Marla Szwec

Marla Szwec is a doctoral candidate interested in analyzing the intersection between sociology, authoritarianism, and the application of astronomical knowledge in ancient Egyptian material culture. She is currently writing her dissertation on the professional careers of Theban astronomers and hopes to uncover potential explanations for the emergence of innovations related to astronomical observation. Other areas of research include the impact the African Cattle Complex had on Prehistoric cultures occupying the Nilotic region following the Saharan Exodus and the evolution of stellar conceptualizations and representations in funerary contexts.

Current Supervisor(s)

Mary-Ann Pouls Wegner

Dissertation Title

Egyptian Astronomers of the Eighteenth Dynasty: an Examination of Social Realities, Technology, and Ideology in Sacred Theban Spaces

Publications

‘Tracking the Culmination of the Celestial Cow Motif into Royal Spheres: An Examination of Celestial Phenology and Cattle Pastoralism in Early Ideologies of Power.' Birmingham Egyptology Journal Volume 9: 85-111 (2022)

Presentations

• "Tracking Tradition and Innovation in the Fundamentals: an Examination of Celestial Phenology, Cosmography, and State Ideology in Ancient Egypt." Space in Time: From the Heavens to Outer Space Conference. Warburg Institute. London (October 2023)
• "Questions of Internal and External Stimuli: An Examination of Astronomical Developments in the Religious Capitals of the Eighteenth Dynasty." Opening the Ancient World: Discovery, Science, And Technology Conference. Save Ancient Studies Alliance (July 2023)
• "Seeing the Sky for the Stars: a Methodological Solution to a Textual Deficit of Astronomical Treatises in Ancient Egypt." Abundance and Scarcity in the Ancient Mediterranean World Conference. Harvard University, Classics Department. Boston (April 2023)
• "Ancient Egyptian Astronomy: Technological Strides in the Name of State Ideology." The 16th London Ancient Science Conference. The University College of London, Institute of Classical Studies, Senate House, Room G35. London (February 2023)
• "The Saharan Exodus of the Original Celestial Cow: an Examination of Royal and Bovine Imagery at the Dawn of State Formation." The Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities' 2022 Scholars’ Colloquium, 46th Annual Symposium. Toronto (November 2022)
• "Ascend to the Imperishables: The Rise of Stellar Eschatology at the Dawn of State Formation" Shifting Sands: Change Over Time in Ancient Egypt Ninth Annual Birmingham Egyptology Symposium. The University of Birmingham, Egyptology Department. Birmingham. (May 2022)
• "Howling for Sun-Worship: An Examination of Baboon Iconography in Ancient Egyptian Sky Maps" Animals and Animal Imagery in the Ancient and Medieval World Conference, The University of Calgary, the University Museum in collaboration with Mount Royal University. Calgary (May 2022)
• "Ptolemaic Scriptoriums and the Development of Astronomy: a Comparative Investigation of Two Cultures." Secret Knowledge in the Ancient World: Acquisition and Concealment Conference. Department of Classics at the Graduate Center, the City University of New York , New York City (May 2022)
• "The Dark Legacies of 'Types of Mankind' (1854)" The Material Fantasy of the Book Conference. Book History and Print Culture Student Colloquium, University of Toronto (March 2022)