Wednesday, april 19, 2017
Egyptian Obelisks in the Eternal City:
Cultural Appropriation of Ancient Egypt in Imperial Rome
Dr. Luigi Prada (University of Oxford)
6:00 PM
Jones 204, Tulane University Uptown Campus, New Orleans
Cultural Appropriation of Ancient Egypt in Imperial Rome
Dr. Luigi Prada (University of Oxford)
6:00 PM
Jones 204, Tulane University Uptown Campus, New Orleans
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Today, there are more obelisks standing in Rome than there are in all of Egypt—with more to be found in other locations around Italy and what used to be the Roman Empire. Starting with Augustus and for centuries since, the Romans removed from Egypt tens of obelisks to display them in their cities as monuments to their power. But the Roman interest in Egypt’s obelisks was not limited to their re-use as political propaganda. In several cases, the Romans themselves commissioned new obelisks, having them carved with unique and peculiar inscriptions. Far from being spoils of war, such obelisks stand as ancient monuments of cultural appropriation, through which Rome’s emperors and notables claimed for themselves Egypt’s linguistic, religious, and artistic traditions. |
This talk will present the story of Rome’s fascination with ancient Egypt and its monuments. By integrating their archaeological context with newly prepared translations of their inscriptions, it will show how Egyptian obelisks fit not only in the Empire’s political agenda, but also as part of the cultural life of its elites.
This lecture is co-sponsored by the Department of Classical Studies at Tulane University and is free and open to the public. Seating is limited and on a first-come basis.
Click here to view a Tulane campus map. Jones Hall is #25 on the map.
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Click here to view a Tulane campus map. Jones Hall is #25 on the map.
To receive our latest news and updates on upcoming events, sign up for our mailing list. If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you!
About the speaker
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Luigi Prada is the Lady Wallis Budge Junior Research Fellow in Egyptology at University College, University of Oxford, and a Trustee of the Egypt Exploration Society, London. Previously, he has been Lecturer in Egyptology and Coptic at the Griffith Institute, University of Oxford, and the Theodor Heuss Research Fellow for the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at the University of Heidelberg, Germany.
Luigi received a BA (Hons) in Classics and Ancient Near Eastern Studies from the University of Milan, Italy, where he also completed an MA (Distinction) in the same subjects, focusing on Greek Papyrology and Egyptology. He then moved to Oxford, where he received his MPhil (Distinction) in Egyptology and completed his doctorate in 2014. Luigi’s main research interests lie in ancient Egyptian textual studies––with special focus on texts from the later phases of ancient Egypt’s history, in hieroglyphs, hieratic, and demotic––, as well as in the study of Graeco-Egyptian bilingualism and ancient translations, in connection with the development of Coptic. |
Currently, his main project is the study of ancient Egyptian divination practices, specifically dream interpretation: he is preparing a monograph that will include the first edition of a corpus of ancient Egyptian dream books.
He is also active in the field: he works as an epigraphist both in Egypt, at Elkab, and in Sudan, at Jebel Dosha and the Dal Cataract.
He is also active in the field: he works as an epigraphist both in Egypt, at Elkab, and in Sudan, at Jebel Dosha and the Dal Cataract.