BETWEEN GEB AND NUT:
"THE EGYPTIAN VIEW OF THE WORLD".
MARINA ESCOLANO POVEDA
DAY: 09 /06 / 2010
VENUE: MARQ ASSEMBLY HALL
TIME : 18:00H
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Everyone is familiar with the famous phrase that Herodotus wrote in his History, "Egypt is a gift of the Nile". Indeed, one of the elements that shaped the ancient Egyptians' image of the world was this great river, which made life possible on its banks, creating the opposition of two other concepts: the Black Earth, i.e. the fertile valley, and the Red Earth, the barren desert. This south-north axis was complemented by another, east-west, drawn by the sun on its daily journey across the sky. Articulated around these two points of reference, the Egyptian worldview presents many other symbolic elements whose study allows us to approach the Egyptian way of thinking and to understand a large number of aspects of this civilisation.
Throughout this lecture we will explore some of these symbolic elements that shaped the Egyptian idea of the world, as well as the explanations that the Egyptians created for the origin of the world, their cosmogonies. Among other aspects, we will see how they analysed and represented the geography of Egypt, foreign countries and the Beyond. Finally, we will compare the Egyptian worldview with that of other Near Eastern peoples in order to gain a broader perspective...
Marina Escolano Poveda
Marina Escolano has participated continuously in archaeological excavations since the age of 16, and at the age of 20 she became part of the archaeological team of the Egypt Exploration Society and Durham University mission to the ancient Egyptian capital of Saïs (now Sa el-Hagar, Egypt), directed by Dr. Penelope Wilson, of which she in turn became deputy director in the summer 2009 campaign. She has published several scientific and informative publications and has given presentations at national and international Egyptological conferences and symposia. Currently she has received a Fulbright scholarship to pursue her PhD in Egyptology at the Department of Near Eastern Studies of the Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD), which she will start in September 2010.
