Free lecture looks at powerful ancient potentates

A free illustrated public lecture at The University of Queensland on Friday May 18 will examine one of the most turbulent eras of ancient history.

Professor Trevor Bryce will discuss The Great Imperialists of the Ancient Near East - The Men Behind the Masks at the lecture at Abel Smith Lecture Theatre, Campbell Road, St Lucia at 8pm.

Professor Bryce's topic will take his audience through the turbulent years of the Late Bronze Age (second millennium B.C.) in the ancient Near Eastern world.

"It was a period when great kingdoms flourished - Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, Mitanni, and the kingdom of the Hittites," he said.

"The rulers of these kingdoms held sway over vast expanses of territory extending from the Aegean Sea to the Euphrates River, and southwards through Syria and Palestine to the land of the Nile.

"I'll examine who these rulers were, and the secret of the enormous power they wielded. The lecture will also examine questions such as what these rulers were really like behind their imposing palace facades and grand titles and who were the men behind the masks?"

Professor Trevor Bryce was a Reader in Classics and Ancient History at UQ until 1984, when he became Professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of New England.

From there he was appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Lincoln University, New Zealand, but he is now devoting his time to research and writing. He is a Fellow of the Australian Humanities Academy and one of the leading scholars in the area of Hittite history.

The lecture is being held by The University of Queensland in association with the School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics, the Department of Classics and Ancient History and The Friends of Antiquity.

It will be chaired by Associate Professor Dorothy Watts, Head of the Department of Classics and Ancient History at The University of Queensland.

For further information, contact telephone 07 3365 2643 or email: classics@mailbox.uq.edu.au