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Henry Bishop-Wright

Dr Henry Bishop-Wright

Research Associate

School of History, Archaeology and Religion

Email
Bishop-WrightH1@cardiff.ac.uk
Telephone
+44 29225 14627

Overview

I currently (2023-25) work with Prof. Paul Nicholson (PI) to reassess the chronology of the Sacred Animal Necropolis at North Saqqara. My position is funded by the Leverhulme Trust.

Saqqara, Egypt (2023).

I studied Classics and Ancient History at the University of Exeter (BA and MA) where I developed an interest in frontier studies and completed a residency at the British School at Rome. Drawn to areas of the ancient world that seemed to exist on both the scholastic and geographic periphery, I stumbled upon Meroe, an independent kingdom that existed in present-day Sudan c. 300 BC – AD 350. This led to a PhD which, supported by the Oxford Griffith Institute and the AHRC DTP, examined interactions ('connectivity') between Meroe and the Hellenistic-Roman world. I have continued to stumble around Meroe ever since.

The northern pyramid field at Meroe, Sudan (2018).

I was awarded my doctorate (University of Exeter) in Autumn 2021 and subsequently became one of the few academics dealing with Meroe to have a Classical as opposed to an Egyptological background. Thus, rather than viewing this kingdom as an offshoot of Pharaonic Egypt, I regard it as a node within a network of Hellenistic kingdoms and, later, an independent component of the 'globalised' Roman world.

The 'Roman Kiosk' at Naga, Sudan (2018).

Following the completion of my doctorate, I interned at the British School at Athens (2022) and subsequently took a curatorial post at the British Museum where I co-curated the 'Luxury and power: Persia to Greece' exhibition (2023). Here, my work focussed on the Hellenistic world and I contributed a long chapter on this subject to the exhibition’s accompanying book. I then joined Cardiff University as a Research Associate working on Prof. Paul Nicholson’s Leverhulme-funded project to reassess the chronology of the Sacred Animal Necropolis at Saqqara (Egypt, c. 400 – 30 BC).

Luxury and power: Persia to Greece, British Museum (2023).

In sum, my academic interests are (according to modern standards) quite varied. Nevertheless, they tend towards the material (as opposed to the textual) and can be reduced to the following key areas:

  • The Kingdom of Meroe (ancient Sudan).
  • The eastern Mediterranean in the Hellenistic period.
  • Egypt during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods.
  • Frontier studies, particularly theoretical questions of cross-cultural interaction.
'King of the Hill' at Meroe, Sudan (2018).

I also have a great interest in Greece (ancient and modern) and, since 2018, have travelled extensively across the Greek mainland and spent long periods living in Athens. Following this current project on Ptolemaic Saqqara, I hope to incoporate Greece more fully into my academic work or, at least, continue to spend much time there.

Delphi, Greece (2019).

Publication

2023

Books

Research

I am a specialist in the archaeology of Meroitic Sudan (c. 300 BC - AD 350) and Ptolemaic-Roman Egypt. I also have expertise in the eastern Mediterranean c. 323-30 BC (the 'Hellenistic period') and ancient glassware. 

I am currently preparing the publication of my PhD thesis 'Chronology and Connectivity at Meroitic Faras' as a monograph for the series British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan (Peeters) and, since 2019, have published academic papers, chapters and minor media notes as follows:

Publications (journal articles and chapters):

Publications (popular notes):

  • Bishop-Wright, H.C. 2023. ‘The Power of Presents’. ARGO, A Hellenic Review, no. 17. Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies. 18-23.
  • Bishop-Wright, H.C. 2023. ‘The Politics of Opulence’. British Museum Magazine Spring 2023, Issue 105. British Museum Press. 26-29.
  • Bishop-Wright, H.C. 2022. ‘Elephants from Meroë’. Middle East Newsletter, Issue 7. British Museum Press. 32-33.

Teaching

As a Research Associate, I do not have any teaching responsibilities and cannot formally supervise students. However, I would welcome discussion with any student interested in my areas of research, particularly the Meroitic archaeology of present-day Sudan.

Biography

Research Associate, Cardiff University (March 2023 - present). Working to reassess the chronology of the Sacred Animal Necropolis at North Saqqara, as part of Prof. Paul Nicholson’s 'Dating the Dead: Chronology and Context at Saqqara’s Sacred Animal Necropolis' project. Funded by the Leverhulme Trust.

