The Tomb Chapel of Menna (TT 69): The Art, Culture, and Science of Painting in an Egyptian Tomb
With Melinda Hartwig
On July 15 at 1:00 PM ET/7:00 PM EET, past ARCE project director for the Tomb of Menna, Melinda Hartwig, spoke in an online lecture about the international team of conservators, Egyptologists, scientists, and digital specialists that conserved the Tomb of Menna between 2007 and 2009. To watch a full video of the lecture, please scroll down to the bottom of this page.
Melinda Hartwig in the Tomb of Menna, located in Luxor’s West Bank
Melinda Hartwig
The Tomb Chapel of Menna (TT 69): The Art, Culture, and Science of Painting in an Egyptian Tomb
The tomb chapel of Menna (TT 69), is considered to be one of the most beautiful and complex painted tombs from ancient Egypt. From 2007-2009, an international group of conservators, Egyptologists, scientists, and digital specialists brought the tomb chapel back to its former glory, using cutting-edge non-invasive methods. This talk will focus on the results which relay important information about the tomb owner and the time in which he lived as well as artistic methods and status materials in the ancient world. The resulting book, edited by Melinda Hartwig, volume 5 of the American Research Center in Egypt Conservation Series (Cairo & New York: American University in Cairo Press) is about to undergo its second printing. The project was directed by Hartwig and administered by the American Research Center in Egypt as part of its Egyptian Antiquities Conservation Project (EAC). The project was funded by a grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), sponsored by Georgia State University (GSU), and carried out in collaboration with Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities.
About Melinda:
Melinda Hartwig is a specialist in ancient Egyptian art history, ancient Near Eastern interconnections, and the applications of science in art. Her expertise is recognized internationally with widely published books and articles. Her latest book, A Companion to Ancient Egyptian Art (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014), received the 2016 PROSE award. She is the Curator of Ancient Egyptian, Nubian and Near Eastern Art at the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University. She is also a Professor Emerita at Georgia State University, where she taught ancient art history. Melinda holds a Ph.D. in Egyptian and Near Eastern Art and Archaeology from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.
Melinda has worked for over 30 years in Egypt, directing Theban tomb projects both large and small, as a recipient of NEH and USAID grants, among others. She has curated several national exhibitions about ancient Egyptian art and culture and received numerous awards and honors to further her work. She is also the past-President of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE). Melinda is a frequent on-air expert for the National Geographic Channel, the Science Channel, the Smithsonian Channel, PBS, and the BBC. Currently, she is completing a 24-part series for The Great Courses entitled “The Great Tours: A Guided Tour of Ancient Egypt,” that will focus on the art and architecture of the Nile Valley.