How did the ancient Egyptians feel about life and death?

Lanny Bell, an archaeologist from Brown University, will examine Egyptian beliefs in a free lecture titled “Mummies, Magic and Medicine: An Introduction to Ancient Egyptian Funerary Beliefs and Practices” at 7 p.m., Sept. 18, in Life Sciences Center room A-191 on ASU’s Tempe campus.

“An examination of the way the ancient Egyptians faced the all-too-familiar problem of death reveals that rather than being obsessed with death, they were obsessed with life,” Bell says. “They enjoyed their earthly existence and at the same time looked forward to an eternal existence based on the idea that death was the portal to rebirth into a new kind of life.”

Bell’s lecture will range from the Old Kingdom (2675-2175 BCE) through the New Kingdom (1570-1070 BCE).

The lecture is sponsored by the Central Arizona Society, the Archaeological Institute of America and ASU’s School of Human Evolution and Social Change.

For more information, contact Liz Griesman at (623) 974-0297 or elizabeth.griesman@asu.edu.