which the opera is given a distinctive sound that was intended to be understood as “Egyptian.” The talk will also treat the controversy that has surrounded this opera in recent years concerning its status as a “political” work.

About the speaker:

Kenneth DeLong was born in Nova Scotia and raised in India, where he received his initial training in music at a missionary boarding school. His undergraduate work was completed at Acadia University, with concentrations in music and European history. Following a year teaching music in Newfoundland, he attended the University of Manitoba, where he took his B.Mus. (Hons). In 1969 he moved to California to attend Stanford University, where he completed a Ph.D. in musicology. In 1974 he joined the Music Department of The University of Calgary and is currently a professor of music history.

Outside his university activities, Kenneth DeLong is the Calgary correspondent for Opera Canada, the classical music reviewer for The Calgary Herald, and for 25 years years taught a course called Opera, Anyone? for the Calgary School in conjunction with Calgary Opera.

His interest in opera is of long duration, beginning initially with his involvement in Gilbert and Sullivan productions in India, and continuing during his years as a university student in Winnipeg and California, where he participated in the preparation of productions of The Magic Flute, Dido and Aeneas, Rusalka, Hansel and Gretel, H.M.S. Pinafore, and La Bohéme. At the University of Calgary, he regularly teaches courses on the history of opera and on the Broadway musical.

Location:

Room EDC 287 in the Education Block at the University of Calgary.