Egyptology has been a traditional field of research at the Collège de France since Jean-François Champollion was appointed Professor in 1831. Combined with a specialized library - one of the richest in the world - and a major archive, the The Civilization of Pharaonic Egypt chair is now an integral part of the Ancient Egypt and Near East division of the Institut des Civilisations. Laurent Coulon's lectures aim to explore different aspects of this civilization, using an Egyptological approach informed by archaeology and philology, based on first-hand sources, as well as anthropological questions. Alongside apparent continuity in the organization of society, religion and art, major changes can be discerned in ancient Egypt from the gestation periods of the 4th millennium BC to the closure of Egyptian temples and the last written testimonies attested around the 5th-6th century AD. As a result, certain deities gradually acquired a prominent place in the Egyptian pantheon and liturgical calendar, in line with the country's historical trajectory. The case of the god Osiris, who can be traced from his appearance in the Old Kingdom, around 2400 BC , to his export to the Mediterranean basin, will be at the heart of the first cycles of lectures and seminars : investigations will focus on the role played by the god outside the funerary sphere, on the one hand, and on the status and cult function of Osirian images, on the other.
The chair is also associated with the archaeological work carried out by the Karnak Osirian Sanctuaries team at this Upper Egyptian site, where a tomb of Osiris and several chapels dedicated to different forms of the god have been excavated and studied. Particular attention is also paid to the tools provided by digital humanities ; a database devoted to late-period Egyptian statuary is currently under development. Finally, the Chair aims to promote historiographical work on the discipline, notably through the critical edition of Champollion's works, but also through the exploitation of archive collections held at the Collège de France.