Project Curator, British Museum Department of Middle East (May 2022 - February 2023). Co-curating, with Dr James Fraser, the 'Luxury and power: Persia to Greece' exhibition, opening 4 May 2023.

Archival Intern, British School at Athens (January 2022 - March 2022). Working to catalogue the paperwork from Winifred Lamb's excavation of Bronze Age Thermi (1929-33; Lesbos, Greece).

PhD Candidate, University of Exeter (September 2018 - October 2021). I produced a thesis entitled 'Chronology and Connectivity at Meroitic Faras' and was awarded my doctorate (Classics and Ancient History) in November 2021. I was supervised by Dr Robert Morkot (Exeter) and Prof. Paul Nicholson (Cardiff). My PhD was funded by the AHRC ‘South, West and Wales Doctoral Training Partnership’ and benefited from generous collaboration with the Griffith Institute (University of Oxford).

English Teacher, Sudan (January - March 2018). Volunteering for the ‘Sudan Volunteer Programme’, I spent three months in Sudan and visited most of its major archaeological sites.

Field Archaeologist, Archaeology South-East UCL (August 2017 - January 2018). I returned to commercial archaeology for short intervals at various points between 2018 and 2021, amounting to some 12 months’ full-time experience in UK field archaeology.

Post-graduate student residency, British School at Rome (April – May 2017). During my MA at Exeter, I  spent two months living in Rome enrolled on the BSR’s ‘City of Rome’ post-graduate course.

MA Classics and Ancient History, University of Exeter (September 2016 - September 2017).

BA Ancient History, University of Exeter (September 2013 – July 2016)

Honours and awards

AHRC SWWDTP PhD Studentship (2018-21)

Professional memberships

Member of the Sudan Archaeological Research Society.

Member of the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies.

Member of the Classics Association.

Academic positions

2022-23: Project Curator, Department of Middle East, British Museum.

Speaking engagements

27.11.23: ‘Between Meroë and Memphis: Long-Term Change on the Nubian Frontier c. 275 BC – AD 300’. Borders? Borders! Separation Lines, Joining Spaces, International Conference at the Basel University, Switzerland.

05.11.23 (with prof. Paul Nicholson): ‘Of Ibises and Baboons: the acquisition and breeding of sacred animals at North Saqqara’. Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities, Annual Scholars’ Colloquium, Toronto, Canada.

07.08.23 (with prof. Paul Nicholson): ‘Emery and the Ibises’. 13th International Congress of Egyptologists, Leiden University, Netherlands.

10.06.23: ‘Beyond Egypt’s Southern Frontier: Lower Nubia and the Kingdom of Meroë’. Thames Valley Ancient Egypt Society, SARS Study Day.

13.05.23: ‘Reassessing Griffith’s work at Meroitic Faras: chronology and its implications on Lower Nubia in the final centuries BC’. Sudan Archaeological Research Society Annual Colloquium.

10.05.23: ‘Objects, change and academic dogma beyond Rome’s southern frontier: the case of Meroitic Faras’. University of Exeter, Classics and Ancient History Research Seminar.

20.02.23: ‘Chronology on the Meroitic Frontier’. British Museum Department of Egypt and Sudan, Lunchtime Lecture Series.

25.01.23: ‘Interconnections on the Meroitic Frontier: Griffith’s work at Faras and the legacy of early-20th-century archaeology in Sudan’. University of Cambridge, Egyptian World Seminar Series.

24.08.22: ‘Across the Southern Frontier: Roman objects in Meroitic graves at Faras, Sudanese Nubia’. LIMES Congress XXV, Nijmegen.

15.07.22: ‘Meroitic North and South’. Bloomsbury Summer School. Greater Nubia: exploring the land and archaeology of the Middle Nile Valley.

16.11.21: . ‘What about Meroë? Roman glassware and gaming across Egypt’s Southern Frontier’. Roman Finds Group. Zoom in on Roman Finds: artefacts from Roman and Late Antique Egypt and Sudan.

13.09.21: ‘Glass vessels from the Meroitic cemetery at Faras, Sudanese Nubia’. 22nd Congress of the Association International pour l'Histoire du Verre & ICOM Glass Annual Meeting 2021.

Supervisions

I am not currently available to supervise students, but see comment under ‘Teaching’.

Research themes

Specialisms

  • Meroe and the archaeology of Sudan
  • Hellenistic history
  • Ptolemaic-Roman Egypt
  • Critical heritage, museum and archive studies

External profiles