The Enigmatic Treasure of a Nubian Queen

Geological Lecture Hall
24 Oxford St.
Cambridge
Tue., Apr. 14, 2026, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.



Queen Khensa was a Nubian royal and principal wife of King Piankhy, the Kushite ruler (664–653 BCE) who conquered Egypt and established the Twenty-fifth Dynasty. She was buried in a pyramid tomb whose contents were largely plundered in antiquity. Even so, her burial still contained a variety of intriguing objects, from precious-metal vessels and fine jewelry to tools, figurines, and natural history specimens. The function of many of these items remains a mystery. In this talk, Denise Doxey will present what survives of Khensa’s mortuary offerings and discuss new ideas about how these treasures may have functioned in royal Nubian funerary ritual and belief.

Online Location: Zoom
Gazette Classification: Art/Design, Community, Diversity and Inclusion, Lecture, Science
Organization/Sponsor: Presented by the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East and the Harvard Museums of Science and Culture.
Speaker(s): Denise M. Doxey, Norma Jean Calderwood Curator of Ancient Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Cost: Free
Harvard Key Required: No
More info: hmsc.harvard.edu…