This lecture was held in Exeter, in conjunction with DAS Exeter, and it was well worth the trip.  For this lecture, Dr. Aidan Dodson talked on the complex and somewhat confusing period between the end of the New Kingdom and the Saite Renaissance.

It was a time of fracture, disruption, and foreign powers in Egypt.  High-priests became dominant in Upper Egypt, ruling from Thebes, along with the God’s Wives of Amun.
Whilst in the North at Tanis, various Princes & Generals, amongst them Shoshonk, Takelot & Osorkon, vied for rulership.

Aidan told of a possible Civil War between the two Kingdoms, and how c.790 BCE relative peace came under Osorkon lll who ruled for 10 years.  Towards the end of the period as Egypt was again falling apart, Nubians came from the South; eventually ruling from Thebes, before being driven back to Nubia.  Finally, c. 655 BCE saw reunification of North & South under Psamtik I.

It was a time of constant change and challenge – as was the lecture.  But Aidan managed to piece it all together and made it flow in an interesting and comprehensible way.

Thanks Aidan – I look forward to your next lecture.