Czech Centre Cairo invites you, in cooperation with the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo (NVIC) and the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Cairo, to a lecture by the leading Czech Egyptologist Jiří Janák.
The lecture, titled Solar Snakes in the Tomb of Iufaa at Abusir, with the subtitle Religious and Magical Texts from the Tomb of Iufaa at Abusir, will complement the opening of the exhibition Creation – Myth – Art, which will take place one day earlier at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Cairo.
Lecture Abstract
The Late Period shaft tombs at Abusir are located in the north-western part of the necropolis and were built during a relatively short period at the very end of the 26th Dynasty (approximately 550–525 BC). Among these tombs, the tomb of Iufaa stands out, as its decoration differs significantly from other shaft tombs in the area as well as elsewhere. In many respects, it resembles a shrine hidden in the subterranean parts of a temple.
A significant part of the decorated space in Iufaa’s burial chamber is devoted to a series of texts and images that may be best described as a kind of “encyclopaedia of snakes.” These texts, accompanied by illustrations, depict and describe mythical snakes or serpentine beings whose existence and cult the Egyptians associated with the beginning of time and the renewal of the sun.
Other parts of the burial chamber, including the inner and outer sarcophagi, also bear texts and images that closely connect Iufaa’s afterlife existence with ancient Egyptian ideas of the daily and annual rebirth of the sun under the protection of primordial serpentine beings.
The lecture will present the latest results of research focused on the translation and interpretation of the extensive corpus of texts and images preserved in the burial chamber of the shaft tomb of Iufaa. These texts are unique in their strong emphasis on primordial snakes, the annual renewal of the sun, and the solar concept of the afterlife in general. They also testify to the growing importance of mythical snakes or primeval serpents during the Late and Greco-Roman Periods. According to ancient Egyptian beliefs, these beings dwelled in the Underworld and were directly connected to cosmogony and to the cyclical renewal of both the sun and the world.
About the Lecturer
Jiří Janák, Ph.D. is a scholar in Egyptology and Religious Studies at Charles University in Prague, an associate professor of Egyptology, and a member of the Czech Institute of Egyptology. In addition to teaching and research, he participates in Czech archaeological excavations in Egypt, particularly in the exploration of Late Period shaft tombs at Abusir.
His research focuses on ancient Egyptian religion, mythology and magic, as well as on concepts of the afterlife and royal ideology. His interests also include the ancient Egyptian religious perception of the natural world, flora and fauna, and the interaction between environmental (especially climatic) changes and human thought and religion.
He has also worked as a visiting fellow at the University of Oxford and Brown University.
Photo © Petr Košárek, archive of the Czech Institute of Egyptology
Organizational Note
Lectures at NVIC operate on a first-come, first-served basis, as the number of seats is limited. The venue will open at 5:30 PM and close at 6:15 PM Cairo time, or earlier if the lecture hall reaches full capacity.
Organized by
Czech Centre Cairo
Embassy of the Czech Republic in Cairo
