缅北禁地

I was an MSCA post-doctoral fellow at the School of History, Classics and Archaeology, working on a project EgypToolWear – Metalwork Wear Analysis of Ancient Egyptian Tools, under the guidance of Prof. Andrea Dolfini. My interests lie in the social and technological contexts of crafts in Ancient Egypt, especially metallurgy of copper and bronzes. My PhD thesis was defended at the Czech Institute of Egyptology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague, and I have worked for more than 10 years at the site of Abusir in Egypt, Czech concession, as an archaeologist and surveyor. In Prague, I have also studied, besides Egyptology, Prehistoric and Early Mediaeval Archaeology, and Classical Archaeology. I am a member of the board of trustees of Slovak . I am also interested in issues concerning the evaluation of scientific research, being a co-author of the Slovak translations of the and of the (also known as DORA).

Recordings of the lectures from the webinar EgypToolWear – Metalwork Wear Analysis of Ancient Egyptian Tools, January 15 and 16, 2025

These are recordings of lectures from a webinar “EgypToolWear – Metalwork Wear Analysis of Ancient Egyptian Tools”, taking place at 缅北禁地, School of History, Classics, and Archaeology in January 2025.

Copper in Chalcolithic and Bronze Age Egypt and Nubia (c. 4000 - 1000 BCE)

This lecture gives a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of what we know about the use of copper by the ancient Egyptians and Nubians, from the Predynastic through the Early Dynastic until the end of the New Kingdom (c. 4000–1100 BC). Focus is on the earliest eras, where a selective presentation of the evidence does not give a full picture of the technological advances. The lecture argues that Egypt was not isolated from the rest of the ancient world and that popular notions of its “primitive” technology are not based on facts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvTVrmI3YmQ

Metal tool blades in the ancient Egyptian texts and iconography

This lecture gives an overview of the texts, reliefs, and paintings providing information on the ancient Egyptian artisan tools, from the Early Dynastic until the end of the New Kingdom (c. 3100–1100 BC). This is a traditional focus of the Egyptological research, thus only a brief overview can be made. Increased attention is given to the performative aspects of the craftwork, directly confirmed in the Egyptian sources, yet this aspect in the broader Bronze Age archaeology is virtually unknown.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkj_z-VeXzA

Abstract of the project EgypToolWear – Metalwork Wear Analysis of Ancient Egyptian Tools

EgypToolWear is a groundbreaking analysis of the function and uses of metal craft tools from late Chalcolithic and Bronze Age Egypt (c.3500 - 1070 BC). This is the first ever project to deploy Metalwork Wear Analysis (henceforth MWA) to precisely understand how copper-alloy tools were used in early Egypt, for what crafts, and with what bodily gestures and engagements. The research is grounded in a multidisciplinary approach combining MWA (both low- and high-magnification) with (a) a critical reassessment of written and iconographic sources (which are abundant and often detailed in this context); (b) metallurgical analysis; and (c) experimental archaeology. A corpus of c.170 copper-alloy tools of various periods, provenances, shapes, and presumed uses will be researched, giving much-needed temporal and geographical depth to the research. The project is important in that it deploys an innovative analytical and experimental approach to answer questions that have hitherto only been addressed by textual and iconographic studies. The new approach will overturn deep-seated misconceptions concerning Egyptian metal tools, e.g., the conservative character and lack of evolution in tool making and using. Furthermore, the project's importance lies in its being the very first large application of MWA to Egyptian bronzes. As such, it will reinvigorate a rather traditional field of scholarship and open new research avenues into early Egyptian metals. This strand will develop independently after the project's end thanks to planned MWA training and engagement initiatives (including in Egypt itself). This is a game-changer for the discipline of Egyptology and for the Fellow, who through the Action will acquire new analytical and interpretative skills enhancing his career prospects. In turn, he will transfer his specialist knowledge of predynastic and dynastic Egypt to 缅北禁地, where the archaeology of ancient Egypt is neither researched nor meaningfully taught.

• Articles

  • Younes G, Kaniewski D, Marriner N, Morhange C, Sheisha H, Odler M, Wang Y, Chen Z, El-Qady G, Saleem A, Veron A. . Geology 2024, 52(10), 774-778.
  • Odler M. . Egyptian Archaeology 2024, 64, 9-14.
  • Odler M, Kmosek J, Fikrle M, Erban Kochergina YV. . Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 2021, 36, 102868.

• Authored Books

  • Odler M. . Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2023.
  • Odler M. Old Kingdom Copper Tools and Model Tools. With contributions by Jiří Kmošek, Ján Dupej, Katarína Arias Kytnarová, Lucie Jirásková, Veronika Dulíková, Tereza Jamborová, Šárka Msallamová, Kateřina Šálková and Martina Kmoníčková. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2016.

• Book Chapters

  • Odler M. . In: De Putter, T; Karlshausen, C, ed. International Conference: Minerals in ancient Egypt, from Naqada to Alexandria. Brussels: Koninklijke Academie voor Overzeese Wetenschappen / Académie Royale des Sciences d'Outre-Mer, 2025, pp.143-173.
  • Odler M, Kmosek J. . In: Kilian, A; Pruß, A; Zöller-Engelhardt, M, ed. Excavating the Extra-Ordinary 2: Challenges & Merits of Working with Small Finds. Proceedings of the International Workshop at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 25–26 November 2022. Heidelberg: Propylaeum, 2024, pp.181-202.

• Online Publication

  • Rademakers F, Odler M, Auenmueller J. . Los Angeles, California: UCLA, 2024. Available at: .