Review of CRE IX in Manchester

The 9th Current Research in Egyptology Symposium was held at the University of Manchester between the 9th and 11th January 2008, and was organised by students from the KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology. 98 delegates attended the meeting, at which 37 papers were presented across the three days. The speakers came from 18 universities in 12 countries, and there were also a number of excellent papers by independent scholars. The papers were varied, covering the Predynastic to Coptic periods, and topics included scientific methods and analysis, art and architecture, religion, and language and literature.

The modern lecture theatre in the Michael Smith building hosting the conference

The conference was opened by Prof. Rosalie David of the KNH Centre, who gave a talk entitled ‘The KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology – Training Scientists for the 21st Century’. Prof. David was followed by a number of talks from KNH students, which showed the wide variety of work being carried out at Manchester. The first day ended with a talk by Dr. Karen Exell of the Manchester Museum, who gave a brief history of Egyptology and Egyptologists at the Museum, where she is the current curator.

Dr Karen Exell, former CRE presenter, addresses the conference

There were some innovations at this year’s CRE – for the first time, UK delegates linked up with Egyptian students and researchers at the National Research Centre in Cairo, and at the Bibliotheca Alexandria. Those taking part in Egypt were able to see and hear each speaker in the UK, and they also participated in the question and answer sessions during the first two days. There was also a display area for those researchers who had submitted a poster of their work.

Some of the posters on display close to the lecture theatre

As usual, a number of booksellers attended CRE, including Oxbow Books, Archaeopress, Rutherford Press, Shire Books and Ancient Egypt Magazine, and there were a great many bargains to be had in the bookseller’s room!

The book stalls did a good trade at conference prices

Meeting friends old & new at the evening wine reception in the Manchester Museum

On the 9th, the delegates were invited to a wine reception at the Manchester Museum, where they were welcomed by the Museum Director, Nick Merriman, and invited to visit the Egypt galleries. On the evening of the 10th, 48 delegates attended the conference dinner, where they sampled the delights of the famous Curry Mile in Rusholme.

Sampling the delights of Rusholme's 'Curry Mile' for the conference dinner

As usual, CRE was a great place for students to meet and share ideas. With delegates coming from as far afield as the USA and Canada as well as from across Europe, the conference remains the main arena in the UK for students and independent scholars to present their work to their fellow researchers from all over the world.

Question time after one of the presentation sessions

An audience eager to hear new ideas

The job of organising CRE X has been taken on by the University of Liverpool, who, with their excellent Egyptology department and facilities, should prove more than capable of keeping up the excellent standard seen over the last few years.

Vicky Gashe

Images from the conference taken by Mervyn Harris & Peter Robinson

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