Speaker: Kathryn Bard, Boston University

Location: La Salle Bank Room, The Oriental Institute

This free lecture is held at the Oriental Institute, LaSalle Bank Room. 1155 East 58th Street, Chicago, 60637.

For more information call 773-702-1062.

Description: Excavations at the Middle Kingdom harbor at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis, on the Red Sea, have uncovered evidence of shrines aligned along the sea shore and harbor facilities farther inland, including eight man-made caves located above an ancient lagoon that extended considerably inland from the present-day shoreline. The harbor was used for seafaring expeditions to Punt and Bia-Punt, located somewhere in the southern Red Sea region. Hieroglyphic and hieratic texts on stelae, seal impressions and ostraca, along with associated pottery have aided in dating the use of different features at the site, mainly in the early and later 12th Dynasty.