Cairo In-Person Lecture: New Insights into the Ancient Landscape of Abydos by Dr. Sameh Iskander

Doors Open at 5:30 PM and close at 6:00 PM (or slightly before as the lecture hall reaches full capacity)

Lecture Information

In this lecture, Dr. Sameh will discuss his recent archeological work in Abydos, under the auspices of New York University, which revealed important discoveries that revise our understanding of the ancient landscape of Abydos and its configuration.

His team discovered an Old Kingdom settlement that dates to the Fifth Dynasty (ca. 2465-2323 B.C.), situated within a massive enclosure wall, which undoubtedly represents the remains of the unidentified ancient town of Abydos located on the edge of the flood plain.

His team also cleared the entire precinct of Ramesses II’s temple outside its stone monument for the first time since its location was first hinted at by Napoleon’s French Expedition during the early nineteenth century. The findings revealed that the temple precinct was occupied almost continuously from the thirteenth century BC – when it was constructed – until the eighth century AD, an extensive occupation timeline which gives an intriguing picture of the historical phases of this important ancient Egyptian temple and eventually its fate.

Since the Ramesses II Temple Project began seventeen years ago, the work at the site included several documentation, restoration and publication initiatives which Dr. Sameh will also briefly present.

Speaker Bio

Dr. Iskander is a Research Associate and Director of the New York University-Institute for the Study of the Ancient World Expedition to the Temple of Ramses II in Abydos.

He is the author of three books (along with Dr. Ogden Goelet) entitled The Temple of Ramesses II in Abydos Volumes 1, 2 and 3 (2015, 2021, and 2022), and is currently completing a fourth book entitled Archeological Discoveries at the Temple of Ramesses II in Abydos. Dr. Sameh Iskander received his PhD from New York University in Ancient Egyptian History and culture. His main research and publications are primarily concerned with the archeology and history of the ancient Egyptian Ramesside Period. More recently, he also focused on the history and archeology of the ancient Egyptian settlements during the Late Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period.

Dr. Iskander is also a civil engineer, with a BS from Cairo University, Egypt and MS in engineering from the New York University-Polytechnic Institute.