Jiří Janák – Solar Snakes in the Tomb of Iufaa at Abusir

The Late Period shaft tombs at Abusir are located in the North-Western part of the necropolis and were built during a rather short span of time at the very end of Dynasty 26 (ca. around 550 – 525 BC). Among those tombs, the one of Iufaa stands out, as its decoration does not match with other shaft tombs in the area or elsewhere. It rather resembles a shrine hidden in subterranean parts of a temple.

Significant amounts of the decorated space in Iufaa’s burial chamber were reserved for a series of texts and images that may be best denoted as a Snake Encyclopaedia. These texts (and accompanied illustrations) depict and describe mythical snakes or serpentine beings whose existence and cult the Egyptians connected to the beginning of time and the renewal of the sun.

Other parts of the burial chamber, incl. the inner and outer sarcophagi, also bear texts and images that closely link the afterlife existence of Iufaa to ancient concepts of the daily/annual resurrection of the sun under the protection of primordial serpentine beings.

The talk presents current research outcomes on the translation and interpretation of this huge textual and pictorial corpus of spells attested in the burial chamber of the shaft tomb of Iufaa. These texts are unique in their strong focus on primordial snakes, annual renewal of the sun, and solar concept of the afterlife in general. They are also witnesses to a growing importance of mythical snakes or primeval serpents in the Late and Greco-Roman Periods. These beings were believed to dwell in the Underworld and were directly linked to cosmogony and periodical renewal of the sun and of the world.

Jiří Janák, Ph.D. is an academic scholar in Egyptology and Religious Studies at the Charles University, Prague, an associate professor of Egyptology, and a member of the Czech Institute of Egyptology. Besides teaching and research, he also participates in Czech archaeological excavations in Egypt, mainly at the Late Period shaft tomb necropolis in Abusir. In his research, Jiří specializes on ancient Egyptian religion, mythology and magic, as well as on the concept of afterlife and royal ideology. To his main interests also belong the ancient Egyptian religious attitude towards the natural world, flora and fauna, and the interaction between natural (climate) changes and human thought and religion. He also worked as a visiting fellow at the University of Oxford and Brown University.

This lecture is organised in collaboration with the Czech Centres in Egypt – المراكز التشيكية بمصر https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090152664523
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/czechcentresegypt

All photos by Petr Košárek. © The archives of the Czech Institute of Egyptology.

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