Date: Saturday, March 20, 2010, 3:30pm

Chapter: Pennsylvania

Presenter: Dr. Eugene Cruz-Uribe, Northern Arizona University

Location: Classroom 2, University of Pennsylvania Museum

Entrance fee: ARCE Members admitted free, $3 for University Museum members, $5 for the general public 

Description:

Based upon his field work at a number of sites around Egypt including the Valley of the Kings, Kharga Oasis, and the Isis Temple at Philae Island (Aswan), Dr Cruz-Uribe will develop a theme around the role of pilgrimage in ancient Egypt especially during Roman and Byzantine times. His talk will show some of the sites where pilgrimages took place in ancient times as well as some of the practices which the ancient pilgrims performed. Using both newly discovered and some well known Coptic and Demotic texts, he will compare the pilgrimage practices of the traditional Egyptian and Nubian populations with the practices of the contemporary Christians. Some of the issues he will discuss are the pilgrimage routes in ancient Egypt, why the Egyptians went on pilgrimages, how the Christians began to emulate “pagan” pilgrimage practices, and the conflicts that arose between the groups over control of the pilgrimage destination points.