Veronika Dulíková | Charles University, Prague (original) (raw)

Papers by Veronika Dulíková

Scientific Reports, 2024

Men with writing proficiency enjoyed a privileged position in ancient Egyptian society in the thi... more Men with writing proficiency enjoyed a privileged position in ancient Egyptian society in the third millennium BC. Research focusing on these officials of elevated social status ("scribes") usually concentrates on their titles, scribal statues, iconography, etc., but the individuals themselves, and their skeletal remains, have been neglected. The aim of this study is to reveal whether repetitive tasks and maintained postures related to scribal activity can manifest in skeletal changes and identify possible occupational risk factors. A total of 1767 items including entheseal changes, non-metric traits, and degenerative changes were recorded from the human remains of 69 adult males of welldefined social status categories from the necropolis at Abusir (2700-2180 BC). Statistically significant differences between the scribes and the reference group attested a higher incidence of changes in scribes and manifested themselves especially in the occurrence of osteoarthritis of the joints. Our research reveals that remaining in a cross-legged sitting or kneeling position for extended periods, and the repetitive tasks related to writing and the adjusting of the rush pens during scribal activity, caused the extreme overloading of the jaw, neck and shoulder regions.

Variability in the Earlier Egyptian Mortuary Texts, 2023

A decorated wooden coffin inscribed for a woman called Setib was discovered during the excavation... more A decorated wooden coffin inscribed for a woman called Setib was discovered during the excavation of mastaba AS 79 conducted by the Czech archaeological mission in the 2015 autumn season at Abusir South. The coffin made of cedrus libani has a standard late sixth dynasty shape and decoration style. The rectangular box with a flat lid bears a horizontal band of text around the exterior perimeter and a pair of wḏꜣt-eyes on the east wall. The wḏꜣt-eyes are aligned with the palace façade decoration at the head-end of the interior east wall, while the rest of the side is covered with an offering list. The names of the seven sacred oils are situated on the interior north wall above which a ḥtp di҆ nśwt formula is partly preserved. The body of a middle-aged (35–50 years) female was originally placed in the coffin in an outstretched position. Numerous items of the burial equipment were found in her burial chamber, including a travertine headrest, two travertine vessels, jewels and several ‘cakes.’ Setib’s burial shaft was part of a tomb that was probably owned by Setib’s father, i҆my-rꜣ pr, ‘overseer of the house,’ Khemetnu. The burial of Setib is dated to the sixth dynasty, and her coffin represents a typical product of that period. This article discusses the burial context, the technological details as well as the decoration of the coffin, thus putting it into the context of burial containers of that period.

Prague Egyptological Studies, 2022

Anthropological research has been going on at the archaeological concession of the Czech Institut... more Anthropological research has been going on at the archaeological concession of the Czech Institute of Egyptology in Abusir for nearly 60 years. The first burials dated to the Old Kingdom, more specifically to the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties (2510–2365 BC), were found in 1976. Nevertheless, it has taken almost to the present time to gather more than two hundred skeletons needed to carry out a comprehensive study of the
Abusir skeletal sample. This task was preceded by the creation of the AnuBase, an extensive and detailed database of anthropological data, and by the acquisition of a suitable depository space where the human skeletal remains are stored. The present study focuses mainly on the paleodemographic profile of the individuals buried in Abusir cemeteries and the metric analysis of the skeletons dating to the Old Kingdom. The results revealed a lower number of buried females compared to males and very few subadults. Very pronounced sexual dimorphism was noted between the male and female skeletons in both skulls and the infra‑cranial skeleton. Male crania are longer but lower than female crania, while females were characterized by higher faces. Although male long bones were longer and more robust than female ones, they do not differ in the proportionality of the upper and lower extremities. High sexual dimorphism in body height is consistent with the presumption
of the higher status of individuals buried in Abusir.
The results of both anthropological and paleodemographic analyses show a connection with the social status of the individuals in question. The low number of females buried in the cemeteries of Abusir and the almost missing subadults could indicate specific burial strategies in the area governed by strict rules. Future research should address these issues in detail.

Gracia Zamacona, C. – Ortiz García, J. (eds.), Handbook of Digital Egyptology: Texts, 2021

The sophisticated administration in the age of the pyramid builders offers a remarkable time span... more The sophisticated administration in the age of the pyramid builders offers a remarkable time span for research and a unique opportunity to analyse the dynamics of a complex society in a diachronic perspective. Contrary to traditional approaches relying on statistics and logic, we will present an overview of our achievements in society development reconstruction covering structural aspects using complex network analysis (CNA). Our research is based on diachronic occurrences of titles held by officials of various social status. The presence of a social stratification structure can be demonstrated by specialized bipartite (people – titles) network visualizations. Results aimed at reconstructing the structure of Old Kingdom top-level society and at the detection of powerful dignitaries using CNA and particularly community detection methods are also discussed. The approaches are exemplified by selected case studies on influential persons from the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties.

Abusir and Saqqara in the year 2020, 2021

The personage of Ptahshepses, who held the vizieral office in the mid-Fifth Dynasty, is well-know... more The personage of Ptahshepses, who held the vizieral office in the mid-Fifth Dynasty, is well-known to Egyptologists. Through marriage to Princess Khamerernebty, Ptahshepses became the king’s son-in-law and pledged his loyalty to the ruler, Nyuserre. Like a handful of his contemporaries, Ptahshepses reached the peak of what was possible in contemporary society. His mastaba, however, has no parallel when compared to others. Ptahshepses’ extraordinary position was reflected in his tomb’s location, vastness (2,375.60 sq. m), architectural concept, decoration, impressiveness and equipment. In accordance with the spatial tomb distribution of Old Kingdom officials, which mirrored the social and administrative system of society at that time, Ptahshepses’ exceptional position was also expressed in the rare materials used for the burial items. So far, it is known that the king provided him with a sarcophagus made of red granite, a material only some royal family members and selected high-ranking dignitaries could afford in the Fifth Dynasty. Other objects from his burial equipment have not been presented and published yet.

Prague Egyptological Studies, 2021

The depiction of the family of Menihy on a lintel found at Abusir South attracts attention due to... more The depiction of the family of Menihy on a lintel found at Abusir South attracts attention due to a component present in the compound personal names of his children. All but one of them have names including the element tjenenet, which is remarkable in the context of previously found mentions of the tjenenet sanctuary at Abusir South. The lintel belongs to the Sixth Dynasty finds discovered at the Czech archaeological concession that had originally been part of tombs or cult places and were destroyed already in antiquity. Some reflections on the function of the tjenenet are included.

Addressing the dynamics of change in Ancient egypt: complex network analysis, 2020

Egyptology is becoming a strategic scientific discipline in that it is instructive for contempora... more Egyptology is becoming a strategic scientific discipline in that it is instructive for contemporary civilization and makes it possible to avoid critical mistakes in its development. However, classical Egyptology tools need to be supplemented by modern procedures that are more efficient in terms of the speed of the production of results and the processing of much more extensive data volumes, delivering more accurate and reliable evaluation of the findings. Since the time of Plato, cybernetics has been providing methods by which models based on observations of the environment or sensor data are created to reflect the properties of systems and environments, and actions that change the environment are generated. Many of these practices, which include elements of learning and deduction techniques, are developed within the field of artificial intelligence. Methods that specialize in analyzing relationships that can be modeled by graph theory are now widely developed within the framework of complex network analysis. To emphasize the increasing rate of application of these scientific methods to cover new challenges in processing ancient Egyptian data, the concept of cyber-Egyptology has been introduced recently. Cyber-Egyptology deals with the interpretation of ancient Egyptian data and Egyptologists’ observations using techniques based on the principles of cybernetics, artificial intelligence, and complex network analysis that might be modified to cope with a limited amount of complex structures containing uncertainties and missing entries. We offer an overview of a selected set of such methods and their application to Old Kingdom data.

Kings of the Sun. Studies, 2021

The article describes trends and general rules in the burial customs of the ancient Egyptians in ... more The article describes trends and general rules in the burial customs of the ancient Egyptians in the Old Kingdom period.

