Mapping Sun Cult and Architecture in 5th Dynasty Egypt : Towards an Historical Geographical Information System (HGIS)
Abstrakt
In January 2017 a three-year-based research project was launched at Charles University in Prague - Czech Institute of Egyptology, under the auspices of the Czech Science Foundation (GA ČR). The project, directed by the present writer, aims at mapping and investigationg the development and the main characteristics of the sun cult and architecture in Old Kingdom Egypt, in 3rd millennium BC.
Within this general framework, a well-defined case study will be put into focus, namely the 5th Dynasty site of Abu Gurab, the seat of the solar temples of the 5th Dynasty and the main site for the history of solar cult and architecture in the Old Kingdom. Among others, the project will also include a wider archaeological and topographical investigation of the site of Abu Gurab.
This will be possible thanks to an agreement for scientific cooperation signed in 2015 between Charles University in Prague and the Universita di Napoli L'Orientale, which has already been working at the site since 2010. This paper wishes to present the main aspects dealt with by the project, as well as to pinpoint the major research objectives and perspectives for the future.