Join us on November 8, 2025 at 7:30 PM to hear Dr. Jennifer Miyuki Babcock speak on “The Swift Ones: Hares in Ancient Egyptian Visual Culture”

In this talk, Dr. Babcock will provide an overview of the significance of the hare in ancient Egyptian culture. Despite being linked with one of the oldest ancient Egyptian deities, the hare does not feature prominently in ancient Egyptian art, with some exceptions. The discussion will focus on when we typically find representations of hares in ancient Egypt and examine the extent to which these images and objects reflect physiological and behavioral reality.

She will consider the possibility that many of these hare representations are not as concerned with naturalism as they are with emphasizing certain behaviors that were linked to their (super)natural abilities. She also argues that in some cases, hares are purposely conflated with other desert creatures, such as wild cats, providing additional insight into these creatures’ cultural and religious significance and how the ancient Egyptian’s relationship with the nearby desert environment.

A graduate of the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University, Jennifer Miyuki Babcock is a faculty member in the art history departments at Pratt Institute and Fashion Institute of Technology, SUNY. She also advises graduate students in NYU’s Visual Arts Administration Program.

Dr. Babcock is the author of Animal Fables in Ancient Egypt: Tree Climbing Hippos and Ennobled Mice (Brill, 2022) and a co-editor of Rethinking Ancient Egypt: Studies in Honor of Ann Macy Roth (Brill, 2025). Her scholarship focuses on the ancient Egyptian depictions of animals, the role of animals in ancient Egyptian religion, and the modern reception and interpretation of ancient Egyptian culture.

Events are held at Southern Methodist University, Fondren Science Hall, Room 123.

This lecture is free and open to the public.