Background | Activities | Facilities |TESSA Committee 2010
THE EGYPTIAN SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA
P.O. Box 246 Plumstead 7801, South Africa
Tel. +27 (0)21 557 5082
Email: scarab@telkomsa.net
Background
Following a series of Egyptological lectures in Cape Town and having escorted a number of tour groups to Egypt, I became aware that there was clearly a place and a need for an Egyptian society in South Africa.
At the time, no such organisation existed in the country. Just two years earlier in 1994 the new South Africa had emerged and South African passport holders were once again able to visit Egypt.
On November 4th 1996 (coincidentally the anniversary of the discovery of the first step to Tutankhamun’s tomb), an inaugural meeting was held and the Cape Town Egyptian Society was initiated with 143 people joining that same evening – the enthusiasm was palpable. Soon afterwards members joined from across South Africa and in a very short time it became apparent that this was a Society with national interest and six months after its founding in April 1997 the Society’s name was changed to THE EGYPTIAN SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA which also provided a useful acronym – TESSA. A year later we formed and welcomed a branch of the Society in Johannesburg which sadly ceased to exist in 2000.
Activities
In accordance with the name it is incumbent on the Society to pursue both a national identity and international visibility. Accordingly, outstanding events have included national lecture tours of South Africa by Professor Kent Weeks (American University in Cairo & Theban Mapping Project), Professors Mostafa el Abbadi and Azza Kararah (University of Alexandria).
To mark the 10th anniversary year of the Society in 2006, the redoubtable Dr. Zahi Hawass (Secretary General – Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities) was invited to address audiences in Cape Town, Stellenbosch and Johannesburg.
Mention should be made of Dr. Toby Wilkinson’s (Durham & Cambridge Universities) visits to the Society.
A wealth of lecturers from the Universities of Cape Town, Stellenbosch and the Western Cape has graced our podium, as well as a multitude of external lecturers and many in-house lecturers.
In 2003 a literary exhibition called Egypt Described: Herodotus to Hawass was arranged in association with the University of Cape Town at Cape Town’s Irma Stern Museum.
Facilities
TESSA boasts a comprehensive Lending Library and Reference/Archive Library with several hundred volumes including rare books. Well supported monthly meetings are arranged in Cape Town at a central meeting place – St George’s Grammar School, Mowbray.
An annual Day School at the Baxter Theatre Centre has been a feature of the Society’s calendar since the inauguration.
A quarterly newsletter, SHEMU, containing news and information is circulated to members across South Africa and abroad. It is also distributed to embassies, South African universities, schools, public libraries, press and media organisations as well as British and American Egyptological institutions – a further example of the Society’s focus on national and international communication.
Our logo, designed by the late international artist Angus McBride, symbolises the connection between South Africa and Egypt, using two iconic images which are internationally identifiable with our two countries. The South African component is an outline of Table Mountain in Cape Town – with Egypt represented by the Great Pyramid of Giza and its three satellite pyramids. The logo is redolent of the familiar expression “from the Cape to Cairo” which epitomises the breadth of the goals, aims and objectives of TESSA and of its loyal members.
Keith Grenville
20 July 2008
CHAIRMAN’S ANNUAL REPORT
PRESENTED TO THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
AT ST GEORGE’S GRAMMAR SCHOOL ON 24 NOVEMBER 2009
I extend a warm welcome to all members and visitors to this the 13th Annual General Meeting of The Egyptian Society of South Africa. I am again happy to report on an eventful and successful year. We are fortunate in having a wonderful team of dedicated Committee Members who are always willing to go not only the extra mile but the extra several miles in the interests of the Society, as the contents of this report will indicate. The members and their portfolios were unchanged from 2008 and are Jean Smith, Vice-Chairman and Secretary; Mike Beaumont, Treasurer; John Lombard, Organiser; Lila Komnick, Co-ordinator and Shirley Beaumont, Catering. Again, a simple example of the dedication of these people is the fact that every one of our regular monthly meetings was quorate. I must again reiterate that this is the most pleasant and dedicated committee with which I have ever worked. TESSA owes a great deal to them all. And, of course, we are, as ever, grateful to our Patron and Founding Chairman, Keith Grenville, for his abiding interest, support and wise council when required.
