Lecture Access

This lecture will be available to view until 3 August 2026

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Overview

Watch on Demand | One-Hour Lecture


In Ancient Egypt, kingship embraced a wide range of roles and responsibilities. The pharaoh led rituals in the temple, made judgments and managed administration in the palace, and led battles on the battlefield. 

Their authority was demonstrated through their presence, ceremonies, and the delegation of tasks, rather than by always taking direct action. Royal power relied on the coordination of priests, officials, and military leaders, with the pharaoh positioned as the visible centre of a larger, vibrant system of governance.

These interconnected roles were expressed through art, inscriptions, and rituals. Statues, reliefs, and texts depicted the pharaoh as a priest, judge, commander, and patriarch, emphasising the link between divine order and governance. The shifting movement among temples, courts, and battlefields was essential to kingship, connecting ideology with daily administration and authority.

In this lecture, Egyptologist Lucia Gahlin explores the Pharaohs exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria to analyse how these roles were depicted and maintained, shedding light on the practical structures that underpinned royal authority in Ancient Egypt.

LECTURER

Biography

Lucia Gahlin is an Egyptologist based in the UK with over 20 years experience of leading tours to Egypt, and to collections of Egyptian antiquities in museums around the world. She has a strong personal interest in the art, archaeology, literature and architecture of ancient Egypt, and is the author of chapters and books, such as ‘Egypt: gods, myths and religion’. Lucia holds a First Class Honours Degree in Egyptology/Ancient History from University College London. Her postgraduate research took her into university teaching, curatorial work in the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology in London, and archaeological excavations in Egypt. She has taught Egyptology for the Continuing Education departments of a number of universities in the UK, and has taught undergraduates at University College London and the Universities of Warwick and Bristol. Lucia is an Honorary Research Associate at University College London’s Institute of Archaeology. She continues to teach occasional continuing education courses in Bristol, and lectures widely.

Lucia Gahlin

Egyptologist