Czech Science Foundation finished the evaluation of the project proposals submitted in the year 2017. It will support also two new projects of the principal investigators based at the Czech Institute of Egyptology.

Economic Complexity in the Ancient Near East. Management of Resources and Taxation in the 3rd and 2nd Millennium BC (GA ČR 18-01897S)

Principal Investigator: Jana Mynářová (Czech Institute of Egyptology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University)
Co-Investigator: Sergio Alivernini (Oriental Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences)

Abstract: The spread of cuneiform writing from its Mesopotamian heartland to the peripheries during the second half of the third, and especially in the second millennium BC, represents an important historical and cultural phenomenon. From the beginning of the second millennium BC cuneiform writing became the privileged means through which the administrations of these “peripheral” centers recorded economic transactions. These documents (taxes, rations, sales, etc.) shed a fascinating light on the economic system in these regions. Thousands of administrative documents allow us to follow the process of the development of economic thought that, starting from Mesopotamia, was taken and adapted to specific administrative realities throughout the wider regions of the Ancient Near East. The main objective of the present project is to elucidate the emergence, transmission, and interaction of economic structures and the management of resources in time and space.

Transformation of the ancient Egyptian society in the late Fifth Dynasty according to the evidence from Djedkare’s pyramid complex (GA ČR 18-03708S)

Principal Investigator: Hana Vymazalová (Czech Institute of Egyptology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University)

Abstract: Djedkare’s pyramid complex in Saqqara is one of the last yet unpublished Old Kingdom royal monuments, despite the already long-time recognised historical importance of its owner. Its architecture and decoration show unprecedented features which most likely reflect changes that occurred in late Fifth Dynasty society. The shifts in religious beliefs and practices as well as administrative reforms that can be ascribed to the long reign of King Djedkare is one of the results of a trend that gradually developed over the course of the entire Fifth Dynasty. Due to the very limited number of sources available from tombs of private individuals of this time, the documentation and analysis of the evidence from Djedkare’s pyramid complex is essential for gaining a deeper understanding of the king’s era, his rule and the changes that occurred in various facets of the society. This project focuses on the rediscovery, documentation, publication and protection of Djedkare’s pyramid complex, which in many respects is one of the highlights of the architectural and spiritual heritage of ancient Egypt.