ANCIENT EGYPT 2017: PERSPECTIVES OF RESEARCH, Warsaw – Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2020

The paper deals with the reign of Nyuserre, one of great Old Kingdom rulers who ruled in the mid-... more The paper deals with the reign of Nyuserre, one of great Old Kingdom rulers who ruled in the mid-Fifth Dynasty. The gradual transformation of Egyptian society took place during this crucial period, and a number of innovations came about in various spheres (religion, society, administration, tomb architecture, etc.), mirroring a change in the participation in power. This situation was reflected primarily in dignitaries’ tombs dated to the given period, which became indicators of the transformation of society. The research is focused on an analysis of more than 100 tombs of high-ranking individuals and their family members, and particularly of their titulary, offering formulae, false doors, etc.
This treatise uses representative cases from social, administrative and religious areas to illustrate the innovativeness of the period of Nyuserre’s reign and the climate in which the concatenation of many changes came to pass, in order to provide a framework for a better understanding of the changes, innovations and processes which occurred.

Piacentini, P. – Delli Castelli, A. (eds.). EDAL VI. Old Kingdom Art and Archaeology 7. Proceedings of the international conference. Universita degli Studi di Milano, 3–7 July 2017, pp. 226–237, pls. LXII–LXVIII., 2019

By focusing on the development of the administration and its changes and turning points during th... more By focusing on the development of the administration and its changes and turning points during the Old Kingdom period, this contribution proposes a dynamic model of bureaucratic evolution at that time punctuated by several ground-breaking changes which can be viewed as adaptations to the social dynamics. Endeavouring to find a way and method of visualizing this major observation, we focus on the stratified vizieral titulary, since it was directly related to the society’s development and reflected all major shifts and modifications. The Hidden Markov Model method has been adjusted in a way that enables its robust application to a limited volume of input data. As a consequence, its results make it possible to quantify the development of the administration structure in ancient Egypt. The numerical results are interpreted and compared to the state-of-art knowledge in Egyptology. In particular, several landmarks matching the perspective of the ‘punctuated equilibrium’ theory are discussed.

P. Piacentini and A. Delli Castelli, eds., EDAL VI. Old Kingdom Art and Archaeology. Proceedings of the international conference. Universita degli Studi di Milano, 3-7 July 2017, 26-41, 2019

Until relatively recently, the prevailing opinion had it that the sacred institution of kingship ... more Until relatively recently, the prevailing opinion had it that the sacred institution of kingship had nothing or very little in common with the profane world of the Ancient Egyptians. As a consequence, limited attention was paid by the mainstream scholarship to mutual interconnections between the royal and non-royal world. As many official texts and two- and three-dimensional representations of the Old Kingdom rulers were bearing testimony of the divine king and his exceptional position, and thus offering multiple choices of attractive research, there was only limited desire for a more conceptual approach that would explore the kingship as an integral part of the society of the day. This was happening despite the fact that some prominent Egyptologists were fully aware of the imbalance of attention paid to the royal and non-royal documents. Nowadays, after a few decades of an intensified interest in complex approach to the Ancient Egyptian society, there has been an increasing number of studies considering and evaluating both profane and sacred aspects of the kingship and their interdependence. What has been emerging more and more clearly is that any reliable understanding of the long-term processes governing Ancient Egyptian society requires a detailed evaluation and study of literary, archaeological, iconographic and environmental data and their meaningful synthesis. Without such a concept, many specific features of the past may remain isolated, devoid of their proper context and retain their biased understanding.
As a contribution to the effort to combine as many sources of evidence as possible and seeing Ancient Egyptian society as a dynamic and multifaceted process “punctured” with principal discontinuities signalling major and abrupt periods of profound change with a prominent historical significance, this study shall focus on the analysis of the role of the concept of Maat during the Old Kingdom, with a specific attention given to the Fifth Dynasty. It will be demonstrated that it was during this particular period when Maat made the most imposing impact on the society of the day.

Prague Egyptological Studies, 2018

A new tomb (AS 98) of Ankhires, inspector of hairdressers of the Great House, was excavated at Ab... more A new tomb (AS 98) of Ankhires, inspector of hairdressers of the Great House, was excavated at Abusir South in the autumn seasons of 2016 and 2017. The stone-built mastaba is preliminarily dated to late Fifth Dynasty, from the reign of Nyuserre to Djedkare. It has an unusual architectural plan, consisting of a corridor chapel, Rooms 1 and 2, an L-shaped chapel, two serdabs and Shaft 1. It was obviously built in two phases. The extension gave the mastaba the area of 413 m2. In view of several facts, the tomb represents a new phenomenon not only at the Czech archaeological concession but also at the Memphite necropolis. It was surrounded by several structures including tombs (AS 101, AS 102), a technical(?) structure (AS 100) or a cultic installation (AS 99), which were also partly excavated. The work has brought to light many interesting finds, being it remains of the original wall decoration, remains of wooden statues or ecofacts. An analysis of the animal bones assemblage is also incorporated in the present study.

Pražské egyptologické studie, 2018

The paper deals with the reign of Nyuserre, one of the great Old Kingdom rulers who ruled in the ... more The paper deals with the reign of Nyuserre, one of the great Old Kingdom rulers who ruled in the mid-Fifth Dynasty. A gradual transformation of Egyptian society took place during this crucial period, and a number of innovations came about in various spheres (religion, society, administration, tomb architecture, etc.), mirroring a change in the participation in power. This situation was reflected primarily in dignitaries’ tombs dated to the given period, which became indicators of this transformation of society. The research is focused on an analysis of more than 100 tombs of high-ranking individuals and their family members, and particularly of their titulary, offering formulae, false doors, etc. In order to provide a framework for a better understanding of the changes, innovations and processes which occurred, this treatise uses representative cases from social, administrative and religious areas to illustrate the innovativeness of the period of Nyuserre’s reign and the climate in which the concatenation of many changes came to pass.

Pražské egyptologické studie, 2018

Tomb of a faceless man. Preliminary report on the excavations of the tomb of Ankhires (AS 98), th... more Tomb of a faceless man. Preliminary report on the excavations of the tomb of Ankhires (AS 98), the inspector of hairdressers of the Great House

During the autumn season of 2016, the tomb of an inspector of hairdressers of the Great House, Ankhires (AS 98), commenced excavation. The works were finished in the autumn season of 2017. In the architecture of the mastaba, two building phases were detected. Its cultic places were accessible from the north. A corridor chapel, where two levels of mud floor, a possible mud brick altar and a northern niche in the western wall were uncovered, leads to Room 2, giving access to abundantly decorated Room 1 with polychrome reliefs in at least three registers. The wall decoration of the funerary chapel was largely
destroyed; only one block remained in situ and several fragments of the false door were found in the debris. In the core of the mastaba, only one shaft was uncovered. It was 11.75 m deep with a burial chamber at its bottom. An entrance into the burial apartment was in the western
wall of the shaft. Neither the bottom of the shaft, nor the burial chamber were finished, though. This fact is fairly surprising taking into consideration the tomb’s intricate architecture. The tomb is preliminarily dated to the late Fifth Dynasty (Nyuserre – Djedkare).
Interestingly enough, six late burials in wooden coffins (67–69/AS98/2017, 99–101/AS98/2017) from the end of the First Millennium BC were excavated by the western part of the entrance into the mastaba, and to the east of its eastern outer wall. The coffins were decorated very
simply. However, the timber was very fragile and that is why the coffins had decayed, with the exception of two examples (67/AS98/2017 and 68/AS98/2017). In front of the eastern outer wall, three faience amulets were found (96/AS98/2017, 103/AS98/2017, 105/AS98/2017). These
might be related to the late burials.

Abusir and Saqqara in the year 2015, 2017

The current state of Egyptological research faces a problem to process the huge volume of data. R... more The current state of Egyptological research faces a problem to process the huge volume of data. Researchers have dealt with the datasets consisting of thousands entities. Such a volume cannot be evaluated efficiently and rigorously using a traditional manual manner of paper and pencil. Although methods of complex networks (CNA) have been used for the quantification of a number of historical aspects, nobody has yet applied CNA to the Old Kingdom context.
This paper proposes a new approach based on the method of complex network analysis which provides new possibilities for the better understanding of the Old Kingdom social and administrative developments. The treatise demonstrates the first promising results of this technique on an assessment of nepotism in the second half of the Old Kingdom exemplified in the numerous illustrative graphical visualizations.

