Lincoln, Neb.-Dr. Suzanne Onstine, an independent scholar who specializes on the art and archaeology of ancient Egypt, will present the next Archaeological Institute of America lecture on the role of women in Egyptian religion. The lecture, entitled 3The Musician Priestesses of Ancient Egypt,2 will be on Monday, October 17, at 7:30pm in Richards Hall Room 15 on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln city campus. The event is free and open to the public.
       
Onstine is currently an independent consultant for various archaeological missions including the University of Arizona, the University of Memphis, and the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities. She is currently working on a rescue-archaeology project in Luxor. She also serves as the president of the Arizona chapter of the American Research Center in Egypt.
 
To understand the role of the musician-priestesses in ancient Egypt, it is first necessary to explore the roles of women in society in general. This will provide an idea of the types of social conventions and constraints that influenced the role of the musician-priestesses. Through an examination of the Egyptians' concept of the 3ideal woman2 portrayed in art and literature we can conclude that a woman's place was in the home. We know, however, that many women held jobs and titles that took them outside the home. One of these activities was being a musician-priestesses.
       
By studying the different musical titles that women held throughout the pharaonic era, we can conclude that women were an important and constant part of religious ceremonies and religious life. Funerals, temple rites, and festivals were the main contexts of their participation.
 
By comparing what is known about the social and historical contexts of each era with what is known about the nature of women' participation at each time period, a fuller picture emerges for evaluating the evolution of women's cultic participation.
The changing titles and the frequency with which each was held can tell us a lot about this evolution. The pattern discovered in Onstine's research shows how larger political events and policies had an effect on women. Occasionally, it seems that the state encouraged women's participation in formal religion, but at other times women's roles were simply a casualty of larger events.