Raptors Unwrapped: the exploitation of birds of prey in Late and Ptolemaic Egypt - an in-person Lecture
Date: Saturday 11thApril 2026 at 2.00 pm
By Dr Lidija McKnight
Cost: Free for Members and £4 Visitors
Venue Coronation Hall
Tickets: on the door
Abstract:
Birds of prey (raptors), depicted in the form of hieroglyphs, artistic representations and as mummies, are frequent symbols throughout Egyptian history. Despite this frequency, scholarly investigation has concentrated on their divine associations. Combining cutting-edge, non- and minimally-destructive scientific analyses of mummies, with ornithologically informed evaluation of art historical and textual evidence, a new project will transform understanding of the exploitation of raptors in Late and Ptolemaic Egypt (712–30 BC), when vast numbers were mummified on an industrial scale and interred in subterranean catacombs.
In her presentation, Lidija will discuss how animal palaeopathological data of modern raptors, with known histories, will inform the analysis of computed-tomographic images of small raptor mummies, to establish how these birds were captured and managed. She will outline the analytical methods that will be applied to the study specimens — including mobility (H:D) and dietary (C:N) isotopes, physical reproduction of key identifying bones, and re-analysis of textual and art-historical evidence — to show how an interdisciplinary investigation of animal mummies can tell us about human-raptor relationships and the long-term change in wild bird population dynamics.
Biography
An archaeology graduate of the University of York (BSc 2000) and the University of Manchester (MSc 2001, PhD 2008), Lidija worked on a series of research contracts between 2010 and 2021 before taking up a lectureship in Biomedical Egyptology. In February 2025, she moved to the University of Leicester to take up the role of Senior Research Associate on the Leverhulme Trust-funded project, Raptors Unwrapped. With over 25 years’ experience researching animals mummified as votive offerings, Lidija is passionate about showcasing the importance of these artefacts through public engagement and the media.