Prague Egyptological Studies, 2017

The excavations at Abusir South have already uncovered many tombs that added valuable information... more The excavations at Abusir South have already uncovered many tombs that added valuable information to the general knowledge of the development of the Old Kingdom society, its burial and funeral habits, and last but not least social relations and their impact on the lives of ancient Egyptian officials. One of the last discoveries is represented by the tomb of “the elder of the judicial hall” Kaisebi (AS 76) and the adjoining tomb of Ptahwer (AS 76b), which are located to the south of the anonymous mastaba AS 54 lying on the most prominent spot of the whole Abusir South area. Kaisebi and Ptahwer built their tombs between this huge mastaba AS 54 and recently discovered 18.5 m long ship, both dated to the end of the Third Dynasty.
Tomb AS 76 was constructed in two phases in the course of the late Fifth and Sixth Dynasty. The first one consisted of a rather small rectangular mastaba with a chapel, a northern niche, a serdab, and two shafts. Later on, the original structure was enlarged by an annexe (AS 76b) attached to the eastern wall of AS 76, which included another offering place and two burial shafts. The cruciform chapel of Kaisebi’s mastaba with colourful wall paintings contains a well-preserved false door in situ.

Prague Egytological Studies, 2017

The paper deals with Ptahshepses who built his vast and impressive mastaba in the vicinity of kin... more The paper deals with Ptahshepses who built his vast and impressive mastaba in the vicinity of king Nyuserre’s pyramid. The subject has been studied through the prism of Old Kingdom society and in comparison with his contemporaries. Recently discovered fragments of Ptahshepses’ granite false door in the archive of the Czech institute of
Egyptology are also included.

Faience beads in the form of jewels, which decorated the bodies of the deceased, represent a regu... more Faience beads in the form of jewels, which decorated the bodies of the deceased, represent a regular constituent of the burial equipment of officials, priests and their families in the Old Kingdom period. While most tombs were robbed already in ancient times, beaded jewels were often disregarded by the robbers. Despite the fact that the context had been disturbed and the threading material usually decomposed, the beads still allow us to get an idea of the appearance of the original jewels. The odds improve further if an intact burial is discovered. Such situation has occurred twice in the case of the rock-cut tomb of the dignitary Nefer. During the archaeological seasons in the years 2012–2014, two of the four shafts uncovered were found intact (AS 68d, Shafts 3 and 4).
The three sets of beaded jewels which were found in Nefer’s tomb belonged to a man, woman and a child, providing an opportunity for a remarkable comparative material study. The potential of these finds consists not only in their state of preservation, but also in the variability of their owners that will enable us to compare the burial practices used for individual members of a high-ranking family who lived in the second part of the Old Kingdom period.

Hitherto sparse evidence on Khentytjenenet has been markedly enlarged owing to new excavations of... more Hitherto sparse evidence on Khentytjenenet has been markedly enlarged owing to new excavations of the Czech archaeological mission at Abusir. A recently discovered cluster of individuals holding priestly titles and/or epithets referring to Khentytjenenet has given us an impetus to scrutinise this deity.
Records of Khentytjenenet are closely connected with a specific geographical part of the Memphite necropolis – Abusir and North Saqqara. The appearance of this deity was obviously associated with social, religious and administrative changes during the reign of Nyuserra. The title hem-netjer-priest of Khentytjenet appeared for the first time in the titulary of the high priest Ptahshepses, buried at North Saqqara (C1), and simultaneously within personal names of individuals who held offices under Nyuserra and were buried at Abusir or North Saqqara. Whereas personal names compounded with the element Khentytjenenet were characteristic for the mid-Fifth Dynasty, the title hem-netjer-priest and epithet imakhu kher linked with Khentytjenet occurred in the Sixth Dynasty. His name was also the component of several names of royal domains and estates in the late Fifth and early Sixth Dynasty.

Prague Egyptological Studies , 2017

Abusir South – a preliminary report on the excavation in the year 2015. The tomb of Kaisebi and i... more Abusir South – a preliminary report on the excavation in the year 2015. The tomb of Kaisebi and its surroundings (AS 76–78)

In the year 2015, the expedition of the Czech Institute of Egyptology focused particularly on the area south of mastaba AS 54. Already in 2014, three new mastabas were unearthed in the vicinity of AS 54, and therefore both seasons of the year 2015 were devoted to their excavation. Two mastabas – AS 77 and AS 78 – were built of mudbrick and contained two rows of shafts. Mastaba AS 78 was also extended to the south by an elongated annexe with four more shafts. Both tombs were probably built around the middle of the Fifth Dynasty. The pottery found in some of the shafts points to a long-time process of burial activity in both structures. It took place at least until the middle of the Sixth Dynasty. The cultic pottery provides evidence of mortuary activity until the end of the Old Kingdom.
The westernmost mastaba, AS 76, differed from the other two structures in that was constructed from limestone. The core of the mastaba contained one shaft behind the northern undecorated false door, a decorated chapel with a beautiful false door, and a serdab behind it. It was built for a judge whose name was Kaisebi. The original mastaba (AS 76) was later enlarged by a new structure to the east (AS 76b), which consisted of two shafts, and a corridor running along them and leading to another chapel with undecorated false door. The evidence points to two owners of the two parts. The original mastaba was built for Kaisebi, the additional structure to the east for his son (?) Ptahwer whose name was found in several graffiti on the walls of the extension. According to a preliminary analysis the shaft and burial chamber of Kaisebi still awaits excavation in the largely disturbed area between shaft 1 and his decorated chapel.

Scientific Reports, 2024

Men with writing proficiency enjoyed a privileged position in ancient Egyptian society in the thi... more Men with writing proficiency enjoyed a privileged position in ancient Egyptian society in the third millennium BC. Research focusing on these officials of elevated social status ("scribes") usually concentrates on their titles, scribal statues, iconography, etc., but the individuals themselves, and their skeletal remains, have been neglected. The aim of this study is to reveal whether repetitive tasks and maintained postures related to scribal activity can manifest in skeletal changes and identify possible occupational risk factors. A total of 1767 items including entheseal changes, non-metric traits, and degenerative changes were recorded from the human remains of 69 adult males of welldefined social status categories from the necropolis at Abusir (2700-2180 BC). Statistically significant differences between the scribes and the reference group attested a higher incidence of changes in scribes and manifested themselves especially in the occurrence of osteoarthritis of the joints. Our research reveals that remaining in a cross-legged sitting or kneeling position for extended periods, and the repetitive tasks related to writing and the adjusting of the rush pens during scribal activity, caused the extreme overloading of the jaw, neck and shoulder regions.

Variability in the Earlier Egyptian Mortuary Texts, 2023

A decorated wooden coffin inscribed for a woman called Setib was discovered during the excavation... more A decorated wooden coffin inscribed for a woman called Setib was discovered during the excavation of mastaba AS 79 conducted by the Czech archaeological mission in the 2015 autumn season at Abusir South. The coffin made of cedrus libani has a standard late sixth dynasty shape and decoration style. The rectangular box with a flat lid bears a horizontal band of text around the exterior perimeter and a pair of wḏꜣt-eyes on the east wall. The wḏꜣt-eyes are aligned with the palace façade decoration at the head-end of the interior east wall, while the rest of the side is covered with an offering list. The names of the seven sacred oils are situated on the interior north wall above which a ḥtp di҆ nśwt formula is partly preserved. The body of a middle-aged (35–50 years) female was originally placed in the coffin in an outstretched position. Numerous items of the burial equipment were found in her burial chamber, including a travertine headrest, two travertine vessels, jewels and several ‘cakes.’ Setib’s burial shaft was part of a tomb that was probably owned by Setib’s father, i҆my-rꜣ pr, ‘overseer of the house,’ Khemetnu. The burial of Setib is dated to the sixth dynasty, and her coffin represents a typical product of that period. This article discusses the burial context, the technological details as well as the decoration of the coffin, thus putting it into the context of burial containers of that period.

