Posted by vrcvanderbilt on Tuesday, March 18, 2014 in HART, Lectures, VRC.

Lisa Swart, lecturer at Vanderbilt Divinity School and president of the Tennessee Chapter of the American Research Center in Egypt, will deliver the Archaeological Institute of America lecture at 7:00 pm on Thursday, March 20, at the Nashville Parthenon. Her lecture is entitled “Crafting for Eternity: Early Third Intermediate Period Workshops in Thebes, Egypt.”

The early Third Intermediate Period in Thebes is considered to be “the apogee of pictorial expression of religious thought within the priesthood of Amun,” said Swart, an Egyptologist specializing in the Egyptian religion, the Third Intermediate Period, Egyptian art and iconography, and funerary customs. “The abundance of private coffins, funerary papyri, and accompanying objects from this period attest to a significant community of artists working near the Theban necropolis. Due to the absence of archaeological remains, texts, and monuments describing the occupation of artists, very little is known regarding the activities of artists during this period. Consequently we are in the dark concerning the existence of craft production centers in Thebes and their organizational structure at this time.”

The coffins, papyri, and other funerary objects offer crucial textual and artistic evidence for the existence of several distinct “workshops” operating in Thebes. Swart’s talk will examine the work of these artists, identifying the “hands” of individual artists and the workshops to which they belonged.

Free and open to the public, Swart’s lecture is sponsored by the Nashville Society of the Archaeological Institute of America, the Nashville Parthenon, and Vanderbilt’s Department of Classical Studies and Department of History of Art. Those who plan to attend the lecture are encouraged to call the Nashville Parthenon at 615.862.8431 to reserve a seat.