Seminars and Events 2026
Petrie Oration 2026
Excavating the Tombs of the Priests of Karnak:
Theban Tomb 147
Dr Boyo Ockinga
Honorary Associate Professor, Macquarie University
The Subject: Since 1991, Macquarie University and the Australian Centre for Egyptology have been undertaking fieldwork in tombs of the New Kingdom cemetery of Dra Abu el Naga North, Luxor; we have also been privileged to contribute to the conservation and preservation of some of these monuments in the ancient Theban necropolis which, since 1979, has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The tombs are a vital source of data on many aspects of New Kingdom Egypt: religion, funerary beliefs and practices, prosopography, art history, and architecture. Our work in the 18th Dynasty tomb TT 147, now in the process of being published, is the focus of this presentation. It is a good illustration of the results that have been achieved by the Macquarie mission and the benefits that modern recording methods bring, in particular photogrammetry.
The Speaker: Dr Boyo Ockinga taught Egyptology from 1984–2020 in the School of Humanities, Macquarie University. He been Director of the Macquarie Theban Tombs Project since 1991 and continues in this role, since 2021 with Dr Karin Sowada. As well as working in Thebes, he has also conducted fieldwork in Nag el Mashayikh (1984–1988), Awlad Azzaz (1988–1990) and Saqqara (2006–2010). Recent publications include Vol. 2. (2024); (2024); (with S. Binder) “New Kingdom tomb robbery in Thebes: archaeological evidence from Dra Abu el Naga” in (2025).
When: 6.00 pm Thursday 22 October, 2026
In Person: Australian Institute of Archaeology, Terrace Way, Macleod
La Trobe University, Building TER 11 (Melways 873-4)
Please book: Christopher Davey 0421 595 966, cdavey@aiarch.org.au
Public Lecture
What Happened to the Christians in Palestine After the Muslim Conquests of the 630s AD?: An Archaeological Perspective
Dr Robert Schick
The Subject: Around one thousand churches were in use in the Byzantine period in modern-day Israel and Jordan, but almost all have been in ruins for many centuries. So, what happened to those church buildings after the Muslim Conquests? Careful archaeological examination can reveal how long those buildings remained in use and when and how they went out of use, reflecting what was happening to the Christian communities worshipping there, as the numbers of Christians declined in the first centuries after the Muslim Conquests.
The Speaker: Dr. Robert Schick is an independent scholar who researches the history and archaeology of Jordan in the Late Roman to Islamic periods, with a focus on southern Jordan. He has participated in numerous excavations in Jordan since 1980. His second interest is the Islamic sites and monuments of Jerusalem. He received his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1987 for a dissertation on the Christian communities in Palestine from Byzantine to Islamic rule. He is a freelance translator of scholarly literature from German and Arabic into English. He has taught archaeology at the Palestinian al-Quds and Bir Zeit Universities between 1995 and 1998, and Islamic Studies in Hyderabad, India, from 2000 to 2006. He was based at the University of Mainz from 2014 to 2019.
When: 6.00 pm Friday 20 March, 2026
In Person: Australian Institute of Archaeology, Terrace Way, Macleod
La Trobe University, Building TER 11 (Melways 873-4)
Please book: Christopher Davey 0421 595 966, cdavey@aiarch.org.au