Day 1, Thursday, June 29, 2023
Location: Dean’s Conference Room, 10 Garden St, Cambridge, MA, 02138
9:00-9:05 Don Tontiplaphol, Associate Director of Academic Ventures and Engagement, Introductory Remarks
9:05-9:30 Peter Der Manuelian. The HU–MFA Egyptian Expedition: History, organization, the Diraz family of Qufti reises, and provenance of the diaries.
9:30-10:00 Wendy Doyon. The Arabic Diaries and Their Writers: Origins, textuality, authorship, social history of Quft, and the study of the manuscripts to-date.
10:00-10:15 Q&A
10:15-10:30 Coffee break
10:30-11:00 Marleen De Meyer. Site Report: HU–MFA excavations and new research at Deir el-Bersha.
11:00-11:30 Peter Der Manuelian. Site Report: HU–MFA excavations and new research at Giza.
11:30-12:00 Geoff Emberling (via Zoom). Site Report: HU–MFA excavations and new research at Jebel Barkal, Sudan.
12:00-12:15 Q&A
12:15-2:00 LUNCH
2:00-2:30 Liesbeth Zack (via Zoom). The Diaries as case studies in Arabic linguistics and historical dialectology.
2:30-2:45 Q&A
2:45 Leave for MFA (galleries close at 10:00 pm)
3:15-8:00 Visit to MFA Archives to see selected Arabic Diaries; Egyptian gallery viewing (self-paced); Dinner in the MFA restaurant “New American Cafe
Day 2, Friday, June 30, 2023
Location: Dean’s Conference Room, 10 Garden St, Cambridge, MA, 02138
9:00-10:00 Translating the Diaries: Case studies in transcribing, translating, and editing the manuscripts,” Wendy Doyon, Mostafa Tolba, Noha Mahran, Aya Ibrahim, Nisha Kumar (hybrid session).
10:00-10:15 Q&A
10:15-10:30 Coffee break
10:30-11:15 Discussion 1. Identifying research and funding priorities: Critical research questions, interdisciplinary framework, audience, funding opportunities (e.g., NEH Scholarly Editions), NVIC partnership and research activities in Cairo
11:15-12:00 Discussion 2. How to achieve in-depth textual and social network analysis across the diaries.
12:00-2:00 LUNCH
2:00-2:45 Discussion 3. How to present the results of translation and study (book, series, database, website, exhibit)
2:45-3:00 Concluding discussion and next steps
3:00-3:15 Coffee break
3:15-5:00 Visit to the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East (HMANE) Archives, and brief Giza 3D demo in Harvard’s Visualization Lab classroom; Dinner at Changsho restaurant (1712 Massachusetts Avenue; backup plan in case of rain: Nubar in the Sheraton Commander hotel).