Prague Egyptological Studies, 2022

Anthropological research has been going on at the archaeological concession of the Czech Institut... more Anthropological research has been going on at the archaeological concession of the Czech Institute of Egyptology in Abusir for nearly 60 years. The first burials dated to the Old Kingdom, more specifically to the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties (2510–2365 BC), were found in 1976. Nevertheless, it has taken almost to the present time to gather more than two hundred skeletons needed to carry out a comprehensive study of the
Abusir skeletal sample. This task was preceded by the creation of the AnuBase, an extensive and detailed database of anthropological data, and by the acquisition of a suitable depository space where the human skeletal remains are stored. The present study focuses mainly on the paleodemographic profile of the individuals buried in Abusir cemeteries and the metric analysis of the skeletons dating to the Old Kingdom. The results revealed a lower number of buried females compared to males and very few subadults. Very pronounced sexual dimorphism was noted between the male and female skeletons in both skulls and the infra‑cranial skeleton. Male crania are longer but lower than female crania, while females were characterized by higher faces. Although male long bones were longer and more robust than female ones, they do not differ in the proportionality of the upper and lower extremities. High sexual dimorphism in body height is consistent with the presumption
of the higher status of individuals buried in Abusir.
The results of both anthropological and paleodemographic analyses show a connection with the social status of the individuals in question. The low number of females buried in the cemeteries of Abusir and the almost missing subadults could indicate specific burial strategies in the area governed by strict rules. Future research should address these issues in detail.

Gracia Zamacona, C. – Ortiz García, J. (eds.), Handbook of Digital Egyptology: Texts, 2021

The sophisticated administration in the age of the pyramid builders offers a remarkable time span... more The sophisticated administration in the age of the pyramid builders offers a remarkable time span for research and a unique opportunity to analyse the dynamics of a complex society in a diachronic perspective. Contrary to traditional approaches relying on statistics and logic, we will present an overview of our achievements in society development reconstruction covering structural aspects using complex network analysis (CNA). Our research is based on diachronic occurrences of titles held by officials of various social status. The presence of a social stratification structure can be demonstrated by specialized bipartite (people – titles) network visualizations. Results aimed at reconstructing the structure of Old Kingdom top-level society and at the detection of powerful dignitaries using CNA and particularly community detection methods are also discussed. The approaches are exemplified by selected case studies on influential persons from the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties.

Abusir and Saqqara in the year 2020, 2021

The personage of Ptahshepses, who held the vizieral office in the mid-Fifth Dynasty, is well-know... more The personage of Ptahshepses, who held the vizieral office in the mid-Fifth Dynasty, is well-known to Egyptologists. Through marriage to Princess Khamerernebty, Ptahshepses became the king’s son-in-law and pledged his loyalty to the ruler, Nyuserre. Like a handful of his contemporaries, Ptahshepses reached the peak of what was possible in contemporary society. His mastaba, however, has no parallel when compared to others. Ptahshepses’ extraordinary position was reflected in his tomb’s location, vastness (2,375.60 sq. m), architectural concept, decoration, impressiveness and equipment. In accordance with the spatial tomb distribution of Old Kingdom officials, which mirrored the social and administrative system of society at that time, Ptahshepses’ exceptional position was also expressed in the rare materials used for the burial items. So far, it is known that the king provided him with a sarcophagus made of red granite, a material only some royal family members and selected high-ranking dignitaries could afford in the Fifth Dynasty. Other objects from his burial equipment have not been presented and published yet.

Prague Egyptological Studies, 2021

The depiction of the family of Menihy on a lintel found at Abusir South attracts attention due to... more The depiction of the family of Menihy on a lintel found at Abusir South attracts attention due to a component present in the compound personal names of his children. All but one of them have names including the element tjenenet, which is remarkable in the context of previously found mentions of the tjenenet sanctuary at Abusir South. The lintel belongs to the Sixth Dynasty finds discovered at the Czech archaeological concession that had originally been part of tombs or cult places and were destroyed already in antiquity. Some reflections on the function of the tjenenet are included.

Addressing the dynamics of change in Ancient egypt: complex network analysis, 2020

Egyptology is becoming a strategic scientific discipline in that it is instructive for contempora... more Egyptology is becoming a strategic scientific discipline in that it is instructive for contemporary civilization and makes it possible to avoid critical mistakes in its development. However, classical Egyptology tools need to be supplemented by modern procedures that are more efficient in terms of the speed of the production of results and the processing of much more extensive data volumes, delivering more accurate and reliable evaluation of the findings. Since the time of Plato, cybernetics has been providing methods by which models based on observations of the environment or sensor data are created to reflect the properties of systems and environments, and actions that change the environment are generated. Many of these practices, which include elements of learning and deduction techniques, are developed within the field of artificial intelligence. Methods that specialize in analyzing relationships that can be modeled by graph theory are now widely developed within the framework of complex network analysis. To emphasize the increasing rate of application of these scientific methods to cover new challenges in processing ancient Egyptian data, the concept of cyber-Egyptology has been introduced recently. Cyber-Egyptology deals with the interpretation of ancient Egyptian data and Egyptologists’ observations using techniques based on the principles of cybernetics, artificial intelligence, and complex network analysis that might be modified to cope with a limited amount of complex structures containing uncertainties and missing entries. We offer an overview of a selected set of such methods and their application to Old Kingdom data.

Kings of the Sun. Studies, 2021

The article describes trends and general rules in the burial customs of the ancient Egyptians in ... more The article describes trends and general rules in the burial customs of the ancient Egyptians in the Old Kingdom period.

ANCIENT EGYPT 2017: PERSPECTIVES OF RESEARCH, Warsaw – Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2020

The paper deals with the reign of Nyuserre, one of great Old Kingdom rulers who ruled in the mid-... more The paper deals with the reign of Nyuserre, one of great Old Kingdom rulers who ruled in the mid-Fifth Dynasty. The gradual transformation of Egyptian society took place during this crucial period, and a number of innovations came about in various spheres (religion, society, administration, tomb architecture, etc.), mirroring a change in the participation in power. This situation was reflected primarily in dignitaries’ tombs dated to the given period, which became indicators of the transformation of society. The research is focused on an analysis of more than 100 tombs of high-ranking individuals and their family members, and particularly of their titulary, offering formulae, false doors, etc.
This treatise uses representative cases from social, administrative and religious areas to illustrate the innovativeness of the period of Nyuserre’s reign and the climate in which the concatenation of many changes came to pass, in order to provide a framework for a better understanding of the changes, innovations and processes which occurred.

Piacentini, P. – Delli Castelli, A. (eds.). EDAL VI. Old Kingdom Art and Archaeology 7. Proceedings of the international conference. Universita degli Studi di Milano, 3–7 July 2017, pp. 226–237, pls. LXII–LXVIII., 2019

By focusing on the development of the administration and its changes and turning points during th... more By focusing on the development of the administration and its changes and turning points during the Old Kingdom period, this contribution proposes a dynamic model of bureaucratic evolution at that time punctuated by several ground-breaking changes which can be viewed as adaptations to the social dynamics. Endeavouring to find a way and method of visualizing this major observation, we focus on the stratified vizieral titulary, since it was directly related to the society’s development and reflected all major shifts and modifications. The Hidden Markov Model method has been adjusted in a way that enables its robust application to a limited volume of input data. As a consequence, its results make it possible to quantify the development of the administration structure in ancient Egypt. The numerical results are interpreted and compared to the state-of-art knowledge in Egyptology. In particular, several landmarks matching the perspective of the ‘punctuated equilibrium’ theory are discussed.

