Tea With The Sphinx: Reception of Ancient Egypt’s Myth, Magic, and Mysticism

At the first roundtable of ‘Tea with the Sphinx: Defining the Field of Ancient Egypt Reception Studies’ in September 2017 a debate arose surrounding the idea of ‘truth’, ‘facts’, the ways in which knowledge is formed in the popular imagination, and how this relates to reception studies as a field. This prompted discussion surrounding how reception studies should define itself, but also, and just as importantly, how myth, incorrect ‘facts’, and changing knowledge can be valuable in constructing a picture of how the knowledge of the ancient past and cultures has been formed, used and re-used, contributing to an ever-evolving history of the representation of ancient Egypt and its cultural offshoots.

Thus, the organisers of Tea with the Sphinx 2018 invite papers on any aspect of the reception of ancient Egypt in the global imagination, and especially those which engage with the following themes:

• Myths, curses, and legends
• Magic and ritual
• Mysticism, occultism, and spiritualism
• Re-incarnation and transcendental experiences
• Orientalism and imperialism
• Mummymania
• Literature and fiction
• Newspapers and the media
• Visual representations and the arts
• Replicas, souvenirs, and Egyptomania’s paraphernalia
• Museums and display
• Talismans and amulets
• Science and ‘rational truth’ vs superstition
• The ‘celebrity’ of Egyptology and Egyptologists
• Historical ‘fact’ and evolving knowledge of ancient Egypt

Abstracts of up to 300 words for 20 minute papers along with a short biographical note (in the same Word document) should be sent to teawiththesphinx@gmail.com by February 9th 2018.

The organisers also encourage PGRs to submit ideas for poster presentations to be presented during lunch of the first day of the conference.