The Editor of Shemu, Nerine Dorman, continues to do an admirable job despite her own busy schedule. She is ably assisted by Jean Smith – now designated as “Shemu content manager” and Lila Komnick – “Shemu copy editor” who source material and often re-write it to conform to our particular style. As I said last year, Shemu is no longer a simple newsletter but has developed into a valuable, if still modest, academic resource of which we can justly be proud. Jean Smith has been able to commission original pieces written especially for Shemu by active Egyptologists. Some notable contributors this year include Zahi Hawass, Earl Ertman, Marianne Luban and Jill Kamil, among others. Jean Smith does a sterling job in issuing occasional electronic “Bulletins” with cutting-edge reports on developments relating to finds in Egypt. If anyone has not been receiving these, please ensure that we have your e-mail address.
Our new Society website – www.egyptiansociety.co.za – launched at about this time last year has been a great success and records of hits range from across the world. We have, in fact, had some 5463 hits. Jean Smith is our website expert and is continually updating the information on the site. Anyone who has not visited the site is missing out on another valuable resource as we have links to a number of important Egypt-related sites. John Lombard is a real ‘hawk-eye’ in locating new sites.
Following the success of the “November Outings” instituted three years ago, we visited “Egypt in the Overberg” this year. We are extremely grateful to Lila and Gunther Komnick for all the reconnoitring that goes into finding interesting areas to visit. Special thanks are due this year to Rose Murray of Stanford for sharing with us some small items that were passed down to her from her great uncle, the Egyptologist James Edward Quibell.
One disappointment is that we were hoping to bring out a “high profile” Egyptologist to address the Society sometime this year but the world recession has affected sponsorship of ongoing research in Egypt rather badly and so visits to TESSA have slipped somewhat on the list of priorities of potential candidates. But we have not abandoned hope and there might still be good news in 2010 – and it will not be the visiting Egyptian soccer team! Once things have been finalised, you will be the first to know! As it is, we are starting the year off with a lecture by a scholar from Stanford University in the United States, Prof Grant Parker, who, among other accomplishments, is an expert on obelisks.
MEMBERSHIP
TESSA, I believe, remains the best quality for money society in the country. We have, through the skills of Mike Beaumont, our Treasurer, been able to maintain our subscription rates at R80.00 for ordinary members and R45.00 for distance and student members. This R80.00, which is the equivalent of two cinema tickets, buys you ten lectures a year plus a substantial discount for the Annual Day School with its three lectures and now famous Egyptian-style buffet lunch. Our membership remains fairly constant at just under 300 members but, as always, it is difficult quote precise figures here and now as we are in the midst of the annual renewal of subscriptions and virtually every monthly meeting yields two or three new members to replace those who fall away owing to developing other interests or leaving town.
LECTURES
Thanks to the tenacity and initiative of John Lombard, our Organiser, our lectures have spanned the usual wide range of fascinating topics and this year we were able to enjoy the following presentations:
January: two lectures – The Symbolic Significance of the Lotus Blossom in Ancient Egypt and The Cinematic ‘Take’ on Cleopatra 18N by Anthony Humphreys;
February: Gold – The Flesh of the Gods by Keith Grenville;
March: Pharmacy and Medicine in Ancient Egypt by Peter Loyson;
April: Egypt – Out of Africa? by Lambert Vorster;
May: The Five Main Oases of Egypt – Their History and Value by Robin Hammond;
June: It’s a Small, Small World After All- Ancient Egypt: A Bigger Picture by Gillian Russell;
August: Hatshepsut – The Double Crown by Marie Heese;
September: a double lecture – Egypt in Classical Music by Jos Koetsier;
October: The Egyptian Connection: Dorothea Fairbridge, the Cape and Egypt by Peter Merrington.
November: After the formalities tonight, we will have the opportunity to socialise and enjoy some drinks and snacks.
While all the lectures were of a high standard, special mention must be made of Jos Koetsier’s presentation. This was our first “multi-media” lecture consisting not only of the usual talk and PowerPoint slides but also incorporating sound and video bytes. Jos and John Lombard spent no less than nine hours making sure that the presentation ran seamlessly. They have set new standards for lectures of this nature and we are most grateful for all their hard work. Jos has promised more to follow and we will be holding him to that commitment!
The Members’ Platforms were equally varied and consisted of the following:
February: Ancient Egypt – Alternative perspectives by Ferdinand Esau;
March: Ancient Egypt and the Greek Connection – An Introduction by Patricia Weckesser;
April: Impressions by Gunther Komnick;
May: The Development of Canopic Equipment from the Old Kingdom to the Late Period by Jean Smith;
June: More Breaking News – Recent Finds and Secrets of Ancient Egypt by John Lombard;
August: The Ancient Egyptians’ Method of Accurate Alignment of the Giza Pyramids by Graham Rodgers;
October: Beni Hassan and the “Asiatics” by Denise Bremridge.