P. Piacentini and A. Delli Castelli, eds., EDAL VI. Old Kingdom Art and Archaeology. Proceedings of the international conference. Universita degli Studi di Milano, 3-7 July 2017, 26-41, 2019

Until relatively recently, the prevailing opinion had it that the sacred institution of kingship ... more Until relatively recently, the prevailing opinion had it that the sacred institution of kingship had nothing or very little in common with the profane world of the Ancient Egyptians. As a consequence, limited attention was paid by the mainstream scholarship to mutual interconnections between the royal and non-royal world. As many official texts and two- and three-dimensional representations of the Old Kingdom rulers were bearing testimony of the divine king and his exceptional position, and thus offering multiple choices of attractive research, there was only limited desire for a more conceptual approach that would explore the kingship as an integral part of the society of the day. This was happening despite the fact that some prominent Egyptologists were fully aware of the imbalance of attention paid to the royal and non-royal documents. Nowadays, after a few decades of an intensified interest in complex approach to the Ancient Egyptian society, there has been an increasing number of studies considering and evaluating both profane and sacred aspects of the kingship and their interdependence. What has been emerging more and more clearly is that any reliable understanding of the long-term processes governing Ancient Egyptian society requires a detailed evaluation and study of literary, archaeological, iconographic and environmental data and their meaningful synthesis. Without such a concept, many specific features of the past may remain isolated, devoid of their proper context and retain their biased understanding.
As a contribution to the effort to combine as many sources of evidence as possible and seeing Ancient Egyptian society as a dynamic and multifaceted process “punctured” with principal discontinuities signalling major and abrupt periods of profound change with a prominent historical significance, this study shall focus on the analysis of the role of the concept of Maat during the Old Kingdom, with a specific attention given to the Fifth Dynasty. It will be demonstrated that it was during this particular period when Maat made the most imposing impact on the society of the day.

Prague Egyptological Studies, 2018

A new tomb (AS 98) of Ankhires, inspector of hairdressers of the Great House, was excavated at Ab... more A new tomb (AS 98) of Ankhires, inspector of hairdressers of the Great House, was excavated at Abusir South in the autumn seasons of 2016 and 2017. The stone-built mastaba is preliminarily dated to late Fifth Dynasty, from the reign of Nyuserre to Djedkare. It has an unusual architectural plan, consisting of a corridor chapel, Rooms 1 and 2, an L-shaped chapel, two serdabs and Shaft 1. It was obviously built in two phases. The extension gave the mastaba the area of 413 m2. In view of several facts, the tomb represents a new phenomenon not only at the Czech archaeological concession but also at the Memphite necropolis. It was surrounded by several structures including tombs (AS 101, AS 102), a technical(?) structure (AS 100) or a cultic installation (AS 99), which were also partly excavated. The work has brought to light many interesting finds, being it remains of the original wall decoration, remains of wooden statues or ecofacts. An analysis of the animal bones assemblage is also incorporated in the present study.

Pražské egyptologické studie, 2018

The paper deals with the reign of Nyuserre, one of the great Old Kingdom rulers who ruled in the ... more The paper deals with the reign of Nyuserre, one of the great Old Kingdom rulers who ruled in the mid-Fifth Dynasty. A gradual transformation of Egyptian society took place during this crucial period, and a number of innovations came about in various spheres (religion, society, administration, tomb architecture, etc.), mirroring a change in the participation in power. This situation was reflected primarily in dignitaries’ tombs dated to the given period, which became indicators of this transformation of society. The research is focused on an analysis of more than 100 tombs of high-ranking individuals and their family members, and particularly of their titulary, offering formulae, false doors, etc. In order to provide a framework for a better understanding of the changes, innovations and processes which occurred, this treatise uses representative cases from social, administrative and religious areas to illustrate the innovativeness of the period of Nyuserre’s reign and the climate in which the concatenation of many changes came to pass.

Pražské egyptologické studie, 2018

Tomb of a faceless man. Preliminary report on the excavations of the tomb of Ankhires (AS 98), th... more Tomb of a faceless man. Preliminary report on the excavations of the tomb of Ankhires (AS 98), the inspector of hairdressers of the Great House

During the autumn season of 2016, the tomb of an inspector of hairdressers of the Great House, Ankhires (AS 98), commenced excavation. The works were finished in the autumn season of 2017. In the architecture of the mastaba, two building phases were detected. Its cultic places were accessible from the north. A corridor chapel, where two levels of mud floor, a possible mud brick altar and a northern niche in the western wall were uncovered, leads to Room 2, giving access to abundantly decorated Room 1 with polychrome reliefs in at least three registers. The wall decoration of the funerary chapel was largely
destroyed; only one block remained in situ and several fragments of the false door were found in the debris. In the core of the mastaba, only one shaft was uncovered. It was 11.75 m deep with a burial chamber at its bottom. An entrance into the burial apartment was in the western
wall of the shaft. Neither the bottom of the shaft, nor the burial chamber were finished, though. This fact is fairly surprising taking into consideration the tomb’s intricate architecture. The tomb is preliminarily dated to the late Fifth Dynasty (Nyuserre – Djedkare).
Interestingly enough, six late burials in wooden coffins (67–69/AS98/2017, 99–101/AS98/2017) from the end of the First Millennium BC were excavated by the western part of the entrance into the mastaba, and to the east of its eastern outer wall. The coffins were decorated very
simply. However, the timber was very fragile and that is why the coffins had decayed, with the exception of two examples (67/AS98/2017 and 68/AS98/2017). In front of the eastern outer wall, three faience amulets were found (96/AS98/2017, 103/AS98/2017, 105/AS98/2017). These
might be related to the late burials.

Abusir and Saqqara in the year 2015, 2017

The current state of Egyptological research faces a problem to process the huge volume of data. R... more The current state of Egyptological research faces a problem to process the huge volume of data. Researchers have dealt with the datasets consisting of thousands entities. Such a volume cannot be evaluated efficiently and rigorously using a traditional manual manner of paper and pencil. Although methods of complex networks (CNA) have been used for the quantification of a number of historical aspects, nobody has yet applied CNA to the Old Kingdom context.
This paper proposes a new approach based on the method of complex network analysis which provides new possibilities for the better understanding of the Old Kingdom social and administrative developments. The treatise demonstrates the first promising results of this technique on an assessment of nepotism in the second half of the Old Kingdom exemplified in the numerous illustrative graphical visualizations.

Prague Egyptological Studies, 2017

The excavations at Abusir South have already uncovered many tombs that added valuable information... more The excavations at Abusir South have already uncovered many tombs that added valuable information to the general knowledge of the development of the Old Kingdom society, its burial and funeral habits, and last but not least social relations and their impact on the lives of ancient Egyptian officials. One of the last discoveries is represented by the tomb of “the elder of the judicial hall” Kaisebi (AS 76) and the adjoining tomb of Ptahwer (AS 76b), which are located to the south of the anonymous mastaba AS 54 lying on the most prominent spot of the whole Abusir South area. Kaisebi and Ptahwer built their tombs between this huge mastaba AS 54 and recently discovered 18.5 m long ship, both dated to the end of the Third Dynasty.
Tomb AS 76 was constructed in two phases in the course of the late Fifth and Sixth Dynasty. The first one consisted of a rather small rectangular mastaba with a chapel, a northern niche, a serdab, and two shafts. Later on, the original structure was enlarged by an annexe (AS 76b) attached to the eastern wall of AS 76, which included another offering place and two burial shafts. The cruciform chapel of Kaisebi’s mastaba with colourful wall paintings contains a well-preserved false door in situ.

Prague Egytological Studies, 2017

The paper deals with Ptahshepses who built his vast and impressive mastaba in the vicinity of kin... more The paper deals with Ptahshepses who built his vast and impressive mastaba in the vicinity of king Nyuserre’s pyramid. The subject has been studied through the prism of Old Kingdom society and in comparison with his contemporaries. Recently discovered fragments of Ptahshepses’ granite false door in the archive of the Czech institute of
Egyptology are also included.

