Egyptologist Professor Joann Fletcher is well known for her TV appearances and books about ancient Egypt. She has also studied the links between Egypt and her home county of Yorkshire, particularly the coast. On 16th October she told the Augustinians all about them.
She told how ancient artefacts and coins found locally had links to Egypt. Examples include Roman coins with Cleopatra on the reverse and depictions of Egyptian gods, and a statuette of an Egyptian sacred bull. Yorkshire is a hot spot for Roman gypsum coated bodies mummified in the Egyptian way, many in stone sarcophagi.
It was a Yorkshireman who discovered that the Giza pyramids were tombs and not granaries. It was a Scarborough lady school teacher who moved to Egypt and sent back many relics to the Scarborough Rotunda Museum. It was a tragic death in Scarborough that in a way facilitated the discovery of Tutankhamun’s treasures.
Many local wealthy families, the Rowntrees for example, became obsessed with Egypt and particularly mummies. Joann told their stories. On one local estate the mummy so frightened the children that it was buried in the grounds and lost. When a Bram Stoker novel ended with a mummy killing everyone, many mummy owners offered them to museums.
The love of all things Egyptian remains. Joanna mentioned the pyramid gate at Castle Howard and the Egyptian gates at Scarborough’s Esplanade Gardens. More recently, a monastery for Egyptian Coptic Christian monks has been set up near Scarborough.
An eloquent vote of thanks was given by Sub Prior Michelle Stephens.