Nefertiti's City

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Nefertiti's City Nefertiti’s City At Tell el-Amarna Saturday, September 17, 2016 10am-5pm Boulder Public Library 1001 Arapahoe Ave Boulder, Colorado All events are free & open to the public!! Amarna (called Akhetaten by ancient Egyptians) was the capital city built by the ‘heretic’ Pharaoh Akhenaten and his Great Royal Wife, Nefertiti. The city was dedicated to the cult of one god, the Aten, a manifestation of the sun. Amarna rose swiftly on virgin desert - lands un-profaned by the worship of other deities - and was abandoned just as swiftly shortly after Akhenaten’s death (c. 1332 BCE). From an archeological perspective, Amarna remains the largest readily accessible living-site of ancient Egypt. It is the key to understanding an extraordinary chapter of ancient Egypt and Akhenaten’s monotheistic religious experiment. There is no other site like it. Nefertiti’s City is a free one-day program offering opportunities to learn first-hand about this amazing place. On Saturday afternoon, renowned Egyptologist Professor Barry Kemp, Director of the Amarna Project, will speak on "Urban Un-Planning: How the Ancient City of Nefertiti and Akhenaten Evolved." Two members of the Amarna excavation team currently excavating the workers’ cemeteries, Dr. Gretchen Dabbs and Dr. Jerry Rose, will use studies of skeletal remains to discuss what life was really like in Amarna. These talks will be followed by a hands-on workshop focused around forensic anthropology and what we can learn about the health and lifestyles of ancient peoples from the bones unearthed at their gravesites. The event will also provide activities for the young to learn about ancient Egypt while becoming “makers,” ancient Egyptian style. There will be opportunities to practice hieroglyphs, build pyramids out of sugar cubes, spin and weave flax into linen, practice woodworking with ancient-style tools, create Amarna art, design and dress up in Egyptian costumes. Nefertiti’s City is a joint project of The Amarna Research Foundation (TARF), the University of Colorado Classics Department, the Egypt Workgroup from the Egyptian Study Society, and the Boulder Public Library. More information? Contact [email protected] Nefertiti’s City Schedule of Free Events Ancient Egyptian Makers Workshops Saturday, September 17, 2016 10:00 am-Noon and 3:00 -5:00 pm ñ Make linen from flax - demonstrations and opportunities to try your hand at spinning and weaving ñ Write your name in hieroglyphs ñ Create a floor painting like Nefertiti walked on in her palace at Amarna ñ Use your creativity to color ancient Egyptian images ñ Play Egyptian senet, the oldest game in the world ñ Try your hand at woodworking with tools like the ancient Egyptians used ñ Learn how ancient Egyptians made ñ Need a doctor? Learn how ancient Egyptians practiced medicine ñ Through a looping video, join archaeologist Arizona Smith and his junior detectives as they explore daily life along the Nile Lectures Saturday, September 17, 2016 Prof. Barry Kemp Nefertiti’s City - Urban Form 1:00-2:00 pm Discussion points will include ñ The city’s urban form as a self-organized settlement ñ The population size and composition of ancient Egyptian families (including slaves) ñ Amarna houses: what they looked like, what they contained. how people dressed and appeared ñ The workforce: short lifespans of the people and role of children, youth, and elders ñ Religion in the City: worship of the Aten versus worship in people’s homes ñ Death and burial practices Dr. Jerry Rose and Dr. Gretchen Dabbs (Bioarcheologists) Nefertiti’s City – The Cemeteries 2:00-3:00 pm ñ What the Amarna excavators have learned about the population of the city from their work in the burial grounds of ordinary people Bones Workshop 3:00–5:00 pm (concurrent with the afternoon Ancient Egyptian Maker Workshops) ñ Build a human skeleton ñ Learn how bones develop ñ Use bones to determine age, height, and sex ñ How to identify disease found in bones ñ Looping presentation with imagery from Amarna cemetery excavations .
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