Lecture unearths cities’ ancient ties
An archaeologist will show how modern cities share similarities with their ancient counterparts in a lecture at the University.
Professor Michael E Smith, Director of Arizona State University, will compare Edinburgh with the ancient city of Ur - in present-day Iraq - in his Munro Lecture on 1 October.
It will be the first lecture in the 2015/16 series, which sees distinguished scholars address a range of topics in the fields of archaeology and anthropology.
Munro Lecture: Professor Michael E Smith
Lecture title: Cities from Ur to Edinburgh: Archaeology and Comparative Urbanism.No booking required.
Thursday 1 October 2015, 4.15pm - 5.15pm
•Teviot Lecture Theatre, Doorway 5, Medical School (Old Medical School), Teviot Place, EH8 9AG
City life examined
Professor Smith will use a number of features - such as Roman forts, refugee camps and Egyptian workers’ villages - to compare modern-day cities with ancient settlements.
He will argue that if cities are seen as places of social interaction, rather than in economic terms, then they have been remarkably consistent throughout history.
Wide-ranging series
Further lectures in the programme look at Indian culture in the West, economic developments in Central Europe and the history of commercial gambling.
For more information on the series, and to stay up-to-date with events, visit the Munro Lecture website.
The Munro Trust
The Munro Trust was established by Dr Robert Munro in 1910.
Dr Munro (1835-1920) was an Edinburgh graduate and a celebrated medical practitioner. A keen archaeologist, he retired from practice in 1885 to devote himself to the subject.
He established the lecture series to bring scholars from across the globe to Edinburgh so that they could share their expertise on anthropology and archaeology.