Faience beads in the form of jewels, which decorated the bodies of the deceased, represent a regu... more Faience beads in the form of jewels, which decorated the bodies of the deceased, represent a regular constituent of the burial equipment of officials, priests and their families in the Old Kingdom period. While most tombs were robbed already in ancient times, beaded jewels were often disregarded by the robbers. Despite the fact that the context had been disturbed and the threading material usually decomposed, the beads still allow us to get an idea of the appearance of the original jewels. The odds improve further if an intact burial is discovered. Such situation has occurred twice in the case of the rock-cut tomb of the dignitary Nefer. During the archaeological seasons in the years 2012–2014, two of the four shafts uncovered were found intact (AS 68d, Shafts 3 and 4).
The three sets of beaded jewels which were found in Nefer’s tomb belonged to a man, woman and a child, providing an opportunity for a remarkable comparative material study. The potential of these finds consists not only in their state of preservation, but also in the variability of their owners that will enable us to compare the burial practices used for individual members of a high-ranking family who lived in the second part of the Old Kingdom period.

Hitherto sparse evidence on Khentytjenenet has been markedly enlarged owing to new excavations of... more Hitherto sparse evidence on Khentytjenenet has been markedly enlarged owing to new excavations of the Czech archaeological mission at Abusir. A recently discovered cluster of individuals holding priestly titles and/or epithets referring to Khentytjenenet has given us an impetus to scrutinise this deity.
Records of Khentytjenenet are closely connected with a specific geographical part of the Memphite necropolis – Abusir and North Saqqara. The appearance of this deity was obviously associated with social, religious and administrative changes during the reign of Nyuserra. The title hem-netjer-priest of Khentytjenet appeared for the first time in the titulary of the high priest Ptahshepses, buried at North Saqqara (C1), and simultaneously within personal names of individuals who held offices under Nyuserra and were buried at Abusir or North Saqqara. Whereas personal names compounded with the element Khentytjenenet were characteristic for the mid-Fifth Dynasty, the title hem-netjer-priest and epithet imakhu kher linked with Khentytjenet occurred in the Sixth Dynasty. His name was also the component of several names of royal domains and estates in the late Fifth and early Sixth Dynasty.

Prague Egyptological Studies , 2017

Abusir South – a preliminary report on the excavation in the year 2015. The tomb of Kaisebi and i... more Abusir South – a preliminary report on the excavation in the year 2015. The tomb of Kaisebi and its surroundings (AS 76–78)

In the year 2015, the expedition of the Czech Institute of Egyptology focused particularly on the area south of mastaba AS 54. Already in 2014, three new mastabas were unearthed in the vicinity of AS 54, and therefore both seasons of the year 2015 were devoted to their excavation. Two mastabas – AS 77 and AS 78 – were built of mudbrick and contained two rows of shafts. Mastaba AS 78 was also extended to the south by an elongated annexe with four more shafts. Both tombs were probably built around the middle of the Fifth Dynasty. The pottery found in some of the shafts points to a long-time process of burial activity in both structures. It took place at least until the middle of the Sixth Dynasty. The cultic pottery provides evidence of mortuary activity until the end of the Old Kingdom.
The westernmost mastaba, AS 76, differed from the other two structures in that was constructed from limestone. The core of the mastaba contained one shaft behind the northern undecorated false door, a decorated chapel with a beautiful false door, and a serdab behind it. It was built for a judge whose name was Kaisebi. The original mastaba (AS 76) was later enlarged by a new structure to the east (AS 76b), which consisted of two shafts, and a corridor running along them and leading to another chapel with undecorated false door. The evidence points to two owners of the two parts. The original mastaba was built for Kaisebi, the additional structure to the east for his son (?) Ptahwer whose name was found in several graffiti on the walls of the extension. According to a preliminary analysis the shaft and burial chamber of Kaisebi still awaits excavation in the largely disturbed area between shaft 1 and his decorated chapel.

Prague Egyptological Studies is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal produced by the Czech Institute... more Prague Egyptological Studies is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal produced by the Czech Institute of Egyptology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague. The journal is published regularly since 2002 and informs the Czech and Slovak audience about current Czech research in Egypt and Sudan.
Starting in 2015, an English edition focusing on the Third Millennium B.C., is going to be published annually. The journal will focus on publishing relevant excavation reports and, at the same time, will aim to publish excellent, primary-research studies focusing on selected problems connected with archaeology and interdisciplinary aspects of the Third Millennium B.C. Egypt.

Prague Egyptological Studies is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal produced by the Czech Institute... more Prague Egyptological Studies is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal produced by the Czech Institute of Egyptology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague. The journal is published regularly since 2002 and informs the Czech and Slovak audience about current Czech research in Egypt and Sudan.
Starting in 2015, an English edition focusing on the Third Millennium B.C., is going to be published annually. The journal will focus on publishing relevant excavation reports and, at the same time, will aim to publish excellent, primary-research studies focusing on selected problems connected with archaeology and interdisciplinary aspects of the Third Millennium B.C. Egypt.

Prague Egyptological Studies is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal produced by the Czech Institute... more Prague Egyptological Studies is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal produced by the Czech Institute of Egyptology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague. The journal is published regularly since 2002 and informs the Czech and Slovak audience about current Czech research in Egypt and Sudan.
Starting in 2015, an English edition focusing on the Third Millennium B.C., is going to be published annually. The journal will focus on publishing relevant excavation reports and, at the same time, will aim to publish excellent, primary-research studies focusing on selected problems connected with archaeology and interdisciplinary aspects of the Third Millennium B.C. Egypt.

Pražské egyptologické studie / Prague Egyptological Studies is a journal produced by the Czech In... more Pražské egyptologické studie / Prague Egyptological Studies is a journal produced by the Czech Institute of Egyptology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague. The journal is published regularly since 2002 and informs the Czech and Slovak audience about current Czech research in Egypt and Sudan.

One of the museums in the Czech Republic, which have kept Ancient Egyptian artifacts, was the mus... more One of the museums in the Czech Republic, which have kept Ancient Egyptian artifacts, was the museum in Opava. Destiny of the Egyptian collection acquired by the Museum of Applied Arts in Opava shortly before the outbreak of the First World War is highly remarkable. At the beginning, there was the encounter of the poetess Marie Stona, a vigorous woman and a mettled traveler, with a man who took part in the archaeological excavation conducted by a renowned English Egyptologist William Matthew Flinders Petrie.
Maria Stona made a journey to Egypt in February 1913. By happy coincidence, she met Flinders Petrie at Tarkhan. In the same year when Maria Stona visited Egypt, she had purchased a small set of Egyptian finds from Flinders Petrie which she donated to the Museum of Applied Arts in Opava, whose then director Edmund Wilhelm Braun was her friend. This collection consisted of 13 objects, including an anthropoid mummy case. Size of the collection of the Egyptian finds in Opava was notably affected by both world wars, since the outbreak of the First World War stopped its previewed enlargement and the Second World War meant its destruction, loss or stealing.

The study introduces writer and poetess Maria Stona on journey around Egypt in early 1913. She tr... more The study introduces writer and poetess Maria Stona on journey around Egypt in early 1913. She travelled as an individual tourist which in some cases resulted in troublesome situation for foreign woman without knowledge of Arabic language. By happy coincidence, she met at least five Egyptolo¬gists and visited the fieldwork of renowned W. M. Flinders Petrie at Tarkhan. Stona’s experiences, impressions and observations were presented in three sketches. These newspaper texts reflected the Egypt of the Pharaohs as well as the modern Egypt. Maria Stona describes in a poetic manner the hustle and bustle of the market, the peasants working on the little fields and she portrays the look and behaviour of the people. She interlaces the text with some historical excursions, probably drawing the information from Baedecker and narrations of Egyptologists whom she had met. Stona travelled across Egypt on her own and was usually accompanied to the antique sites by some of the local inhabitants. As a travelling individual foreigner Maria Stona was rather an exception, as most travellers to Egypt were men.

The paper deals with the lost and forgotten Opava collection of Egyptian finds which the Museum o... more The paper deals with the lost and forgotten Opava collection of Egyptian finds which the Museum of Applied Arts in Opava acquired shortly before the outbreak of the First World War. The set of Egyptian objects came from the excavation of the renowned English Egyptologist William Matthew Flinders Petrie. In the course of the Second World War, these finds were lost or destroyed and the existence of Egyptian collection in Opava has been put out of mind; there have existed only scrappy references to its being. The collection was not included in the register of Egyptian objects in the area of Czechoslovakia / the Czech Republic. Such situation had endured until recently when author started to follow up the questions of its form and destinies (especially circumstances of its acquisition and disappearance) in Czech and British archives.

