Hana Vymazalová - Royal Cults and Old Kingdom Pyramid Complexes: The Abusir Papyrus Archives

This lecture will be hosted on Thursday, 13 November 2025 at 6:00 pm.

Full lecture title:
Royal Cults and Old Kingdom Pyramid Complexes: The Abusir Papyrus Archives in a Wider Context

The papyrus archives from Abusir belong among the oldest preserved administrative documents in Egypt. They were found in Fifth Dynasty royal pyramid complexes and provide us with evidence about the daily routine of the funerary priests who served in these monuments in the period following the death of their royal owners. Full of amazing details on daily tasks of the priests, their wages or the equipment of the temples, these archives offer only a partial picture on the operation of the pyramid complexes. Contextualising this unique source of information in the wider frame of the Old Kingdom state, society and beliefs, allows us to further evaluate the royal funerary cults and royal monuments in a more complex manner.

About the Speaker

Hana Vymazalová is Professor of Egyptology at Charles University, Prague. Her main research focus is the ancient Egyptian economy, especially in relation to the pyramid complexes and royal cults in the Old Kingdom. She also studies ancient Egyptian mathematics and medicine. Hana has long experience in archaeological and documentation work in Egypt. She is the deputy director of the Djedkare Project mission at South Saqqara and a member of the Czech archaeological mission in Abusir.

Attention!

The lecture starts at 6 pm. The number of seats is limited and we work on a first-come, first-served basis. We open our doors at 5:30 and close them at 6:15 or earlier in case the lecture room reaches its full capacity.