In Celebration of Coptic Art

Published during week of December 9-15, 2010 | Al-Ahram Weekly Online | by Nevine El-Aref | Excerpt:

Culture Minister Farouk Hosni said Coptic Art Revealed was the first locally- curated exhibition on Coptic art. It focuses on the splendours of the Coptic era and highlights the Copts' outstanding contribution to Egypt's diverse and rich heritage. The exhibition includes several painted icons by renowned artists as well as beautiful textiles; illuminated manuscripts; an excerpt from the famous Nagaa Hammadi scrolls; stone and wooden friezes with intricate Coptic designs and splendid objects for daily use.

Lectures - The Rosetta Stone

Accessed February 25, 2010

Thanks goes to Marina Poveda, one of the presenters of these lectures, for passing along this information on to me.

The following are some talks happening at the Assembly Hall of the Casa de Cultura, C/ Jaume II, 3. Novelda (Alicante):

1. Friday 5th of March at 20:00: La Piedra de Rosetta: Llave maestra de la egiptología, by Santiago Mallebrera, teacher of Egyptian language. Member of ITERU.
2. Friday 12th of March at 19:30: Más Allá de la Piedra de Rosetta: El papel fundamental de la lengua copta en el desciframiento de la escritura jeroglífica, by Marina Escolano, deputy director of the joint EES/Durham University archaeological expedition to Saïs (Sa el-Hagar, Egypt).

A poster for these lectures is available.

Upcoming Lectures and Events in Egyptology

If you have any free time, you may wish to attend any or all of the following upcoming lectures and events around the world (to attend them all, you would need to spend some money on plane tickets, so perhaps it is silly to encourage visiting them all):

When: January 27
Where: Our Lady of Lourdes High School Auditorium in Poughkeepsie, NY
Lecture: Dr. Bob Brier's The Secret of the Great Pyramid
Price: Free admission

When: January 16
Where: press room of the Palma-Arena, C/ de l'Uruguai s/n, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Lecture: Marina Escolano Poveda's Beyond the Rosetta Stone. The Fundamental Role of the Coptic Language in the Decipherment of the Hieroglyphic Script

When: Through May 2010
Where: Greece (contact info is provided at Challenging the Past)
Seminars: Hellenic Society for the Study of Ancient Egypt

When: February 20
Where: University of London, Garden Halls - London, England
Workshop: Forensic Aspects of Ancient Egypt

International Conference - Achievements and Problems of Modern Egyptology

Accessed September 15, 2009 | CESRAS (Centre for Egyptological Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences)

Coming to Moscow September 29 - October 4, 2009, the CESRAS will host an international conference to share experience between scholars of different countries and to discuss the latest achievements in the field of Egyptology and Egyptian archaeology, study of history, culture, religion and languages of Ancient, Graeco-Roman and Coptic Egypt. In addition, there is an exhibit associated with the conference called The Royal Cache. Secrets of Pharaohs, which features objects from the Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

Follow the above link to information about the committee, the themes, location, and fees of the conference, and contacts.

April-June Issue of Boletín Informativo de Amigos de la Egiptología

Accessed August 1, 2009 | Amigos de la Egiptología | by various authors

The following volume is a compilation of many topics regarding Egypt, penned by various authors. I'd like to plug one of the articles in particular because one of my friends and another scholar wrote it: Egipto y la Biblia - El evangelio de Judas: Textos coptos del cristianismo by Marina Escolano Poveda and Gerardo Jofre González-Granda, which begins on page 47. It is about the Gospel of Judas; Marina writes about the characteristics of the Coptic language (she represents only a few people who in Spain who know how to read this language!)

Other articles chronicle the treasures of Tutankhamun in Barcelona, the Giza Pyramids, and the hieroglyphic writing system. It is complete with pictures, cited notes, and a recommended reading list.

Ancient Coptic Church Discovered at Luxor Temple

Originally published August 16, 2009 | eTurbo News | by Hazel Heyer

This discovery, although not of the Pharonic Era, has strong connections with it, being found built over the top of an ancient Egyptian site (that of Ramesses II). The following is an excerpt from eTurbo News. Follow the above link to read this article in its entirety.

Meanwhile, in a separate development, last June, the Al Watani International said that at the Imam Abu-Haggag Luxor mosque and shrine, built on top of the open courtyard of Ramesses II in the Luxor Temple, the Supreme Council of Antiquities had launched a renovation project which, apart from repairing the damage from the fire, yielded some surprising finds. During restoration work the restorers came upon the remains of a Coptic church and some rare pharaonic inscriptions, the most remarkable of which were engravings picturing the erection of the two obelisks built by Ramesses II outside the Luxor Temple itself. The church and the mosque, said Sana Farouq.