SASA Master Class: Hieroglyphic Stelae: A Study in Image and Text

Previous participation and previous knowledge are not required. 

Both the Maya and the ancient Egyptians created and displayed the object type we call a stela (a sizable slab of stone with images and writing) for different purposes, including: to record major events and provide for the dead in the Afterlife. You can see stelae (the plural of stela) in museums around the world today. When they are displayed in museums, particularly in art museums, the focus is on the striking visuals of these objects—less so on the valuable cultural information their inscriptions contain. If you have ever been curious about the pictographic writing of the Egyptians and the Maya, want to understand basic linguistic information about the two hieroglyphic writing systems, and would like to study cultural information that will bring ancient Egyptians and Maya people to life, this Master Class is for you. Both Catherine Nuckols-Wilde (Mayanist) and Stacy Davidson (Egyptologist) will give a brief overview of the stela form and how they were used similarly and differently in the two respective cultures they study. They will then provide basic hieroglyphic language instruction that you can apply the next time you see a Maya or Egyptian stela in a museum or look at a museum’s catalog online. The Master Class will end with a practical application of your newly-acquired hieroglyphic and cultural knowledge when you design your own ancient Egyptian stela and choose which information you would include on a Maya stela.

MUST RSVP TO GET THE ZOOM LINK