Sacred Dancers: Nubian Women as Priestesses of Hathor

This public lecture will examine the role of Nubian women in important rites of passage and worship Egyptian cultic life particularly as Priestesses of the Beautiful One, the Gold, the Lady of Dance, the goddess Hathor. Dr. Ashby will also discuss long-standing academic racism of White Egyptologists whose research disparaged and minimized the significance of Nubian women contribution to Egyptian cultic traditions. Dr. Solange Ashby received her Ph.D. in Egyptology, with a specialization in ancient Egyptian language and Nubian religion, from the University of Chicago. She has conducted fieldwork in Egypt, participated in an excavation in El-Kurru, Sudan (royal Kushite cemetery), and holds fellowships at Catholic University’s Institute of Christian Oriental Research and the American Research Center in Egypt. Dr. Ashby teaches Religion at American University in Washington, DC. Her first book, Calling Out to Isis: the Enduring Nubian Presence at Philae, will be released shortly by Gorgias Press.