Herodotus (2.35) tells us that in ancient Egypt all the customs are contrary to the rest of the world: women trade, while men stay in the house, and the former enjoy far greater freedom than anywhere else. But is this vision of ancient Egyptian society, progressive as it may seem, supported by Egyptian evidence or is it just a creation of the Greek historian? How can we approach the subject of women and the female viewpoint in the past based on textual or iconographic evidence primarily produced by men and thus largely reflecting male perspective? Can material culture help us add nuance to the picture without oversimplifying individual experiences?
On behalf of the Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, and the Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures of the Polish Academy of Sciences we are pleased to invite you to the conference ‘Women’s Perspectives in the Nile Valley’, which will take place on 25th-27th of June 2025 in Warsaw (Faculty of Archaeology UW). We welcome contributions from scholars investigating the subject of female experiences and perspectives in ancient Egypt and Nubia with respect to the divine, royal, elite and non-elite worlds. In addition, we particularly welcome papers investigating the history of exploration and female involvement in the study of the ancient Nile Valley.
The Organising Committee:
Ewa Józefowicz (Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures PAS)
Marta Kaczanowicz (Faculty of Archaeology UW)
Filip Taterka (Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures PAS)
The submissions (including the title and abstract of the paper as well as the name and affiliation of the authors) should be sent to [email protected] by the 31st of December 2024.