About the lecture
In this the centenary year of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, discover what can be learnt about Pharaonic attire from unpacking a selection of the garments in his wardrobe. Why was it that the king’s state robes were largely unworn, and was Howard Carter correct in referring to the embroidered ‘Tutankhamun’s tunic’ as a priestly vestment? An examination of Tutankhamun’s (worn) underwear has revealed that the boy king, who possessed 145 linen loincloths, was decidedly ‘pear-shaped’. How does this tie in with other recent discoveries about his physique? And what can this extraordinary wardrobe – at 500 items the largest artefact assemblage discovered in Tutankhamun’s tomb – further reveal about the minutiae of daily life in Ancient Egypt?
About Dr. Janssen
Rosalind Janssen is Honorary Lecturer in Education at UCL’s Institute of Education. She was previously a Curator in UCL’s Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, and then a Lecturer in Egyptology at UCL’s Institute of Archaeology. She currently teaches Egyptology at Oxford University and the City Lit in London. She is the author of Egyptian Textiles (1985) in the Shire Egyptology series, and together with her husband Jac. Janssen, Growing up and Getting Old in Ancient Egypt (2007). She has also worked on excavations in Egypt as a textile expert, including in the Valley of the Kings.
Digital event - how to participate
The seminar will be held digitally. If you wish to attend a lecture, you need to register in advance.
Register here!
A zoom link will be sent to you before the event. You can download Zoom or use your browser: https://zoom.us/download
Suggestions for further Reading
- Hall, Rosalind, Egyptian Textiles, Shire Egyptology 4, Princes Risborough: Shire Publications, 2001.
- Reeves, Nicholas, The Complete Tutankhamun: The King, the Tomb, the Royal Treasure, London: Thames & Hudson, 2011.
- Vogelsang-Eastwood, Gillian M., Tutankhamun’s Wardrobe: Garments from the Tomb of Tutankhamun, Rotterdam: Barjesteh van Waalwijk van Doorn, 1999.
About Ancient Attire
A Digital Lecture Series on Dress, Adornment and Vestimentary Codes in the Ancient Mediterranean World
The aim of this series is to investigate vestimentary codes in ancient cultures, and to explore how these concepts relate to gender, hierarchy and power.
Seven excellent international researchers, experts on the material cultures and texts of the ancient Mediterranean, will present a 30-minute lecture, followed by amble time for questions and discussion.
We are interested in mapping dress and adornment as broadly as possible and therefore we encourage our speakers to consider vestimentary codes from a multi-sensorial perspective and to give thought to both touch, smell, taste, hearing and vision.
Ancient Attire Programme - Fall 2022
- Friday August 26 at 3pm (Oslo): Dr. Rosalind Janssen: “Unpacking Tutankhamun’s Wardrobe”
- Friday September 16 at 3pm (Oslo): Dr. Laura Quick: “Divine Dress, Divinization and Dethronement in the Hebrew Bible”
- Friday October 21 at 3pm (Oslo): Dr. Søren Lorenzen: “The High Priest and his Glorious Camouflage”
- Friday November 11 at 3pm (Oslo): Dr. Mary Harlow: “Female Dress at Rome: Getting it Right”
- Friday December 2 at 3pm (Oslo): Dr. Agnès Garcia-Ventura and Dr. Mireia López-Bertran: “Dressed to sound? An approach to dress and attire of female musicians in Phoenician and Punic contexts”
- Friday December 16 at 3pm (Oslo): Dr. Salvatore Gaspa: “Dress, Adornment and the Material Language of Power: Royal Textiles in Assyria”
Organizer
The lecture series is organized by Professor Anne Katrine de Hemmer Gudme and hosted by The Faculty of Theology at the University of Oslo and the Faculty’s research group Biblical Texts, Cultures and Receptions.