The Egyptian Study Society: Lectures

Upcoming Lecture

Monday, March 9, 7:00 p.m.

NOTE: Different Date:
This month's lecture is on the second Monday of the month.

In-Person Location:
Hampden Hall
Englewood Civic Center, 2nd floor
1000 Englewood Parkway Englewood CO

Speaker: Mark D. Janzen

Title: Ma'at in the Amarna Period: Clinging to Order in an Era of "Revolution"
The lecture will be given in-person and also online as a Zoom presentation.
To attend the lecture online in Zoom, please click here:
Enter Lecture

NEWS Flash! The Egyptian Study Society is participating this year in the Colorado Gives program!
December 9 is Colorado Gives Day, but Supporters can donate any time up to that date.
To donate to ESS, click on our dedicated link below:
https://www.coloradogives.org/donate/Egyptian-Study-Society

Abstract:

Any study of the Egyptian goddess and concept of Maat in the Amarna period finds itself in the middle of a fascinating Egyptological paradox. On the one hand, there is Maat, long-recognized by Egyptologists as representative of old-fashioned Egyptian truth and order. Juxtaposed to this is the figurehead of the Amarna period: the iconoclastic, controversial, and even "heretical" king, Akhenaten. Thus, on the one hand is held orthodoxy; in the other, revolution and controversy. Additionally, our understanding of this period remains quite murky despite seemingly limitless research and scholarly publications. This creates a frustrating yet fascinating dynamic, as it becomes all too easy to characterize the period and its actors in mutually exclusive terms, leaving little middle ground. Despite these inherent problems, this talk will nonetheless examine the use of Maat in iconographic and textual sources from the Amarna period. The goal is to shed more light on the conceptual understanding of Maat in the Amarna period and to present a more nuanced approach to Akhenaten's reforms. It is hoped that an understanding will emerge that avoids the often polarizing approaches that have proliferated in the past regarding the Amarna period and its enigmatic ruler.

About the Speaker:
Mark D. Janzen

Dr. Mark Janzen is Associate Professor of Archaeology and Ancient History at Lipscomb University. He received his PhD from the University of Memphis (ancient history). His primary research interests are Egyptian epigraphy and archaeology, New Kingdom military history, and the Israelite exodus. He is the editor of Five Views on the Exodus: Historicity, Chronology, and Theological Implications, and he has written articles and essays on a wide range of topics relating to the intersection of ancient history, archaeology, and biblical studies. Dr. Janzen has been working in Egypt for over 15 years. In addition to his teaching duties, he is the deputy director of the Karnak Great Hypostyle Hall project, an epigraphic mission at Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt and a co-host for a podcast entitled OnScript - The Biblical World. Mark enjoys various sports, especially football, hiking with his family of 5, and reading.

More About the Zoom experience:

To attend this month's lecture remotely, please click here to enter the Zoom conference:
Enter Lecture

No Preregistration Needed! If you would like to attend in Zoom, please download the Zoom app to a desktop, laptop, iPad or phone, well BEFORE the presentation. (It does take a little time to install).

We encourage people to dress for the occasion! When else are you going to wear that fez, fedora, galabeya, pith helmet, hijab, uraeus, nemes headdress, or smoking jacket? So if you like, dress like an Egyptian, Egyptologist, explorer, bon vivant or 'ne'er-do-well'.

Following the meeting at Hampden Hall, feel free to join members and the speaker for an informal late dining experience, traditionally known as "Milk and Cookies". Locations vary.
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