Date: Saturday, May 12, 2012, 3:30pm

Chapter: Pennsylvania

Presenter: Dr. Eric H. Cline, George Washington University

Location: Classroom 2, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

Lectures are FREE to ARCE-PA chapter members, $5 for University of Pennsylvania Museum Members and PennCard holders, and $8 for the general public.

Description: During the reigns of Amenhotep III and Akhenaten, for much of the so-called Amarna Age, the Pharaohs of Egypt pursued diplomatic connections at the highest levels: with the kings of Hittite Anatolia, Assyria, Babylonia, Mitanni, and Arzawa, as well as numerous vassal kings in Canaan. Textual and archaeological evidence also indicates contacts with the Aegean during this time, perhaps also at the highest diplomatic levels. Trade and contact with all of these areas was undoubtedly also conducted at lower commercial levels as well, but it is the evidence for diplomatic connections upon which we will focus in this illustrated talk, including a re-examination of Amenhotep III’s “Aegean List” at Kom el-Hetan. p>

About the Speaker: Dr. Eric H. Cline is currently Chair of the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and Director of the Capitol Archaeological Institute at The George Washington University, where he also has appointments in the Anthropology department, the History department, and the Judaic Studies Program. A former Fulbright scholar, he is an award-winning author, teacher, and adviser with degrees in Classical Archaeology, Near Eastern Archaeology, and Ancient History from Dartmouth College, Yale University, and the University of Pennsylvania. Author and editor of eleven books and almost 100 articles, he is a three-time winner of the Biblical Archaeology Society’s Publication Award for “Best Popular Book on Archaeology” and has had his books translated into Bulgarian, Hungarian, Serbian, and Korean. Students of Egyptology may know him best as the author of Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: International Trade and the Late Bronze Age Aegean (1994, reprinted 2009) and co-editor (with David O'Connor) of Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign (1998), Thutmose III: A New Biography (2006), and Ramesses III: The Life and Times of Egypt's Last Hero (forthcoming). He has also co-authored (with Jill Rubalcaba), a volume on ancient Egypt for young adults, entitled The Ancient Egyptian World (2005). An experienced archaeologist, Dr. Cline has 28 seasons of field excavation and survey to his credit. He has worked in Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Cyprus, Greece, Crete, and the United States, including eight seasons at the site of Megiddo (biblical Armageddon) in Israel, where he is currently the Associate Director (USA). He is also currently Co-Director of the archaeological excavations at the site of Tel Kabri in Israel.p>