Melinda Hartwig, Ph.D. will deliver ten (10) one-hour talks. In addition, you will be able to attend the majority of the 12 talks given by Drs. Jennifer and Josef Wegner on the ss Sphinx, sailing along side us for our entire trip. Our speaker program is subject to change. Speakers have confirmed their intent to participate; however, scheduling conflicts may arise. This optional conference program is $1,750 pp.
SPEAKERS:
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MELINDA HARTWIG, PH.D.
Dr. Melinda Hartwig is an Egyptologist and a Curator of Ancient Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern Art at the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University. She has a distinguished teaching career as a Professor of Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology at Georgia State University and as a Visiting Professor at American University in Cairo. Dr. Hartwig holds a Ph.D. in Ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern Art and Archaeology from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. Her expertise is recognized internationally and she has numerous books and articles to her credit, including, Tomb Painting and Identity in Ancient Thebes (2004) and The Tomb Chapel of Menna (2013). Her book, A Companion to Ancient Egyptian Art (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014), received the 2016 PROSE award. Dr. Hartwig is past president of the Board of Governors of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE), the leading North American nonprofit organization that supports research on Egyptian history and culture. She is also a member of the AIA, IAE, AAM, ICOM, and CIPEG.
Melinda has actively worked in Egypt since 1983, directing conservation and documentation projects in Theban tombs, and received numerous awards to further her work. Dr. Hartwig lectures around the world and is a frequent on-air expert for television programs and documentaries on ancient Egypt, including those for the BBC, Discovery Channel, the National Geographic Channel, PBS, the Science Channel, the Smithsonian Channel, and the Travel Channel. Recently, she completed a video course The Great Tours: A Guided Tour of Ancient Egypt (see left for a description) for The Great Courses/Wondrium. She is currently planning a major exhibition for Emory University’s Michael C. Carlos Museum in 2023 entitled, “Life and the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian from the Senusret Collection.”
JENNIFER HOUSER WEGNER, PH.D.
Dr. Jennifer Houser Wegner is Associate Curator in the Egyptian Section of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, as well as Adjunct Professor of Egyptology in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania. Jennifer received her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1991 and her Ph.D. from Yale University in 2001, and has worked extensively in Egypt, at the sites of Giza, Saqqara, Deir el-Bersheh, and Abydos since the 1990s. Her research specialty is Demotic language and literature, but she has published on many other topics. She is author and co-author of: Akhenaten and Tutankhamun, Revolution and Restoration (2007); The Sphinx that Traveled to Philadelphia: the Story of the Colossal Sphinx of Ramses the Great in the Penn Museum (2015); and co-editor (with Z. Hawass), Millions of Jubilees, Studies in Honor of David Silverman (2010). Jennifer is lead curator of the new galleries devoted to funerary traditions to open in the Penn Museum in 2024. With her husband, Dr. Josef Wegner, Jennifer has been a featured speaker on many tours to Egypt.
JOSEF WEGNER, PH.D.
Dr. Josef Wegner is Professor of Egyptian Archaeology in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also Curator in the Egyptian Section of the Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Dr. Wegner’s has excavated in Egypt since the 1990s. His primary work is at the site of Abydos where he has been excavating the funerary complex of the 12th Dynasty pharaoh Senwosret III. Although he specializes in the archaeology of the Middle Kingdom, he has published widely in the history and archaeology of ancient Egypt and Nubia. Dr. Wegner’s most recent books are: The Sphinx that Traveled to Philadelphia: the Story of the Colossal Sphinx of Ramses the Great in the Penn Museum (2015); and The Sunshade Chapel of Princess Meritaten from the Per-Waenre of Pharaoh Akhenaten (2016); King Seneb-Kay’s Tomb and the Necropolis of a Lost Dynasty at Abydos (2021). Dr. Wegner has been a featured speaker in many television documentaries including, most recently, Murdered Pharaoh (Smithsonian Channel), discussing the discovery of the tomb of King Seneb-Kay at Abydos. With his wife, Dr. Jennifer Houser Wegner, Josef has been a speaker on many tours to Egypt.