Historical Links between Egypt, Greece and Rome, with Katherine Blouin and Rachel Mairs
Abstract
In the modern academy, Classics – the study of ancient Greek and Roman language, culture and society – is usually separated from Egyptology, which deals with ancient Egyptian civilisation and history. But that separation falsifies the real relationship between Greece, Rome, and Egypt, which was one of cultural exchange, commercial interdependence, and eventually colonisation. In this episode, Shivaike Shah speaks to Professor Katherine Blouin from the University of Toronto and Professor Rachel Mairs from the University of Reading about the history of contact between Greece, Rome and Egypt, and why its importance has been downplayed in the university since the beginnings of Egyptology in the nineteenth century.
Bibliography
open-source
Heba Abd el Gawad, ‘Egypt’s Dispersed Heritage’, Human Stories (2021)
Usama Ali Gad, ‘Papyrology and Eurocentrism: Partners in Crime’, Eidolon (2019)
Katherine Blouin, Usama Ali Gad & Rebecca Futo Kennedy, ‘Blog: Part I: Casting Cleopatra: It’s All About Politics’, Society for Classical Studies (2020)
Colonial Artefacts Panel, Cambridge Union (2021)
‘Historical Periods’, Egypt Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (2019)
Rachel Mairs, ‘Teaching Cleopatra: Six Classroom Activities’, Everyday Orientalism (2019)
Roberta Mazza, ‘Narratives of Discovery’, The Egypt Exploration Society Lecture (2021)
Charlotte Parent, Heba Abd el Gawad & Katherine Blouin, ‘#EOTalks 4: Your Mummies, Their Ancestors? Caring for and About Ancient Egyptian Human Remains’, Everyday Orientalism (2020)
Kim Ryholt, ‘Collectors and Dealers: The Trade of Egyptian Antiquities’, Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East (2016)
Alice Stevenson & Heba Abd el Gawad, ‘#EOTalks 3: Egypt’s Comics Superheroes Confronting Egyptology’s Colonial Legacies’, Everyday Orientalism (2020)
Mark Sundaram & Aven McMaster, ‘Episode 51: Race & Racism in Ancient & Medieval Studies, Part One: The Problem’, The Endless Knot
Mark Sundaram & Aven McMaster, ‘Episode 52: Race & Racism in Ancient & Medieval Studies, Part Two: Responses’, The Endless Knot
Sweetbitter podcast
paywalled
Donald Malcolm Reid, Whose Pharaohs? Archaeology, Museums, and Egyptian National Identity from Napoleon to World War I (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002)
Ariel Sabar, ‘The Unbelievable Tale of Jesus's Wife’, The Atlantic (2016)
VICE, Season 3, Episode 8: Egyptian Tomb Raiders: Rent a White Guy (HBO, 2016)
Transcript
You can find a full transcript of the episode here.