U3A Vall del Pop members enjoy guest speakers
Jana Petken – Historical Fiction Novelist
At our next General Assembly, on Thursday, February 7 at the Polivalent Centre in Murla, Jana Petken, who is a historical fiction novelist and screenwriter, will give a talk to the members – hopefully clarify how authors develop their storylines and keep remembering the story line when there are several characters all interwoven.
She is critically acclaimed as a bestselling, gritty, author who produces bold, colourful characters and riveting storylines. She is the recipient of numerous major international awards for her works of historical fiction and has eight number 1 bestseller under her belt.
Before life as an author, she served in the British Royal Navy. During her service, she studied Naval Law and history. After the Navy, she worked for British Airways and turned to writing after an accident on board an aircraft forced her to retire prematurely.
Jana is based in Denia, although she regularly travels to the United States of America for work.
History lesson with Egyptologist
On Monday, January, 7 Egyptologist and bestselling historian, David Rohl, took us from the Queen of Sheba to Ramesses the Great as he delivered a lecture in Jalon Town Hall entitled ‘Solomon and Pharaoh’s Daughter’ to a fascinated Vall del Pop U3A audience. David is an expert in biblical history and archaeology, especially as it relates to the civilisation of the pharaohs.
He first demonstrated how Solomon’s great building works (as described in the Books of Kings and Chronicles) were not to be found in the Iron Age levels of the great cities of Megiddo, Hazor and Gezer, but rather in the last phase of the Late Bronze Age, where no one had been searching for it. Put simply, modern archaeologists have rejected Solomon as a great builder-king because they assign Israel’s famous ruler to an unspectacular period of biblical archaeology, whereas David has discovered the real era of Solomon in the richest and most magnificent archaeological era of the pre-Classical world.
He then went on to identify the mysterious daughter of an un-named pharaoh who was given in marriage to the young King Solomon to seal a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. She turns out to be none other than Bint-Anath – the eldest daughter of Ramesses the Great!
Finally, he led us into the tomb of Pharaoh’s Daughter in Jerusalem, long known about but not identified as the sepulchre of Solomon’s queen, simply because scholars had been searching for it in the wrong time period.
David’s next lecture will be on Monday, February 4 at the Jalon Town Hall, starting at 11am. The title of his presentation will be ‘The Great Exodus Debate’.
If you cannot make the 1st Monday each month David also lectures at La Senieta theatre in Moraira, starting at the usual time of 10.30 am.
For further information on U3A Vall del Pop check our website http://u3avalldelpop. com. The U3A is all about enjoyment and learning, and this is particularly evident in the U3A Vall del Pop, whose members hold their General Assembly generally, fiestas and holidays permitting, on the first Thursday of each month at the Centre Polivalent in Murla. There is a diverse range of groups for everyone.