Elaine A. Sullivan: Sacred Vision at Saqqara: Reimagining the sensorium of the dead at an ancient Egyptian necropolis in 3D
This workshop introduces one of the most effective forms of ritual communication and connection in ancient Egyptian culture which took place through human sight. Seeing was a reciprocal act, with the eye an active agent that reached out—a concept likely stemming from the myth of the powerful ‘divine eye’. In looking upon the god (or the king in his divine form), a person interacted with him or her, benefited from their divine presence, and could even be healed by this vision, and thus prayers to ‘see the god’ were repeated in a variety of types of texts. The effect of such sacred vision (and other sensory experiences) was key for both the living and the dead. In this talk, I will argue that the necropolis landscape of Saqqara was structured to promote ritual sight lines and provide the deceased with eternal views of the god or king. For this study, I use primary source texts and artistic depictions related to funerary and mortuary cult events at the site of Saqqara, as well as data gleaned from a 3D GIS model of the site that visualises physical and material elements of the cemetery frequently indiscernible today. Elaine A. Sullivan (M.A. and Ph.D. in Egyptian Art and Archaeology from Johns Hopkins University) is an Egyptologist and a Digital Humanist whose work focuses on applying new technologies to ancient cultural materials. Her born-digital publication, Constructing the Sacred, utilizes a geo-temporal 3D model of the necropolis of Saqqara (near modern Cairo) to investigate questions of ritual landscape and visibility at the site. This digital monograph (https://constructingthesacred.org, Stanford University Press, 2020) was awarded prizes by the American Historical Association and the Archaeological Institute of America. Her archaeological work in Egypt includes five seasons of excavation with Johns Hopkins University at the temple of the goddess Mut (Luxor), as well as four seasons in the field with a joint UCLA-Rijksuniversiteit Groningen project in the Egyptian Fayum at the Greco-Roman town of Karanis. Sullivan has published extensively on the use of digital technologies for research and scholarship.
This seminar is co-sponsored with the Stanford Global Studies as part of the SGS Global Approaches to Sacred Space.
This event will take place at the Stanford Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis in Wallenberg 433A. For Zoom information, visit this page.
About the Presenter:
Elaine A. Sullivan (M.A. and Ph.D. in Egyptian Art and Archaeology from Johns Hopkins University) is an Egyptologist and a Digital Humanist whose work focuses on applying new technologies to ancient cultural materials. Her born-digital publication, Constructing the Sacred, utilizes a geo-temporal 3D model of the necropolis of Saqqara (near modern Cairo) to investigate questions of ritual landscape and visibility at the site. This digital monograph (https://constructingthesacred.org, Stanford University Press, 2020) was awarded prizes by the American Historical Association and the Archaeological Institute of America. Her archaeological work in Egypt includes five seasons of excavation with Johns Hopkins University at the temple of the goddess Mut (Luxor), as well as four seasons in the field with a joint UCLA-Rijksuniversiteit Groningen project in the Egyptian Fayum at the Greco-Roman town of Karanis. Sullivan has published extensively on the use of digital technologies for research and scholarship.