Basel Egyptology Prize 1

The "First Basel Young Egyptologist Award" was announced in 2001 by the Egyptology Department of the University of Basel as a competition for young, not yet "established" researchers who could present a mature study on a topic from the broad field of Egyptology. From the numerous contributions submitted from all over the world, a number of other essays were selected for publication in addition to the prize-winning work. The present volume reflects not only the high scientific level of the international "new generation" but also the diversity of Egyptological research today.

From the contents
The essays, written in German, English, and French, are divided into four thematic groups.
A first group of contributions deals with questions of Egyptian prehistory and early history, with the oldest recordable kings (the dynasty 0), early forms of state organization and administration, the social relevance of funerary types, and the astronomical orientation of the great pyramids.
Temples and cities are the focus of essays dealing with typologies of sanctuaries, with temple names and rites, and with Ptolemaic settlement foundations.
The next studies are devoted to object genres that have received little attention up to now: Hollow masses that were used in the preparation of medicinal preparations, various forms of axes and their geographical distribution, and a special type of vessel that served as a nesting place for pigeons and can similarly still be seen in Egypt today.
Texts, language and writing are the subject of the last and most extensive group of contributions. In addition to the first publication of a Book of the Dead manuscript and a Demotic Greek wife manuscript, this chapter contains a linguistic study of object complementation, etymological considerations of the word 'elephant', and remarks on the Late Egyptian writing system. Am.