Mireille Farah continues to render valuable service in ensuring that our meetings are always advertised timeously in the various media – local daily newspapers, community papers and on Fine Music Radio. It is this type of quiet behind the scenes work that keeps the Society running smoothly. Mireille even manages to keep advertising on course while she is overseas! Thank you, as ever, Mireille, for a job well done. As those of you who have e-mail will know, Lila Komnick sends out electronic reminders of our monthly meetings. These are clearly much appreciated for she often actually receives apologies from people who, for some or other reason, cannot attend a particular meeting!
DAY SCHOOL
The annual Day School continues to be the highlight of the year and was held on 25 July, not at the Baxter Studio as usual but, owing to an elaborate stage set, in the Chisholm Room in the College of Music. Special thanks are due to Angeliesa Scheepers and Neville Hartzenberg for facilitating our use of the venue which, incidentally, is where the very first Day School was held. This year’s theme was Great Temples of Ancient Egypt and consisted of the following three lectures: Abydos – Anatomy of a Temple by Keith Grenville, Time and Tide: The Story of the Temples at Abu Simbel by Anthony Humphreys, and Philae – The House of Isis again by Keith Grenville. Despite being a different venue, all tickets were sold and, regrettably some late comers, who had not booked, had to be turned away. As always we are most grateful to Jessica Thomas and her team for the Egyptian Buffet and to Craig Dobson for his indispensable technical input. The day ended with a very successful raffle of books and the auction of an oversized picture of Tutankhamen. We are grateful to all who participated – particularly the lady who relieved us of Tutankhamen!
LIBRARY
Our library, which is free to members, continues to be run in the most efficient way by Colleen Cox and Jackie Weitsz. Few people, I think, realise how much work these two ladies put into the library and we are extremely grateful for their valuable services.
We are grateful to Lila Komnick and Jean Smith for the press cuttings they have supplied for the TESSA Scrapbook. (Members will be able to scrutinise the Scrapbook which will be on display on the piano at the back of the hall after the meeting.) The Committee received copies of the Egyptian Exploration Society’s Journal and two Bulletins this year, and purchased two books (on Aswan and Luxor) for the Travel category. A cache of miscellaneous items, including books, was received from John Tunstall to whom we are most grateful for thinking of TESSA.
A total of 26 books were generously donated by the following members: Alison Feinhauer, Jilyan Pitman Claxton, Nigel Ervine Claxton, Mike and Shirley Beaumont, Marie Heese, Thea Grobbelaar, Doreen Davis, Carrol Prior, and, of course, Patricia Weckesser. We are not complaining by any means but Patricia seems to have an unending supply of books!
A total of five videos were donated by Anlen Boshoff and Renee Ziman. Again, many thanks for expanding this aspect of our library.
In addition Patricia Weckesser kindly donated a beautiful Egyptian-themed cake to raise funds for the library while Carrol Prior donated R10 to the Library Sundries Account.
Lila Komnick donated a magazine from the Getty Institute on heritage and conservation in Egypt. Anlen Boshoff donated no less than 23 Egyptian ornaments to further adorn our Archives. John Mills gave us a framed picture of the Sphinx on permanent loan as a background to our ornaments in the Archives.
As a result of this tremendous generosity, our Library continues to grow, and the total book count for 2009 has risen to 710 books in total. We are proud to have such public spirited members and all of us associated with TESSA thank them warmly.
GENERAL THANKS
Apart from the people mentioned above, the Committee is also most grateful to the following: Corporate Member Egypt Today CC for its continued support; our auditor, Ralph Pond; the St George’s Grammar School people – Headmaster, Barry Hart, Liaison Persons, Stephen Bornman and Verny Siljeur, Estate Manager, Ivan Smith; Master Photographer Gunther Komnick for photographic assistance and technical advice; Rose Murray for sharing her Egyptian pieces with us. Most importantly, thanks are due to the various speakers for sharing their knowledge with us and for the effort involved in putting their presentations together. Gone are the days of ‘chalk and talk’ and technological backup, though increasingly impressive, takes time to set up – quite apart from researching the lecture itself. And finally, of course, thanks to you, our members, for your continuing loyal support, which makes everything worthwhile. It only remains now for me to wish you all a happy and safe holiday period until we foregather for the beginning of our 14th year next January.
ANTHONY HUMPHREYS
TESSA Committee 2010:
