ARCE GA: Ferlini and the Search for Nubian Gold

Lecture Information: 

The ancient Nubian kingdoms were known for gold and amazing jewelry. The Nubian gold was a major attraction for ancient Egypt to the region. In the nineteenth century, European explorers and treasure-hunters began to search and travel in the area of the ancient Nubian kingdoms looking for buried treasures. Among the earliest treasure-hunters was Giuseppe Ferlini who managed to find buried treasures but damaged and destroyed numerous sites in the process. 

Speaker Information:

Dr. Peter Lacovara is the Director of the Ancient Egyptian Archaeology and Heritage Fund. From 1998 to 2014, he was Senior Curator of Ancient Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern Art at the Michael C. Carlos Museum in Atlanta. Previously he served as Assistant Curator in the Department of Ancient Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Currently, he is also Consulting Curator for the Egyptian Collection at the Albany Institute of History and Art and Visiting Research Scholar at the American University in Cairo. He has also taught at Syracuse University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Georgia State University, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and been the W.K. Simpson Distinguished Visiting Professor at the American University in Cairo. 

Lacovara’s archaeological fieldwork has included excavations at the Valley of the Kings at Thebes, the Palace city of Amenhotep III at Malgata in Western Thebes, Abydos, Hierakonpolis, and at the Giza Plateau, and currently, he is directing the survey and restoration of the site of Deir el-Ballas. His numerous publications include co-authoring Jewels of the Nile, Nubian Gold, and Ancient Nubia: African Kingdoms on the Nile. Dr. Lacovara appears regularly on TV as an expert commentator on ancient Egypt.