21.12.2009
The Egypt Exploration Society held an all-day event at the Brunei Theatre of the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London.
Study Day
In the morning, under the theme 'In the time of the demi-gods': Egypt in the Pre- and Early Dynastic Periods, members heard talks by Dr Alice Stevenson (Peculiar Pebbles and freak flints: votive deposits in Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt), Mr Liam McNamara ('Holy rubbish'? Reinterpreting the Hierakonpolis Main Deposit), Dr Sonia Zakrzewski (Bodies of Evidence: identity and Egyptian skeletons) and Dr Helen Whitehouse (Petrie, Arthur Evans, and the emergence of Early Egypt in Oxford). About 100 EES members and friends attended the event which included a tea/coffee break and the chance to buy EES and second-hand books.
Annual General Meeting
After a lunch break the Society's Annual General Meeting was chaired by one of our Vice-Presidents, Professor Alan Lloyd. The Chair, Dr Ian Shaw summarised the Trustees' Annual Report for 2008-09 and the Treasurer, Mr Paul Cove, gave a presentation on the Accounts for 2008-09, and emphasising the need to both decrease expenditure and increase income in the near future. Five new Trustees were elected to the Board: Mr George Hart, Mr John Johnston, Mr Robert Lee, Mr Robert Partridge and Ms Judi Sykes.
The Annual Lecture
The AGM was followed by the Society's Annual Lecture when Dr Penny Wilson described Water, Water everywhere...the Dynamics of Life in the Nile Delta: past and future prospects. Her talk focussed on her work for the EES Delta Survey and as Director of the EES/University of Durham excavations at Sais (Sa el-Hagar) and addressed the future of archaeological work in the Delta in the face of modern environmental and social pressures.
Christmas Party
The successful and very well-attended day ended with the Society's Christmas Party in the Brunei suite at SOAS where members were able to socialise over glasses of wine (or beer) and mince pies.
Photographs of the day can be seen in 'EES Events' here.