Food is crucial for human survival. However, it provides us with more than fuel for existence; it can be said to be a driving force in forming a culture or religion and identifying a people. This lecture deals with the methodologies employed in studying food in ancient Egypt, and focuses on the ingredients available, how these might have been prepared, and what different consumption patterns reveal about various socio-economic and religious groups in ancient Egypt.  

About the presenter: Salima Ikram is a distinguished professor of Egyptology at The American University in Cairo (AUC) and has worked as an archaeologist in Turkey, Sudan, Greece and the United States. After double majoring in history and Classical and Near Eastern archaeology at Bryn Mawr College, United States, she received her MPhil in museology and Egyptian archaeology and PhD in Egyptian archaeology from Cambridge University. She previously directed the Animal Mummy Project, the North Kharga Darb Ain Amur Survey, Valley of the Kings KV10/KV63 Mission, co-directed the Predynastic Gallery project and the North Kharga Oasis Survey. She has also participated in several other archaeological missions throughout Egypt. She has lectured on her work internationally and publishes in both scholarly and popular journals. She also has an active media presence.

This lecture is presented by the AIA, Classics Department and CU Museum of Natural History.