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Laurel Bestock

Assistant Professor of Archaeology and Egyptology & Ancient Western Asian St:
Archaeology and Egyptology & Ancient Western Asian Studies
Phone: +1 401 863 6291
Laurel_Bestock@brown.edu

Biography

I completed my PhD in Egyptian archaeology and art at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University in 2007. After a brief stint at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, I joined the faculty of Brown in the fall of 2008. I have been excavating for many years at Abydos in southern Egypt, one of the most important sites for understanding the rise of pharaonic civilization. My work has principally focused on the development of Egyptian kingship and cult, and in recent years my team has discovered the remains of mortuary temples built for the first kings of Egypt. In addition to its early royal significance, Abydos was an important religious center, town, and set of cemeteries for millennia. My recent discoveries have included a wealth of Ptolemaic material, including settlement remains, a large family tomb, and a hypogeum for the burial of mummified ibises. These excavations are ongoing - there is much yet to learn about both the early and the late phases of activity at this important site.

Degrees

PhD

Teaching

I teach courses dealing with all aspects of Egyptian material culture and archaeology. In addition I have taught ceramic analysis for archaeologists and Egyptian history.