New Zealand Egyptology Scholar now off to Oxford on a
Clarendon Scholarship
Julia Hamilton tells us in her own words of her academic journey, past and
future.
I started at the University of Auckland in 2007 with a very clear vision of where
I wanted to
be in 10 years: embarking on a PhD in Egyptology, somewhere in the world. I
completed a
BA majoring in Ancient History and Anthropology in 2011, a BA (Hons) in
Ancient History
in 2013, and I was awarded my MA in ancient history from the University of
Auckland,
supervised by Professor Anthony Spalinger, in 2015. My research is motivated by questions
about how people in the past lived and thought, and I have a particular interest in applying
theoretical frameworks (particularly those drawn from anthropology) to the interpretation of
ancient Egyptian material culture. In October this year, I will be beginning my doctoral
studies in Egyptology at the University of Oxford as a Clarendon scholar, where I will be
supervised by Associate Professor Elizabeth Frood (also an alumna of the University of
Auckland) and Professor Richard Parkinson. In my doctoral research, I will be assessing how
networks of patronage in late Old Kingdom Egypt are discernible through the study of
ancient Egyptian naming practices. I have a particular interest in how people interacted and
cohered, and how ancient Egyptians used personal names to display familial and patron-client
ties within communities.
Alongside my studies, I have been working in collections and research at Auckland War
Memorial Museum – Tāmaki Paenga Hira, most recently as a Library Assistant. I’ve always
had a particular interest in archival material, especially as it relates to Egyptology. In the
course of my ancient history degree, I relied heavily on un-digitized, early 20th century
publications – excavation reports, tomb and temple line-drawings and the like. It was easy to
find a research niche in the rich documentary heritage collection at the museum, bringing the
ancient world into my working life through researching the collections of significant
Auckland figures held by the museum, examining Sir John Logan Campbell’s Nile voyage in
1849 and William Henry Gummer’s interest in beaux-arts and neoclassical architecture
through his personal library. I am excited that my doctoral research at the University of
Oxford will combine my skills as an Egyptologist with my experience of working with
library and archival collections, as I will be making use of the unpublished papers of
renowned Egyptologist and philologist Battiscombe Gunn held by the Griffith Institute at
Oxford. I leave for the UK in September and I can't wait to begin a new chapter of my
academic life.
picture courtesy of Shaun Higgins, Curator Pictorial at AWMM
I am sure all members of the scholastic community wish Julia all the best in her future
career.