“The God’s Wife of Amun (Dynasty 23-26): Rise to Power & Assumption of the Priesthood.” Dr Mariam Ayad, 9th May 2021

Click here to download a review of this talk.

Since its inception at the beginning of the 18th dynasty, the office of the God’s Wife of Amun (GWA) was closely associated with the priesthood. By the time the GWA office reached its zenith in the 23-26th dynasty, that association became immortalized in the iconography of the GWA’s small Osirian chapels at Karnak. This illustrated lecture focuses on the priestly duties of the GWA and what might those scenes tell us about the status and role of the GWA more broadly.

Dr Mariam Ayad is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology, Egyptology and Anthropology at the American University in Cairo; she is currently a Visiting Associate Professor of Women’s Studies and Near Eastern Religions at Harvard Divinity School.

This talk was given at the May 2021 meeting of the Essex Egyptology Group, which was held online via Zoom on 9th May 2021 – click here to download a review of this talk.