Willeke Wendrich Opens International Egyptology Conference

Willeke Wendrich delivered the opening address to the thirteenth congress of the International Association of Egyptologists (IAE) held in Leiden, the Netherlands August 6-12. Wendrich is the director of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology and professor of Egyptian Archaeology and Digital Humanities in the department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. She has been the president of the association since 2019 and is stepping down this year to be succeeded by Tarek Tawfik of Cairo University. She will continue to serve IAE as its vice-president.

The congress, which is held every three to four years since 1976, is the largest regular gathering of Egyptologists and specialists from related fields worldwide. Each gathering is held at a different host institution and provides hundreds of scholars with the opportunity to share their research with colleagues. The theme this year was the future of ancient Egypt, which was discussed by around 700 participants in six parallel sessions of lectures, complimented by posters presentations and plenary discussions. UCLA was represented by a number of faculty and staff members, as well as current and former graduate students.