The paper deals with the mummy cartonnage case which was purchased by Maria Stona for Opava museu... more The paper deals with the mummy cartonnage case which was purchased by Maria Stona for Opava museum. After the Second World War it was moved to Naprstek museum in Prague, where the object was indentified in last year, because the mummy case uses to occur in acquisition and inventory books as ‘Egyptian mummy’.

ANCIENT EGYPT 2017. PERSPECTIVES OF RESEARCH , 2020

The publication provides an overview of current research and its perspectives covering various sp... more The publication provides an overview of current research and its perspectives covering various spheres of interest in present-day Egyptology and a scholarly discussion on various approaches to studies of ancient Egypt in all its aspects and forms. The reader may find 26 papers, including those on pottery, sculpture, language, history, architecture, religion and religious texts, views on empire creation, loyalism and more detailed pieces on amulets, museum collections, household religion and the concept of sin, children’s magical protection, religion mirrored in twenty-first dynasty personal correspondence, Esna, the group-statue of Pendua and Nefertari Kushite architectural programmes, the settlement at Tell Nabasha, the Saite-Persian cemetery at Abusir, project presentation and aegyptiaca in Portugal.
Many of the issues were discussed during the Eighth European Conference of Egyptologists. Egypt 2017: Research Perspectives that was hosted by the New University of Lisbon and collaborator institutions in Portugal. The series of European meetings of Egyptologists was initiated in Warsaw in 1999. The Second and Third symposia were also held in Warsaw in 2001 and 2004, and the Fourth conference was organised in Budapest in 2006. The Fifth Conference was organised in Pułtusk in 2009, and the Sixth in Cracow, and the Seventh in Zagreb.
The book is edited in co-operation by M.H. Trindade Lopes, J. Popielska-Grzybowska, J. Iwaszczuk and R.G. Gurgel Pereira.

The Egyptian Museum of the University of Leipzig has the largest university collection of ancient... more The Egyptian Museum of the University of Leipzig has the largest university collection of ancient Egyptian artefacts in Germany. It includes important objects from the excavations of the most prolific excavator among the museum’s curators, Georg Steindorff, at the sites of Abusir, Aniba, and Giza, complemented by objects from Abydos, Thebes, and Kerma. The catalogue represents the results of an interdisciplinary project by Egyptologist and archaeologist Martin Odler, archaeometalurgist Jiří Kmošek and other participating researchers. A selection of 86 artefacts was analysed using a range of archaeometallurgical methods (X-ray fluorescence; metallography; neutron activation analysis; lead isotope analysis), providing a diachronic sample of Bronze Age Egyptian copper alloy metalwork from Dynasty 1 to Dynasty 19.

Besides currently popular focus on the ore provenance, the selection of the applied methods aimed also at the description of practical physical properties of the objects. The question of differences between full-size functional artefacts and models is addressed, as is the problem of 'imports' and their ethnic interpretation. The analyses brought many unexpected results to light, the most surprising being a bowl (ÄMUL 2162) made of arsenical copper high in nickel, which has parallels in Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Anatolia, and was featured in an article in the Journal of Archaeological Science in 2018. The corpus presented here involves the largest analysed metalwork assemblage from the Nubian C-Group and the Egyptian New Kingdom, and it addresses the issue of the use of local Nubian ore sources versus the sources of copper from Cyprus and elsewhere.

Addressing the dynamics of change in Ancient egypt: complex network analysis, 2020

The present volume seeks to indicate novel methods and approaches to analysing and interpreting t... more The present volume seeks to indicate novel methods and approaches to analysing and interpreting the agency of individual officials in different periods of ancient Egyptian history. Their activity and careers are observed using different methods of complex network analysis and put into a broader framework of more general trends operating the society at a given stage of its evolution. We are confident that this is one of the most promising and proven ways to gain deeper insights into day-to-day lives of the people of the past. The story of civilisations is above all a story of ideas and thoughts, and social/complex network analysis is one of the most efficient tools we can use. It enables us to view known data anew and assess them from new perspectives that significantly expand and deepen our knowledge of the past civilisation.
In recent years, this research approach has evolved independently at several institutions exploring ancient Egypt. We were very pleased to host most of these scholars at a joint meeting and offer them an opportunity to present and communicate their individual approaches, methods, points of view and observations. The contributions in this volume, originally presented at a workshop in Prague in September 2018, cover selected periods of ancient Egypt (the Old Kingdom, the New Kingdom, the Greco-Roman Period). Cyber-Egyptology, a new area of research in Egyptology, appears to be a justified approach with its own methodology, philosophy and a vast potential to answer complex questions relating to this fascinating civilisation and its diachronic dynamics. Moreover, this method of cyber-research can be applied universally across most archaeological and historical specialisations.

The Old Kingdom of Egypt (Dynasties 4–6, c. 2600–2180 BC) is famous as a period of the builders o... more The Old Kingdom of Egypt (Dynasties 4–6, c. 2600–2180 BC) is famous as a period of the builders of the largest Egyptian pyramids. It is generally accepted that the evidence on the use of copper alloy tools from this era is meagre. Martin Odler gathers the textual, iconographic and palaeographic evidence and examines Old Kingdom artefacts in order to revise this view on the use of copper alloy tools and model tools. Furthermore, he provides updated definitions of tool classes and tool kits, together with the context of their use. Besides rare specimens of full-size tools, the largest corpora of the material have been preserved in the form of model tools in the burial equipment of the Old Kingdom elite and were most probably symbols of their power to commission and fund craftwork. Moreover, the size and elaboration of the model tools were probably connected to the social status of the buried persons. The long-standing division in the Egyptological literature between full-size tools and model tools is questioned. The ancient sources also enable to show that the preservation of material culture from the Old Kingdom was largely dependent on a conscious selection made within the past culture, with completely different settlement and funerary contexts and a conspicuous absence of weapons. The volume is completed by co-authored case studies on archaeometallurgy of selected Old Kingdom artefacts in the collection of the Egyptian Museum of Leipzig University, on morphometry of Old Kingdom adze blades and on the finds of stone and ceramic vessels associated with the findings of so-called Old Kingdom model tools.

The book can be purchased here: http://www.archaeopress.com/Public/displayProductDetail.asp?id=%7BDED38ACF-A714-4454-8448-4C8C91A92F43%7D

Several assemblages of microfauna excavated at the concession of the Czech Institute of Egyptolog... more Several assemblages of microfauna excavated at the concession of the Czech Institute
of Egyptology were analysed during the eld works at Abusir (Egypt). Bones of
rodents (mice and rats, gerbils and jirds etc.), white-toothed shrews, bats, frogs,
small birds, and other vertebrates, and even fragments of invertebrates were recorded
during the analyses. Species composition of these assemblages originated in
the owl’s pellets give us not only information about the structure of the owl’s diet,
but also about the former environment. Moreover, in comparison with recent assemblages
we can study changes and trends in both of these aspects.

In-depth understanding of state formation helps greatly in explanation and reasoning on society d... more In-depth understanding of state formation helps greatly in explanation and reasoning on society development both in the past and at present. Traditional approaches of sociologists and historians rely on methods with a rather vague support on statistics and logics. In our contribution, we interpret results of analyses by means of Hidden Markov Models. This method models a hidden process of society development using a system with transitions between unknown states. Such a hidden and unknown stochastic process is monitored through observations reflecting externally system states. Our research is based on diachronic occurrences of titles held by high-ranking officials in the Old Kingdom, especially by viziers occupied the supreme post from the Fourth to Sixth Dynasties. The proposed system learns a stochastic model of title life cycle. Then, the model of title life cycle is used to identify transitional periods of society development when a subset of titles began to be used by high-ranking dignitaries or disappeared from their titularies. The system is capable of automatical identifying major changes and transitions within the society and administration. Thus, we can assess a significance of a given social change. Each social transformation is characterized by the set of titles. We compare identified groups of titles with well-known interpretations of Egyptian history. Their high correlation is evident. Particularly, the system confirms a conspicuous transformation of the distribution of power: the decrease of royal family’s power at the end of the Fourth and at the beginning of the Fifth Dynasties, the distribution of power of high-ranking non-royal individuals and the rise of the powerful and loyal families within the Fifth Dynasty society, the process of a new state top-level administration building, etc. On the basis of Hidden Markov Models, the turning points of the Old Kingdom administration are also graphically visualized.

