The Egyptian Study Society: Lectures

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Upcoming Lectures

Monday, March 18, 7:00 p.m.
In-Person Location:
NEW!
Hampden Hall
Englewood Civic Center, 2nd Floor
1000 Englewood Pkwy, Englewood, CO 80110


Speaker: Hannah Massey-Griffin
Title: "The Incomplete Hieroglyphs System"


The lecture will be given both in-person as well as an online Zoom presentation.
To attend the lecture online in Zoom, please click here:
Enter Lecture

Abstract:

"The Incomplete Hieroglyphs System"

The incomplete hieroglyphs phenomenon was a set of practices where certain glyphs were abbreviated, such as snakes and birds, and other glyphs depicting humans, mammals and insects were avoided using sign substitution. Moreover, this practice also entailed a lack of hieroglyphs on the inside of the coffins, as well as on walls and items in the mummy wrappings. The current scholarly terminology for the incomplete hieroglyphs phenomenon of the late Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period needs an update. The term "incomplete hieroglyphs system" focuses solely on the modification of the signs; however, the practical element must also be acknowledged to gain a more holistic understanding of this phenomenon. There was a plurality of "incomplete hieroglyph practices" at play during this period. A few of those practices concerned hieroglyphs depicting humans: this is evidenced by shabti figures, Coffin Texts 777-78, and the region of Abydos.


About the Speaker:
Hannah Massey-Griffin


Hannah Massey-Griffin graduated from UC Denver with a B.A. in Philosophy in 2016. She transferred out of a Master's program at UC Denver to CU Boulder, graduating in 2021. Her thesis title was "The Incomplete Hieroglyph System: Reconsidered", which she will be presenting to the ESS this month. She then moved to Chicago to pursue, but unfortunately not complete, an M.A./Ph.D. in Egyptology at the University of Chicago. It is here she got a taste for museums and now aims to work with the Egypt collection at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science or as an exhibit designer. She currently works at the Denver Firefighters Museum as the Visitor Services Coordinator. She also serves as co-editor of The Ostracon for the ESS.


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'.

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