Gene Cruz-Uribe

Professor of History Gene Cruz-Uribe will lead a trip, “Legends of the Nile,” to Egypt March 15-25, 2017. The trip is offered through the Indiana University Alumni Association’s (IUAA) Travel IU program. Cruz-Uribe, an Egyptologist, is the first IU East faculty member to serve as a travel director for a trip abroad with the IUAA.

From Cairo to cities along the banks of the Nile River guests will travel through ancient Egypt. Participants will explore the Egyptian Museum’s remarkable antiquities; discover the enigmatic Sphinx and the Great Pyramid of Giza; travel to Luxor, the site of the ancient capital of Thebes; journey to the intriguing Valleys of the Kings and Queens; and visit the Oriental Institute’s Chicago House to see its epigraphic survey project.

Travelers will board a cruise ship to travel the Nile to visit the fascinating temples of Karnak, Edfu and Kom Ombo as well as to see the High Dam at Aswan and travel to explore the massive temple at Abu Simbel.

Cruz-Uribe received his B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. in Egyptology from the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. He worked at the Seattle Art Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He has taught at Brown University, Northern Arizona University, and at California State University – Monterey Bay before he joined IU East in 2013. In 2015-2016, he led two IU East students on a two-week trip through Egypt to study the culture and history.

He is the author of six books, over 60 articles and 40 book reviews dealing with all periods of Egyptian history and culture. He has conducted a number of field research projects in Egypt, working in Kharga Oasis in the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings, and recently finished recording graffiti found at the temple of Isis at Philae Island.

Cruz-Uribe’s specialty is the recording of ancient Egyptian graffiti for what they reveal about personal piety, late period religious practices and pilgrimage. He received a Fulbright Senior Research Fellowship in 2007 and is the editor of the Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, the principal journal for Egyptology research in the U.S.

The trip is limited to 28 passengers. Reservations and trip details can be found on the IU Travels website at alumni.indiana.edu/together/travel.