Two Centuries of Egyptology: How It Emerged and Changed

Egyptology is a relatively young humanities and social-science discipline, celebrating two centuries of adventurous existence in the year of this lecture. Historians agree on its precise founding date: 27 September 1822, when Jean-François Champollion presented his proposed decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs to the French academy in Paris. It was not accepted immediately or universally: other researchers had to confirm it and subsequent generations refined it, including Slovak Egyptologists and those of Slovak origin. The lecture focuses on the difficult life of its founder, Champollion (1790–1832), before considering how Egyptology has changed and its present condition in Central Europe and worldwide.

Mgr. et Mgr. Martin Odler, PhD., is a researcher at the Czech Institute of Egyptology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, studying material culture, particularly copper artefacts. He has long worked on the Czech concession at Abusir in Egypt. He is also a board member of the Aigyptos Foundation and belongs to the Polish-Slovak team investigating Tell el-Retaba in the eastern Delta.

The lecture will take place online and can be watched on YouTube:

Lecture date and time: 16. 11. 2022 at 17:30 – 19:00
 

The lecture series was supported using public funds by the Slovak Arts Council.