Date: Saturday, December 01, 2012, 1:30 p.m.

Presenter: Dr. Emily Teeter, Egyptologist and Assistant Curator of the Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago

Chapter: Orange County, California; sponsored by Richard L. Cook

Location: Bowers Museum, Norma Kershaw Auditorium, 2002 N. Main, Santa Ana, California

This lecture is free and open to the public.

Description:

For Ancient Egyptians, life was aswirl with dozens of gods, each of whom played a role in the life cycle and death of every Egyptian. The gods infused every aspect of people's lives in a way that we find hard to understand in the 21st century. The sky, the stars, the wind, and their causal effects, now understood by science, were controlled by gods. If you ate well, the Nile God Hapy had provided a good inundation, and Ra/Aten had shone down to grow the grain. At your death, Anubis helped prepare your body for the journey through the underworld, where the new place you lived was ruled by Osiris.

There were plenty of holidays, all of them revolving around gods' actions and birthdays, and people back then knew how to party. As the intermediary between the gods and earth, the King played his role to honor all gods, but the everyday person might favor with offerings and prayers the god of his hometown, the goddess of childbirth, or many others.

All have distinctive images, and many gods combined animal strengths with human aspects. Most gods had their key virtue depicted in their likeness.

Most attention has been given to Royal worship. Come find out what the average person thought and did as they worshipped.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Teeter is the author of a wide range of scholarly and popular articles, and also the author of a number of general-interest books about Ancient Egypt. She writes in a vivid, fun style. She has curated several museum exhibits at the wonderful Oriental Institute Museum in Chicago, and she is a past president of the American Reserch Center in Egypt.

There will be a book signing of her latest book following her lecture.