North Texas: Deir el-Ballas: The Royal Residence that Defeated the Hyksos

Lecture Information

Located 40 km north of Thebes, Deir el-Ballas was founded in the late 17th Dynasty by the Theban rulers as a forward campaign settlement for their forays against the Hyksos, the Canaanite rulers who controlled northern Egypt c. 1650-1550 BCE. The site consists of a palace, workshops, the homes of supporting staff including villas for court officials and a compact village for workers, as well as an enormous two-level platform built on a high hill that likely served as a lookout point. Three cemeteries are also located at Deir el-Ballas.  This lecture will introduce the Theban royal family who ruled Upper Egypt at this pivotal time, the history of excavation at the site, and the evidence of daily activities, royal rituals, and funerary practices that can be gleaned from the archaeological record.

Speaker Bio

Dr. Jensen received a B.A. and M.A from the University of Chicago in Political Science/International Relations, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology from the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Berkeley.  Her dissertation topic was “The Cemeteries of Deir el-Ballas: Non-elite burials of the 17th – 19th Dynasties and their relationship to the royal palace.”  Her monograph based on this work is currently in preparation to be published in the Harvard Egyptological Studies series.  Dr. Jensen has field experience at Abydos, el-Hibeh, and Deir el-Ballas in Egypt and has conducted museum and archival research at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at UC Berkeley and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.  Dr. Jensen is a Past President of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) Northern California chapter.  She has presented her research at the International Congress of Egyptologists and the ARCE National Meetings.  Her research interests include the materiality of religious practices in ancient Egypt and ethnoarchaeology.