Christian E. Loeben, Egyptologist and Keeper of Egyptian and Islamic Arts at the Museum August Kestner in Hamburg, Germany, will give a free lecture at the Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street in Cambridge, sponsored by the Harvard Semitic Museum.
The oldest documented gardens in the world are from ancient Egypt. Gardens were described in hieroglyphic texts and depicted in paintings, and many have been recovered through archaeology. From these sources we know that ancient Egyptians maintained gardens at temples and tombs, as well as at royal palaces and local residences.
Drawing on comparisons among paintings of gardens from over fifty Egyptian tombs and archaeological garden sites, Christian Loeben will highlight the symbolism and functions of gardens in the religious and personal lives of ancient Egyptians.
Christian Loeben studied Egyptology and Art History at the Freie Universität of Berlin and has conducted fieldwork in Saqqara, Thebes and Deir el-Haggar, Dakhleh Oasis. Since 2004, he has been the keeper of Egyptian and Islamic Collections in the Museum August Kestner in Hanover, Germany, where he has curated more than ten exhibitions on ancient Egypt.
He has held research and teaching positions at the University of Chicago, the Institut Khéops in Paris, and the Humboldt University (Berlin). He has published over 50 scientific articles and made contributions to more than 30 museum and exhibition catalogues. Since 1993 he has served as consultant Egyptologist for the Collection of Antiquities at the Cuban National Museum for the Fine Arts in Havana. He has lectured widely on Egyptology at universities in Leipzig, Havana, Marburg, Cologne, Göttingen, Leiden, Leuven, and Basel.
Free event parking at the 52 Oxford Street Garage.
This event will be livestreamed on the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture Facebook page. A recording of this program will be available on the HMSC Lecture Videos page approximately three weeks after the lecture.
Link to HMSC Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/harvardmuseumsofscienceandculture/
Link to HMSC Youtube page:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjjvYQF81TLWObF7RqpHIlA L