The present thesis deals with the reign of Nyuserre, one of great Old Kingdom rulers who ruled in... more The present thesis deals with the reign of Nyuserre, one of great Old Kingdom rulers who ruled in the mid-Fifth Dynasty (2402–2374+25 BC). A transformation of whole society of ancient Egypt came to pass during his reign as a consequence of the events in the late Fourth and early Fifth Dynasties, when the highest posts in the administrative system had passed over from members of the royal family to dignitaries of non-royal origin. This fact had been reflected in whole society and started numerous rivulets of change, which merged in a single river in Nyuserre’s reign.
The gradual transformation of Egyptian society from a kingdom to a state took place during this crucial period, and a number of innovations came about in various spheres (religion, society, administration, tomb architecture, etc.), mirroring a change in the participation in power. This situation was reflected primarily in dignitaries’ tombs dated to the given period, which became indicators of the transformation of society. The research is focused on an analysis more than 100 tombs of high-ranking individuals and their family members, and particularly of their titulary, offering formulae, false doors (the central point of the funerary cult), etc.
This paper uses representative cases from social, administrative and religious areas to illustrate the innovativeness of the period of Nyuserre’s reign and the climate in which the concatenation of many changes came to pass, in order to provide a framework for better understanding of the changes, innovations and processes which took place.

Addressing the dynamics of change in ancient Egypt: Complex network analysis, 2020

Ancient Egypt provides a number of excellent examples for the growth and decline of state institu... more Ancient Egypt provides a number of excellent examples for the growth and
decline of state institutions as well as the agency and historical impact of exceptional kings and individuals. In this contribution, the Fifth Dynasty tomb complex of Ty dated to the reign of Nyuserre (early 24th century BC) is discussed. Ty was the first of wealthy Old Kingdom officials who initiated the construction of monumental richly decorated tomb complexes for themselves and their families. Ty serves as a specific example of a microcosm illustrating the significance of general trends on which the
Ancient Egyptian society of the day operated. At the same time, it features several characteristics which have theoretical impact and relevance for comparative study of civilisations and their dynamics.

Keywords: Complex societies – Ancient Egypt – Old Kingdom – punctuated
equilibrium – social status race – Abusir and Saqqara – Fifth Dynasty – tomb of Ty –nepotism – Nyuserre

The Afterlife Existence Captured in Stone.The Sixth Dynasty False Door Stela of Inti in the Social and Religious Context In The Art of Describing. The World of Tomb Decoration as Visual Culture of the Old Kingdom. Studies in Honour of Yvonne Harpur, edited by P. Jánosi and H. Vymazalová, 2018

Bárta, M. and V. Dulíková 2018 The Afterlife Existence Captured in Stone.The Sixth Dynasty False... more Bárta, M. and V. Dulíková
2018 The Afterlife Existence Captured in Stone.The Sixth Dynasty False Door Stela of Inti in the Social and Religious Context In The Art of Describing. The World of Tomb Decoration as Visual Culture of the Old Kingdom. Studies in Honour of Yvonne Harpur, edited by P. Jánosi and H. Vymazalová, pp. 53-84. Charles University, Prague.

The scene with two representations of the tomb owner at the table of offerings depicted on the central panel of the false doors of the Old Kingdom Egypt was not a random composition. Quite on the contrary, it was a very thoughtful abbreviation of an elaborate concept related to the transition of a man from this world to the afterlife. It can be first observed in the mid Fifth Dynasty, a period of several profound changes, which had a deep impact on the further development of the Egyptian society, religion and state towards the end of the Old Kingdom.
In fact, a much later tradition of the Book of the Dead expresses a very similar concept. The vignettes of Chapter 105, referring to the coming of the deceased to ka and joining it in the afterlife, also include the two individuals’ principal stages discussed so far. The opening stage of this chapter of the Book of the Dead contains a vignette in which the deceased is rendered as a person with a gesture of devotion or veneration. The concluding stage, on the other hand, shows him as the one who has attained the blessed afterlife existence. The Book of the Dead thus con.rms the two different concepts ascribed to the two different representations of the deceased at the table of offerings facing each other and the exceptional existence of the two false doors of Ty in his Saqqara tomb. This concerns not only the different selection of gestures for each of them used to express the different status of the deceased, but also the spatiality, the orientation of both figures facing each other, which refers to two different temporal actions. These frame the whole process of the transformation of the deceased into a resurrected being.

Prague Egyptological Studies, 2020

With interruptions, the archaeological site of Abusir has been explored for more than a century. ... more With interruptions, the archaeological site of Abusir has been explored for more than a century. The main expeditions that have worked there under the guidance of Ludwig Borchardt, Georg Steindorff, Zbyněk Žába,
Miroslav Verner or Miroslav Bárta (ongoing) used different approaches to the identification and cataloguing of the individual features. This article aims to provide all interested parties with necessary concordance to
the current method of numbering and registration of archaeological features and a notion of their positions within the site. Majority of principal structures and pyramid complexes have been published or are currently
being prepared for publication in the monograph series Abusir. Many minor features whose processing is largely still under way are being gradually published in the Czech or English version of the journal Pražské
egyptologické studie / Prague Egyptological Studies, especially in the form of preliminary archaeological reports containing the main characteristics of the archaeological entities under study and their interpretation.
Some archaeological reports can be found in other journals and monographs published in the Czech Republic and abroad. An overview of the site’s history and research results can be found in various publications
from recent years, mostly catalogues.
The archaeological concession of the Czech Institute of Egyptology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Abusir covers an area of approximately 2 km2 divided into three main zones – Central Abusir (AC), Abusir West (AW)
and Abusir South (AS). Central Abusir contains the pyramid complexes of Fifth Dynasty rulers, the tombs of royal family members as well as tombs and burials from later periods. Abusir West is characterized by large
shaft tombs from the Saite-Persian period. Abusir South served above all as a cemetery for officials, their families and members of their households in the Early Dynastic Period, the Old Kingdom and, in a limited extent, also in the subsequent periods when many so-called secondary
burials were located there, usually concentrated close to larger Old Kingdom tombs. The image of the site’s archaeological history is made complete by partial research carried out in the area of the Lake of Abusir
situated in the south-eastern part of the concession adjoining the village of Abusir where Georg Steindorff and Uvo Hölscher worked, and of the temple of King Ramesse II on the eastern edge of the concession, spatially categorized within Abusir South.

Aegypten und Levante, 2021

The excavations of the Czech Institute of Egyptology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in the ... more The excavations of the Czech Institute of Egyptology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in the spring of 2018 brought to light a remarkable stela (Exc. No. 1/AS104/2018) with an offering table scene and two engaged statues depicting a couple (Sekhemka and Henutsen). The object also contains a list of sacred oils and two offering formulae (the usual Htp-dj-nswt and an unparalleled one, Htp-dj-nTr). Moreover, the polychromy is partially preserved. The article presents the stela’s archaeological context and description, polychrome reconstruction and discussion concerning its dating and the social standing of its owners. In the context of Old Kingdom art, the stela is interpreted as a peculiar combination of elements pertinent to false doors and statues. Parallels which could help explain these features are scarce. This stela provides evidence for the origin of the false door in early Egyptian shrines, and the subsequent development of two distinct architectural forms, the false door and the statue shrine (naos).
Keywords: Abusir South; limestone stela; Fifth Dynasty; statue niche; engaged statues; offering scene; colour reconstruction; offering formulae; wab-priest of the king; scribe of the treasury; social status; analogies