Kate Liszka, an assistant professor of history at Cal State San Bernardino, will be the featured speaker when the university’s Phi Beta Delta, Gamma Lambda Chapter hosts its Faculty Speaker Luncheon on Wednesday, Feb. 8.

Liszka will speak about “Digging Ancient Egyptian Jewelry Mines” at the honor society for an international scholars event that begins at noon in the Panorama Room, Lower Commons.

Cost of the lunch is $20 for faculty and staff; students may attend for free. RSVP to Eduardo Garcia at EGarciaL@csusb.edu by today, Monday, Feb 6.

Liszka directs the archaeological excavation at Wadi el-Hudi, in the Egyptian Eastern Desert. There, ancient Egyptians harvested amethyst, gold, and other precious materials used in some of their most famous pieces of ancient jewelry.

In addition to the mining practices, Liszka studies how ancient Egyptians lived in the desert, how they were organized by the Egyptian administration, and whether slaves conducted labor. In addition to enormous ancient settlements next to these mines, the workers also left hundreds of inscriptions detailing aspects of their time 35 kilometers away from civilization.

For more information on Phi Beta Delta, Gamma Lambda Chapter, call (909) 537-5913, or visit the Phi Beta Delta Honor Society website.