By Alexandra Lilly
CCC Journalism Program
BLACKWOOD – Dr. Josef Wegner will be giving a lecture on his tomb excavations in Egypt on April 25 in Civic Hall.
Dr. Josef Wegner will be giving the lecture on April 25. By Alexandra Lilly, CCC Journalism Program
Camden County College is hosting a lecture series called “Hidden Histories of Ancient Egypt” at the Blackwood campus in March and April. Wegner, associate professor and assistant curator, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Egyptian Section, will discuss ongoing excavations in the tomb of the Twelfth Dynasty pharaoh, Senwosret III, in South Abydos, Egypt.
This is the first time Wegner will lecture on this topic at Camden County College, but he has been studying and teaching on this topic for more than 10 years at the University of Pennsylvania.
As to what he hopes to accomplish with this lecture, Wegner responded, “To give people an idea of what we do in Egypt and present new evidence to resolve any questions we may have.” He also stated because the pharaoh’s tomb had been ransacked for gold by robbers and the body ultimately destroyed or removed, their goal is to figure out exactly which tomb Pharaoh Senwosret III was buried in.
Wegner hopes by conducting these ongoing excavations he and his colleagues will, in due course, figure out, “Was the king buried in this tomb and what were the burial traditions or religious beliefs based off of the design of the tomb?”
Dr. Stephen Phillips, research assistant, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Egyptian Section, gave his lecture, “X-Raying the Pharaohs: A Look Inside the Mummies of Ancient Egypt,” earlier in the series and stated, “The audience seemed completely engaged in the subject matter, and I was told that the evaluations that everyone turned in afterward were nearly all five-star, and those that weren’t five-star were all four-star.”
Phillips went on to say, “The lecture series is a good one that should not be missed. Everyone who is speaking is presenting their own scholarly research on ancient Egypt, so what you will hear is fresh knowledge based on new excavations and ongoing research in Egypt itself.”
Wegner said he hopes to have a good turnout for his lecture, and Phillips noted, “I was the first of the five speakers in the series, and I believe we had about 110 people attend, a big audience.”
This event is free to anyone who would like to attend. Wegner will be speaking at 7 p.m. on April 25 in Civic Hall on the Blackwood campus.