John J Johnston: Egypt's Fabulous Creatures - (HYBRID EVENT)

IAN MATHIESON MEMORIAL LECTURE

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Fabulous Creatures: An Unnatural History of Egypt’s Mythological Beasts by John J Johnston

As a determinedly amnicolist society, the ancient Egyptians were privileged to both observe and engage with a vast and varied panoply of exotic fauna living by and on the Nile, and scouring the surrounding desert escarpments. Such close familiarity with this rich natural resource profoundly influenced every aspect of Egyptian culture, religion, and artistic expression. However, what of those creatures which were writ large upon the culture of ancient Egypt, and yet never drew breath in the Nile Valley, or indeed, in any location beyond the world of imagination?From Serpopards and vast serpents to Sphinges, this heavily illustrated lecture draws upon literary and archaeological evidence to consider the enduring power of Egypt’s ancient mythical bestiary.

John J Johnston is a freelance Egyptologist, Classicist, and cultural historian. A former Vice-Chair of the Egypt Exploration Society, he is a Chair of the Theatre of the Gentle Furies and Ambassador of the International Society for the Study of Egyptomania. John has lectured extensively at institutions such as the British Museum, the British Film Institute, the National Museum of Scotland, the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, and the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen. His research interests encompass mortuary belief and practice, gender and sexuality, Hellenistic and Roman Egypt, the history of Egyptology, and the reception of ancient Egypt in the modern world. In addition to contributing numerous articles to both academic and general publications, he has co-edited the books, Narratives of Egypt and the Ancient Near East: Literary Linguistic Approaches (Peeters, 2011), A Good Scribe and an Exceedingly Wise Man (Golden House, 2014), and an anthology of classic mummy fiction, Unearthed (Jurassic London, 2013). He has made numerous television appearances for BBC, Discovery Science, National Geographic, and Channel 5.

Host or Publisher Egyptology Scotland