Digging Up Early Pharaohs: Free Archaeology Lecture (Redwood City)

The site of Abydos is critical for understanding the rise of Egyptian kingship and the foundations of the pharaonic state. The earliest kings built their tombs far in the desert at Abydos, ringing them with sacrificial burials. But the largest monuments built by these kings were not tombs but temples, also at Abydos, and also often provided with sacrificial burials. Built much closer to the floodplain and settlement site, these structures, known to archaeologists as funerary enclosures, remain somewhat enigmatic.

One such funerary enclosure still stands today, its mud-brick walls looming over the landscape some 4700 years after it was built. The standing monument is the last of the line; its predecessors are present only as foundations, no longer visible except when archaeologists clear the sand from them. Why are all earlier funerary enclosures mere stubs? Published explanations have focused on deliberate destruction, arguing that each building “died” as its king did, leaving only one standing at a time. However, recent work in the unpublished archives of the past 30 years of excavations held in New York suggest that neither the evidence nor its interpretation is nearly so straightforward.

In this talk, we will look first at the history of archaeology at the Abydos funerary enclosures and what knowledge has been produced there. We will then dive into the excavation of an archive, the work being done to bring unpublished material to light, and how this is reshaping thoughts about early kingship. In doing so, we will confront important matters not only about the ancient past, but about how archaeologists work, and how exciting it can be to confront evidence that makes us change our minds.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Laurel Bestock is the Joukowsky Family Associate Professor of Egyptology and Archaeology at Brown University, as well as a visiting professor and director of excavations at Abydos at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. A field archaeologist with longstanding interests in kingship and monumentality, she has directed projects at Abydos and at the Middle Kingdom fortress of Uronarti in the Sudan. She is part of a team that is developing Kiosk, archaeological recording software that is used by excavations around the world. Though a native Californian, Laurel left to pursue degrees in the cold way back in 1995 and has missed the West Coast ever since. In her spare time she spins yarn, and is preparing to bring her obsessions together in the classroom next semester by teaching a course on the Archaeology of Textiles.

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This month, we’re meeting on the Peninsula, in the Redwood City Woman’s Club, two blocks off Broadway in central Redwood City. The 1911 bungalow, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, dates from the year women won the vote in California and worked in groups like this one to secure their roles in public life. The club is fully ramped and wheelchair-friendly. For users of public transit, it’s walking distance from Caltrain. Best freeway access is from Highway 101’s Whipple Avenue exit. Parking is along the street, though given advance notice, we can set up a couple of disabled spots on the north side of the building.

For more information, please visit https://www.youtube.com/@NorthernCaliforniaARCE, https://www.facebook.com/NorthernCaliforniaARCE, https://arce-nc.org, https://bsky.app/profile/khentiamentiu.bsky.social, and https://khentiamentiu.org. To join the chapter or renew your membership, please go to https://arce.org/membership/ and select “Berkeley, CA” as your chapter when you sign up.