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On a thursdaymorning our students were guided around a new exhibition in the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo. This exhibition displayed photographs and documents from the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century Western Arabian Peninsula.
Luca Bruls is currently doing an internship at NVIC. Besides that she works on an ethnographic account of the museum of Islamic art in Cairo. Read more…
This week Dr. Lara Weiss (of the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden), who together with Dr Christian Greco (of the Museo Egizio in Turin) heads the project "The Walking Dead: The Making of a Cultural Geography in Saqqara", was visited by the NVIC team. During the visit she introduced them to the Leiden-Turin excavations. Former director of this mission, professor Maarten Raven, also gave our NVIC team a tour of the site. The following explains about the current project:
I came to Cairo to delve into the manuscript collection of the Egyptian National Library and Archives (Dār al-Kutub wa-l-wathā’iq al-qawmiyya) for my PhD. I am a PhD researcher at the University of Ghent in Belgium, but the NVIC has become my home office for the next few months. Amidst the never-ending hustle and bustle of the city, my desk at the institute offers just the kind of bubble of peace and quiet I need in order to process my manuscript findings and to plan next day’s treasure hunt for yet another microfilm or manuscript at the National Library. In the institute’s library I found the perfect combination of good books, friendly, enthusiastic people and nice events such as lectures or movie nights. My historical research is focused on astronomical and astrological knowledge practices in the 15th century Mamluk sultanate. Therefore, I am happy to be able to conduct my research in this academic institute, in the middle of what once was the sultanate's capital city.
The New York Times published a long article about the DNA investigation that the FBI has done on the mummified head of Djehutinakht from Dayr al-Barsha. Our assistant director for Archaeology and Egyptology, Dr Marleen de Meyer, excavated the room in which the head was found in 2009.
Do you live in Egypt and have you always wondered about all the pharaonic heritage surrounding you? This spring NVIC organizes a beginner’s level, introductory course in Egyptology. In 6 richly illustrated lessons, the history of ancient Egypt will be brought to life, both chronologically as well as thematically. The development of ancient Egyptian art and architecture will be traced, but attention will also be paid to topics like the origin of writing, daily life, and funerary rituals. Moreover, some of the most recent discoveries in the field will be discussed. Apart from classroom instruction, an excursion to the Egyptian Museum at Tahrir Square as well as an excursion to Saqqara will allow to bring theory into practice.
On Sunday the 18th of March, a symposium kicked off with the participation of scholars of Islamic studies at al-Azhar University and their counterparts from Dutch universities.
On Thursday the 15th of March, an exhibition displaying funerary masterpieces of Deir el-bersha was opened at the Egyptian museum on the occasion of 120 years of archaeological research at the site. The exhibit runs until 15 April.
On the 11th of March, our students of Arabic/Islam and of Middle East studies traveled to Alexandria for their five-day trip to explore this fascinating Mediterranean city.
