Mediterranean archaeology experts meet in Cairo
Archaeologists from around the world met in Cairo at an international conference to discuss the intercultural contacts between the countries of the Mediterranean in antiquity.
Cairo – Today (29 October) was the last day of a four-day international conference at the Nile Hilton on ‘Intercultural Contacts in the Ancient Mediterranean’. Leading experts and their younger colleagues from all over the world including Egypt and the Mediterranean met from 26 to 29 October to discuss the contacts between the different regions of the Mediterranean from prehistory to the time of Alexander the Great. Sixty professionals presented their latest research, leading to stimulating discussions with the audience. The conference was organized by the Netherlands-Flemish Institute with the support of the Delegation of the European Commission in Egypt and the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Cairo.
Seven internationally renowned speakers presented keynote addresses, including Prof. Manfred Bietak, the director of the Austrian Institute for Archaeology in Cairo and the director of the excavations at Tell al-Dab’a in the Delta. Other keynote speeches were delivered by Dr. Leila Badre from Beirut, Prof. Marie-Henriette Gates from Ankara, Dr. Linda Hulin from Oxford, Prof. Diamantis Panagiotopoulos from Heidelberg, Dr. Susan Sherrat from Sheffield and Dr. Gert Jan van Wijngaarden from Amsterdam.
Papers dealt with a wide variety of topics, including the methods and theory of the study of contacts in archaeology, immigrants in different countries including Egypt, trade and exchange, the importing and local imitation of foreign objects, the adoption of foreign religious ideas, influences in artistic and architectural styles, and seafaring. Although ancient Egypt is often seen by the wider public as a unique, united and rather isolated culture, the presentations made clear that Egypt had a large number of contacts in the Mediterranean region, many of which were far reaching. Not only did Egyptian objects and ideas reach the furthest corners of the region, but Mediterranean people, ideas, and objects were also welcomed in Egypt itself.
On the occasion of the conference, the exhibition ‘Ancient Egypt in the Mediterranean’ will be on display at the Egyptian Museum until 26 December.
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Contact: NVIC
E-mail: info@nvic.net.eg
Telephone: (+20) 2 2738.2520/ 2738.25.22
Fax: (+20) 2 2738.2523
http://www.nvic.leidenuniv.nl
Programme and abstracts of the lectures are available at www.nvic-eg.org
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This project is funded by the European Union
and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. |
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