Saturday Lecture Series: Monumental Architecture

Macquarie University’s Dr Gillian Smith celebrates the architectural enormity of the Ramesside period with her exploration of Abu Simbel, the Ramesseum & Luxor’s Karnak Temple Complex.

Twice a year, sunlight sweeps into the chambers of The Great Temple at Abu Simbel, illuminating the face of Ramses II and marking the beginning of the flood and growing seasons. Temples were monuments to the pharaohs and the gods, reminding all of Egypt’s wealth and prosperity. For modern visitors, these temples stand as examples of the ingenuity and scope of human endeavour.

Tune in as we explore some of these monuments’ key architectural features; how kings, such as Ramses II used them to define and portray power and - in the case of Abu Simbel – as a means to harness the sun. Following the lecture, listen to the interview with Professor of Architecture, Restoration Australia’s Anthony Burke.

Recorded live at the Australian Museum on 24 February 2024, as part of the Gateway to Egypt program series, created to support Ramses & the Gold of the Pharaohs exhibition.

Obtaining her PhD in 2021 from Macquarie University (MQU), Dr Gillian Smith is an Egyptologist specialising in temple architecture and art of the Ramesside period. Her thesis, which is currently being prepared as a monograph, drew on traditional Egyptological and art-historical theories as well as architectural theory to investigate the design and ancient experience of the Hypostyle Hall at Karnak temple.

She has been an archaeological field team member on MQU’s Theban Tombs Project and has completed her own field research at Karnak Temple, Luxor. With an interest in public engagement, Gillian was one a co-founder and co-ordinators of Studying the Past, the education and engagement program for MQU’s Department of History and Archaeology.

Anthony Burke is a professor of Architecture at the University of Technology Sydney and host of Restoration Australia and Grand Designs Transformations on ABC, with 25 years’ experience lecturing, publishing, presenting and celebrating the value of good design and architecture around the world.

Macquarie University is a Program Partner for the Australian Museum’s Gateway to Egypt program, part of the Ramses and the Gold of the Pharaohs exhibition.