LECTURES AND TALKS


Sunday, October 1, 2017, 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm:  Foy Scalf (Oriental Institute, Unviersity of Chicago)
Members' Preview Party
Event Location: Oriental Institute, Breasted Hall

Monday, October 9, 2017, 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm:  Foy Scalf (Oriental Institute, Unviersity of Chicago) and Rita Lucarelli (University of California, Berkeley)
A discussion of Book of the Dead: Becoming God in Ancient Egypt
The Seminary Co-op
Event Location: The Seminary Co-Op Bookstore | 5751 S Woodlawn Ave | Chicago, IL 60637 | See map: Google Maps
For more details visit our Event Calendar
Audio from this event can be heard on the Open Stacks podcast of The Seminary Coop.

Saturday, November 4, 2017, 4:15 pm - 6:15 pm: Foy Scalf (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago)
"Reviving the Book of the Dead: New Insights into Ancient Egyptian Religious Literature"
*A 30 minute tour of the special exhibit Book of the Dead: Becoming God in Ancient Egypt will begin at 4:15 pm. A signing of the exhibit catalog will take place from 4:45 pm-5:15 pm. The talk will begin at 5:15 pm.
Sponsored by the Chicago Chapter of the American Research Center in Egypt
Event Location: Oriental Institute, LaSalle Banks Room

Tuesday, December 5, 2018, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm: Foy Scalf (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago)
Community Scholars Talk: Book of the Dead: Becoming God in Ancient Egypt
Event Location: The Admiral

Thursday, January 4, 2018, 12:15 pm - 1:00 pm: Emily Teeter (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago)
Gallery Talk: Communicating with the Beyond in Ancient Egypt
Event Location: Oriental Institute, Joseph and Mary Grimshaw Egyptian Gallery
Join Emily Teeter, Egyptologist and Research Associate of the Oriental Institute, as she explores the many ways that people in ancient Egypt communicated with the gods and with their deceased relatives and friends. This talk will highlight objects in the gallery that document the astounding ease with which people communicated with the beyond, and will address the social impact of that communication.

Monday, January 15, 2018, 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm: Foy Scalf (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago)
Community Scholars Talk: Book of the Dead: Becoming God in Ancient Egypt
Event Location: The Clare

Thursday, February 1, 2018, 12:15 pm - 1:00 pm: Foy Scalf (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago)
Gallery Talk: Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead
Join the Head of the Research Archives, Foy Scalf, PhD, for a discussion about the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead inside the special exhibit Book of the Dead: Becoming God in Ancient Egypt. His talk will focus on how the ancient Egyptians used magical texts to join the company of the gods. The talk will be highlighted by two Book of the Dead papyri on display in their entirety - each over 30 feet in length.
Event Location: Oriental Institute, Joseph and Mary Grimshaw Egyptian Gallery

Wednesday, February 7, 2018, 7:00 pm - 8:45 pm: David Silverman (University of Pennsylvania)
Lecutre: "The Other Book of the Dead"
Event Location: Oriental Institute, Breasted Hall
David P. Silverman
Eckley B. Coxe, Jr. Professor of Egyptology, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania
Curator in Charge of the Egyptian Collection, Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
The Book of the Dead (the modern term for the ancient Egyptian Book of Going Forth in the Day) is usually described as a roll of papyri with inscribed funerary texts that often included illustrated vignettes. From the New Kingdom on, it became part of the equipment Egyptians wanted for their Afterlife. The spells, however, were not limited to papyri and appear on coffins, figurines, jewelry, amulets, chests, shrines, wrappings, shrouds, tomb walls, etc. The lecture focuses on this latter group and its use of these magical texts.
6:30-7:00 p.m. Pre Lecture Tour/Registration | 7:00-8:00 p.m. Presentation and discussion | 8:00-8:45 p.m. Reception
For further information or to register for this free event, visit Eventbrite.

Saturday, March 3, 2018, 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm: Peter F. Dorman (Professor Emeritus, University of Chicago)
Lecutre: "The Surprising Appearance of the Egyptian Book of the Dead at the Beginngin of the New Kingdom"
Event Location: Oriental Institute, LaSalle Banks Room
Peter F. Dorman
Professor Emeritus, University of Chicago
The ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead is an integral part of the long tradition of mortuary literature that descends from the earlier Pyramid Texts of the Old Kingdom and Coffin Texts of the Middle Kingdom. Included in private burials in the form of brilliantly illuminated papyrus scrolls beginning in the early New Kingdom, these scrolls were known in ancient times as the “Book of Coming Forth by Day,” and their purpose was to help effect the transfiguration of the deceased’s soul as an immortal, effective spirit. The formulation of the Book of the Dead as a series of texts on a papyrus scroll, however, was by no means foreordained. In fact, the transmigration of ritual spells from coffins of the Middle Kingdom to papyri of the New Kingdom was determined by major changes in burial custom, which also entailed experimentation with different materials that could most effectively be used in private burials. This lecture traces those burial changes, the evolution of textual transmission, the origin of illustrated vignettes, the central role of Theban region in the creation of this new funerary tradition, and the somewhat surprising end product—namely, Books of the Dead that could be afforded only by the wealthy elite.

