Last weekend the American Research Center in Egypt held its annual meeting in Tucson, AZ (https://www.arce.org/annual-meeting). For three days, Egyptologists from around the world converged on the Tucson Marriott University Park for lectures, networking, and visiting vendor stalls. Kansas City was well-represented with two of our Egyptology students being invited back as volunteers.
Prof. Davidson, Jennifer, and Natalie
The trip to Tucson from Kansas City began with a pyramid sighting. Pyramids remained the theme of the journey.
Pyramid at KCI
American Airlines fabric
Nubian pyramid design
Inverted step pyramid design
Transportation business card
Conference booklet and badge
Egyptian pouch, journal, and Rosetta Stone socks
Friday’s lectures began at 8:30am. Each 30-minute time slot had four lecture choices, so it was important to research and plan ahead; inevitably, there were multiple lectures per time slot that participants wanted to see. Here are my selections:
On Friday night there was time to find dinner then wander around the University of Arizona’s campus.
On Saturday morning, more participants arrived, and the hotel lobby was buzzing with activity. My lecture choices for Saturday included:
There was about a half an hour in between the end of lectures on Saturday and the closing time of the Arizona State Museum (http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/), so the three of us run ran over to see as much as we could before closing. The conservation window had been specially prepared for ARCE members, as the Egyptian objects housed in the museum are typically not on display. The Arizona State Museum focuses on the art, history, and culture of the American Southwest.
On Saturday night we had a delicious dinner then wandered around Tucson’s historic 4th Avenue. Egypt is everywhere!
On the last morning of ARCE I attended more lectures before heading off to see some of Tucson.
I also caught up with Allan, a friend and participant on my 2016 International Study Trip to London, Oxford, and Berlin (http://blogs.jccc.edu/sdavid22/egypt-and-ane-european-trip/). He was manning a booth about his project, Archaeological Photography Exchange (http://ape-egypt.org/).
After ARCE ended we had time to explore the Saguaro National Park (https://www.nps.gov/sagu/index.htm). The cacti were in bloom.
On Monday, we explored Tucson’s Botanical Gardens (https://tucsonbotanical.org/) and missed the blooming of the corpse flower by a day!
All in all, it was an amazing weekend full of Egyptology. Next year in Alexandria, VA!