Antinous, Sutekh and a Time Lord walk into a Cocktail Bar: a lecture in tribute to John J Johnston

*UPDATE: Hi folks, I’m very sorry about this but due to a family emergency I’m having to postpone this lecture which was originally due to be given on Weds 16 Sept at 6pm (UK time). I’ve rescheduled it for Friday evening (18 Sept) but depending on how things play out I may have to push it back again. Thank you all for your patience! Since his passing in 2025 John Johnston - Egyptologist, Classicist and Cineaste – has been much missed by the Egyptological community, in particular by all those who enjoyed his lectures. Among his many specialisms, he was an expert on Antinous, Hadrian’s beloved companion after whom the city of Antinoopolis was named. In death, Antinous would, according to Egyptian belief, have become ‘an Osiris’, a manifestation of the mythical first king of Egypt who had been slain by his jealous brother, Seth. Seth or Sutekh was another of John’s specialisms, perhaps for one famous episode in the ‘Contendings of Horus and Seth' (IYKYK), but undoubtedly also because Sutekh was the Doctor’s enemy in the classic 1975 serial Dr Who and the Pyramids of Mars. This lecture will attempt to cover all three topics as a tribute to JJJ and if nothing else will give the speaker a good excuse to re-watch ‘Pyramids’, probably with a glass of something to toast John, the inspiration for this talk and much more.