CURATOR TOURS


Join curator Foy Scalf for a tour of the newest research on the Book of the Dead and explore how through text and elaborate imagery Ancient Egyptians sought to live forever as gods.

Saturday, October 21, 2017
Tour 1: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm: Lunchtime Tour for Humanities Day
Tour 2: 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm: Lunchtime Tour for Humanities Day
Event Location: Oriental Institute

Thursday, November 16, 2017
Tour 1: 3:00-3:30 pm
Tour 2: 3:30-4:00 pm
Event Location: Oriental Institute
Register here.

Tuesday, December 12, 2017
2:00–3:00 pm
Visitors from The Admiral

Friday, December 22, 2017
Tour 1: 10:30-11:00 am
Tour 2: 11:00-11:30 am
Event Location: Oriental Institute
Register here.

Saturday, December 30, 2017
Tour 1: 1:00-1:30 pm
Tour 2: 1:30-2:00 pm
Event Location: Oriental Institute
Register here.

Thursday, January 11, 2018
10:30–11:30 am
Northern Trust Tour

Thursday, January 25, 2018
2:00–3:30 pm
UChicago Class Visit: History of the Public Museum

Tuesday, January 30, 2018
10:00–11:00 am
Register here.

Saturday, February 3, 2018
2:00–3:00 pm
Writers' Workshop

Tuesday, February 12, 2018
10:00–11:00 am
Newberry Library Staff

Wednesday, February 21, 2018
6:00–9:00 pm
Oriental Institute Young Professionals

Tuesday, February 27, 2018 and March 1, 2018
1:30-2:30 pm
The Clare

Tuesday, March 6, 2018
2:00–3:00 pm
Symbolism of Birds Workshop Participants

Thursday, March 8, 2018
4:30–5:30 pm
Newberry Library Class Visit: Finnegans Wake: An Introduction

Tuesday, March 13, 2018
2:00–3:00 PM
Register here.

Thursday, March 22, 2018
11:00 am–12:00 pm
Register here.

Thursday, March 29, 2018
4:00–5:00 pm
Register here.

ADULT/FAMILY PROGRAMS


Course: Hieroglyphica: The History of Egyptology (8 weeks)
This course is a hybrid course and has simultaneous online and on-site sections.
On-site class: This course will run for eight weeks every Thursday from October 5 to November 30 (no class on Thanksgiving Day) at 5:30-7:30pm at the Oriental Institute Room 210.
On-line class: October 5-December 3, 2017

Course Description:
By the 3rd century BCE, Egypt had already gained an international reputation as the source for wisdom and learning. Pilgrims from across the ancient Mediterranean traveled to Egypt to study ancient texts in its schools and temples. This fascination has continued until the present day and it has been formalized by the academic discipline of Egyptology. In Hieroglyphica: A History of Egyptology, students will explore the history of Egyptomania by tracing its origins in the ancient world to the modern scholars of today through readings, lectures, and discussions. This course is a hybrid course with onsite and online components. Onsite classroom lectures and discussions will be recorded and uploaded for viewing through the online Canvas course.

Instructor: Dr. Foy Scalf, Head of Research Archives, Oriental Institute

For more details visit our Event Calendar
Register here

Course: Intensive Sahidic Coptic Grammar (16 weeks)
This course is a hybrid course and has simultaneous online and on-site sections.
Online: January 8 – April 30, 2018
On-site: January 11 – April 26, 2018, Thursday, 6:00-9:00 pm at the Oriental Institute Room 210

Course Description:
This course will provide a complete introduction to the fundamentals of the Sahidic dialect of Coptic, the phase of the ancient Egyptian language written with the Greek alphabet and in use from ca. AD 200-1100, equivalent to one full semester in a university program. During each three-hour on-site session, we will cover two short lessons from the grammar book. We will focus on grammatical analysis, discussion of exercises, and readings from literary texts, including: the Coptic bible (Old and New Testaments), the Sayings of the Fathers, the Gospel of Thomas, the martyrdoms of famous saints, and many others.

Instructor: Dr. Foy Scalf, Head of Research Archives, Oriental Institute

For more details visit our Event Calendar
Register here

Naperville Cemetery Walk
Saturday, March 17, 2018 and Saturday, March 31, 2018
Tour 1: March 17, 2018, 2:00-3:00 pm
Tour 2: March 31, 2018, 2:00-3:00 pm
Event Location: Naperville Cemetery
Do you know that you can visit Egyptian Revival buildings and landmarks right here in Chicago’s suburbs? Join Egyptologist Foy Scalf for a 1-hour walk at Naperville Cemetery to explore obelisks, mausolea, even an Egyptian temple, and other Egyptian-style grave markers. Group will meet in front of the office of the Naperville Cemetery (705 S Washington St, Naperville, IL 60540). Register here.