Speakers are, from left to right, Kerry Muhlestein, Mohsen Kamel, Brian Park, Willeke Wendrich, Shanna Kennedy, Rob Hughes, and Hans Barnard

On June 8, the students in Professor Willeke Wendrich's
seminar on Egyptian archaeology presented their projects at a symposium‹³Ancient Egyptian Architecture and Use of Space²‹held in the Lenart Auditorium. An ancient Egyptian term, Wep-waut means ³Opener of the Ways²; it is also the name of an Egyptian god depicted in the form of a jackal. It was a common practice in Egyptian religion to harness potentially threatening powers into forms of help and protection. Hence, the jackals that ravaged Egyptian cemeteries were transformed into religious figures that watched over the deceased and served as Openers of the Ways to the netherworld. Professor Wendrich highlighted this explanation with an anecdote. Once while exploring the high desert, she became disoriented: the surroundings appearing uniform in all directions. She then became aware of jackal paths weaving across the stony ground. The paths led to the cultivated land; they ³opened the way² for her.

The first presenter, Hans Barnard, spoke about surveying in ancient Egypt. He opened the way with an insight into how the Egyptians, with seemingly simple instruments, were able to demarcate the fields after the annual flood had left behind a vast and virtually featureless alluvial plain. Surveying techniques were also applied to measuring the heavens and understanding the stellar alignments needed to find particular directions such as true north.

Rob Hughes, a graduate student in the Near Eastern Languages and Cultures Department studying Egyptian archaeology, spoke about a frequently overlooked element of urban development, the street. He presented several sites from different periods in Egyptian history including Hierakonpolis, Kahun, Thebes, Berenike, and Alexandria. He focused on the streets themselves, the type of structure they created in the urban fabric, and the roles it played in Egyptian society as suggested by archaeology.

Mohsen Kamel is also a graduate student in the Near Eastern Languages and Cultures Department studying Egyptian archaeology. He has worked extensively in Egypt with Nicholas Reeves in the Valley of the Kings and with Mark Lehner on the Giza Plateau. Taking us through the various stages of the excavations of the workemen¹s village on the Giza Plateau, Mohsen introduced the specific finds that aided the excavators¹ understanding of the site as it unfolded.

The afternoon continued with Brian Park, a UCLA undergraduate who will be starting graduate work in Egyptian archaeology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Through an examination of the domestic architecture at Amarna, Brian attempted to gain further insight into the social structure of the capital city of Akhenaten during the eighteenth dynasty heresy of that pharaoh. Noting the unique opportunity afforded by the single occupational layer of the site, he presented the ³typical² Amarna house.

Kerry Muhlestein, a graduate student in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures studying Egyptian literature, discussed the apotropaic aspect of ancient Egyptian monumental architecture‹ that is, architecture as a means to ward off chaos. It is likely that the Egyptians had numerous apotropaic measures taken in the course of daily life such as the utterance of a spell, drawing of symbols in the sand, or marks over a door. Unfortunately, evidence of such individual expressions seldom occurs, but state measures are abundant. Statues, door sockets, footstools, floor tiles, flagpoles, friezes, reliefs, and windows are just some of the architectural examples.

Shanna Kennedy, a graduate student in Art History who studies Egypt during the Graeco-Roman period, offered a comprehensive study of the Sarapieion at Memphis. The site was sacred to the deified Apis bull, known as Osiris-Apis or Osorapis. Shanna described how Sarapis seems to have originated out of the revision of the Osirified Apis bull. Although continuing to have chthonic associations through the deified Apis¹s connections with Osiris, Sarapis, unlike Osiris, remained connected with the trials of daily mortal life.

In her opening remarks, Professor Wendrich expressed the hope that this Wep-waut would be the first of an annual symposium with a different theme each year. If future events are as informative and as impressive as this one, we would be fortunate.

So it appears that there are jackals on the Westside, at least six this past Spring, opening the ways for a deeper, broader, richer understanding of ancient Egypt.