Czech Research in Egypt´s Western Desert Shown in Exhibition at 20 Celetná Stree












            ******************************************************************************************

            * Czech Research in Egypt´s Western Desert Shown in Exhibition at 20 Celetná Street
            ******************************************************************************************
            Friday, 29 November 2013, saw the preview of an exhibition organized by the Institute for 

            Archaeology and chronicling a decade of research in the Western Desert of Egypt. Located i
            hall of the Faculty´s venue at 20 Celetná, the exhibition is accessible free of charge to 
            general public during the Faculty´s opening hours.

            A decade of archaeological research in the Western Desert of Egypt and the El Hayez oasis 
            the Ancient Romans as Oasis Parva) has brought new findings on the nature and structure of
            in the area in Roman times, i.e. in the first five centuries AD. Previous research had con

            necropolises and temples; however, the projects launched by the Czech Institute of Egyptol
            follow-up projects in recent years under the Institute for Classical Archaeology, have bro

            on everyday life in the desert. “A specific base of sources and the state in which they ha
            have made it possible to explore the structure of the settlement while improving the under
            broader links between these remote areas and the surrounding world of Ancient Romans,” say

            Titz, Ph.D., of the Institute for Classical Archaeology, CU FA.
            Unlike the Nile valley and delta, the Western Desert enables researchers to explore the co
            entire area, which was once populated, with all its components – settlements, farm land, m

            buildings, roads and burial sites. Doing research in oases may produce answers to some imp
            about the growth of the settlement over a very long period from the aridification of the d
            population´s departure for the banks of the Nile to the settlement of the Old Empire to th

            ancient Romans to a decline in the Byzantine, medieval and modern times.
            “Given the nature of the archaeological and historical sources and the previous interdisci
            by the Czech team, we have decided to give preference to non-destructive techniques. Satel

            field prospection and the use, for the first time, of vertical photography using a kite en
            a more precise interpretation of the data, making it possible to make a more detailed desc
            structure, nature and growth of oasis settlements,” says Pavel Titz.

            Flying a kite with a camera attached turned out to be an ideal method to make vertical pho
            desert. By processing and compiling such images, we have been able to produce detailed ima
            areas and to conduct a spatial analysis of the localities surveyed. “Our future plan is to

            destructive method in the survey and documentation of the localities under research especi
            these localities have very little protection against adverse meteorological conditions," s

                                                                                                      
            The exhibition Oasis Parva: život na okraji římského světa (Oasis Parva: Life on the Margi
            projects: PRVOUK – Archaeology of Non-European Regions; Charles University Grant Agency´s