Jacquelyn Williamson

Visiting Lecturer on Women’s Studies and Near Eastern Studies 2013–14
WSRP Research Associate 2013–14

Home institution

University of California, Berkeley

Research project

A Sex Goddess and a Queen: The Discovery and Analysis of the Lost Temple of Nefertiti

Virtual reconstructions of Nefertiti's temple will be created, presenting new information on the status of Nefertiti as a cosmogonic goddess in the 'heresy' of the Amarna Period. Further, by placing her queenship in its international context the project demonstrates the power inherent in the religious status of queens throughout the ancient Mediterranean world.

WSRP lecture

A Sex Goddess and a Queen: The Discovery and Analysis of the Lost Temple of Nefertiti

Course

HDS 3108: Sex, Gender, and Religion in Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Syria-Palestine (Spring 2014)

Profile

Jacquelyn Williamson is a visiting scholar at the University of California at Berkeley in the Department of Near Eastern Studies. She earned her PhD and MA from Johns Hopkins University in Egyptology and Near Eastern studies, and her BA from Sarah Lawrence College. Her research interests include history, philology, art, and archaeology. Her research and teaching interests also include ancient trade, technology, language, and art. She specializes in the Amarna Period, approximately 1353-1336 BCE, ruled over by the noted iconoclasts and so-called 'heretics' Akhenaten and Nefertiti. As a member of the expedition to Tell el-Amarna since 2005, Williamson's work concentrates on reconstructing and analyzing an Amarna period temple found at the site called Kom el-Nana at Tell el-Amarna. She has published several articles contending that the site is both the 'lost' sun temple of Nefertiti as well as another, much less known site.

Williamson is currently working on a book that will focus on reconstructions of the decoration and hieroglyphic inscriptions of the site of Kom el-Nana/the sun temple of Nefertiti. The book will also discuss Nefertiti's role in the heresy of the Amarna Period. Placing Nefertiti in context of the larger Mediterranean world will emphasize the power of the religious status of queenship in the ancient world. In particular, the analysis will center on the cultural creation of gender.