Africa Unit hosts lecture on Bent Pyramid in Dahshure, Egypt (31 January 2019)

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On 31 January, the Interdisciplinary Unit for African Studies (Africa Unit) hosted a special lecture, "A Garden in the Desert: Recent Excavations at the Bent Pyramid in Dahshure, Egypt", delivered by Dr Felix Arnold, senior research fellow at the Madrid Department of the German Archaeological Institute (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, or DAI). The Africa Unit is a part of the KyotoU Center for the Promotion of Interdisciplinary Education and Research (C-PIER).

Among the attendees were the Africa Unit Director Masayoshi Shigeta, who also serves as a professor at the Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies (ASAFAS) and the director of the Center for African Area Studies (CAAS or "Africa Center"). He was joined by representatives of the event's co-organizers, including Director Naoko Fukami of the Cairo Research Station of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), and Associate Professor Nozomu Kawai of the Kanazawa University Institute for Frontier Science Initiative.

Despite being presented in English without translation, the talk at the KyotoU Inamori Center (Inamori Foundation Memorial Hall) attracted more than 20 applications, indicating a high level of academic interest in ancient Egypt.

The presentation focused on some of the findings from the excavations recently conducted by DAI at the Bent Pyramid in Dahshure. The investigations, according to Dr Arnold, identified the pyramid and a nearby temple to be part of a large-scale landscape-design project, and uncovered an artificially expanded wadi (dry valley), along with remnants of a harbor near the temple, which was situated away from wooded areas. Excavations at the temple, meanwhile, found a religious facility made of mudbrick, surrounded by a garden, and a plantation of over 300 trees including palm, sycamore, and a species of cypress imported from Lebanon. In addition, geophysical surveys revealed the outline of the town where the temple priests resided.

The Africa Unit intends to build on the success of this event by expanding the scope of its activities over the coming years.

Dr Arnold lecturing

Lecture audience