Today I had a lovely day – with an unexpected extra treat!
I had returned to the beautiful Salisbury Museum to give a second talk to Salisbury U3A Archaeology Group – a group I really enjoy talking to as it is a lovely venue and they are very friendly and welcoming,  interact very well and ask great questions.
This talk ‘From Nomads to Nation – The Settling of the Nile Valley’ looks at the movement of the nomadic people of the Savannah, down into the Nile Valley – and the culture, skills, religious and artistic influences which made possible the development of this amazingly long-lasting and complex ancient empire.

The morning was as enjoyable as I expected to be, and the group was very appreciative, but a further treat followed!  Talking to the group, I discovered that Lucia Gahlin was talking for The Arts Society Salisbury (ex NADFAS)  that afternoon and I immediately decided to stay in the hope of being able to attend Lucia’s talk.

I filled the spare time with a delightful lunch in gorgeous sunshine, in the grounds of Salisbury Museum Cafe, looking towards the glorious cathedral, whilst reading Joann Fletcher’s great book ‘The Story of  Egypt’; and to add the pleasure of the day – lunch was delicious.

I then made my way to the next venue, where I introduced myself and was pleased to be allowed in for Lucia’s talk; ‘Art for the Afterlife – Tomb Scenes and Funerary Goods’.  And yet again, Lucia gave a great talk (she has so many!)

I am very interested in ancient Egyptian ‘art’ – if ‘art’ is what we can really call it – so it was good to have the opportunity to attend this talk, and I enjoyed it very much.
In spite of studying the subject for quite some time now, and also being half-way through writing my own talk on the subject, I learned quite a bit, which was great.

But I also enjoyed being there: listening to a good speaker, on my favourite subject, in this beautiful city – on this lovely afternoon. Truely, my cup runneth over!