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Jaroslav Černý, FBA (; 22 August 1898 – 29 May 1970) was a Czech
Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , ''-logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end ...
. From 1929 to 1946 he was a lecturer and ''docent'' at
Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...
in
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
, from 1946 to 1951, the Edwards Professor of Egyptology at the
University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
. From 1951 to 1965, he was Professor of Egyptology at
University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
.


Early life

Jaroslav Černý was born on 22 August 1898 in
Plzeň Plzeň (), also known in English and German as Pilsen (), is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 188,000 inhabitants. It is located about west of P ...
in
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
(currently the Czech Republic). His family lived in Plzeň until 1913, then moved to
Slaný Slaný (; ) is a town in Kladno District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 17,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, ur ...
. Černý continued his studies at a ''gymnasium'' in Plzeň until 1917. He studied from 1917 till 1922 at Charles University, where he received his doctorate in 1922, and his post-doctoral ''
Habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...
'' in 1929.


Career

He took part in
Bernard Bruyère Bernard Bruyère (10 November 1879 – 4 December 1971) was a French Egyptologist. He was one of the discoverers of the Tomb of Tutankhamun. Biography Born in Besançon, Bruyère devoted a large part of his career to archaeological excavations ...
's excavations at
Deir el-Medina Deir el-Medina (), or Dayr al-Madīnah, is an ancient Egyptian workmen's village which was home to the artisans who worked on the tombs in the Valley of the Kings during the 18th to 20th Dynasties of the New Kingdom of Egypt (ca. 1550–1080 BC). ...
from 1925 to 1970 and the village became the focus of a lifelong study. One volume, of a planned three on the village, was published before his death with other parts published posthumously."Life of the ancient Egyptians, Eugen Strouhal, Evžen Strouhal, Werner Forman, Editorial Galaxia, p187, 1992, He was sponsored by
Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Tomáš () is a Czech name, Czech and Slovak name, Slovak given name, equivalent to the name Thomas (name), Thomas. Tomáš is also a surname (feminine: Tomášová). Notable people with the name include: Given name Sport *Tomáš Berdych (born 198 ...
from 1927, and worked with
Alan Henderson Gardiner Sir Alan Henderson Gardiner, (29 March 1879 – 19 December 1963) was an English Egyptologist, linguist, philologist, and independent scholar. He is regarded as one of the premier Egyptologists of the early and mid-20th century. Personal life G ...
from 1934. In the 1930s, Černý participated in epigraphic missions across Egypt—at Sinai and Abydos. He spent the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
in
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
and
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, from 1942 as an employee of the Czechoslovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1946, he became professor for Egyptology at
University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
. From 1951 until 1965 he was Professor of Egyptology at
Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
. His specialties were
hieratic Hieratic (; ) is the name given to a cursive writing system used for Ancient Egyptian and the principal script used to write that language from its development in the third millennium BCE until the rise of Demotic in the mid-first millennium BCE ...
script, the
New Kingdom New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
, and
Late Egyptian The Egyptian language, or Ancient Egyptian (; ), is an extinct branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages that was spoken in ancient Egypt. It is known today from a large corpus of surviving texts, which were made accessible to the modern world fo ...
literature.


Death

He died on 29 May 1970 in
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
, England, where he is buried in
Wolvercote Cemetery Wolvercote Cemetery is a cemetery in the parish of Wolvercote and district of Cutteslowe in Oxford, England. Its main entrance is on Banbury Road and it has a side entrance in Five Mile Drive. It has a funeral chapel, public toilets and a small a ...
.


Works

* ''Catalogue des ostraca hiératiques non littéraires de Deir el-Medineh'' (7 volumes), Le Caire 1937–70. * ''Ostraca hiératiques'', Le Caire 1931-1935 (Catalogue Général du Musée égyptien du Caire, 25501-25832). * ''Late Ramesside Letters'', Brussels 1939. * ''Répertoire onomastique de Deir el-Médineh'', Le Caire 1949 n collaboration with B. Bruyère and J. J. Clère * ''The Inscriptions of Sinai'', London 1952, 1955 n collaboration with Alan H. Gardiner and T. Eric Peet">T._Eric_Peet.html" ;"title="n collaboration with Alan H. Gardiner and T. Eric Peet">n collaboration with Alan H. Gardiner and T. Eric Peet * ''Paper & Books in Ancient Egypt'', London. * ''Ancient Egyptian Religion'', London 1952 (1952, 1957). * ''Hieratic Ostraca'', Volume I. Oxford 1957. * ''Egyptian Stelae in the Bankes Collection'', Oxford 1958. * ''Hieratic Inscriptions from the Tomb of Tutankhamun'', Oxford 1965. * ''A Community of Workmen at Thebes in the Ramesside Period'', Cairo 1973. * ''A Late Egyptian Grammar'', Rome 1975 (1978, 1984) [in collaboration with Sarah Israelit Groll, supported by Christopher Eyre]. * ''Coptic Etymological Dictionary'', Cambridge 1976. * ''Papyrus hiératiques de Deir el-Médineh'', Tome I. Le Caire 1978 [finished by Georges Posener].


Notes


References

* Jaromír Málek, "Life and achievements of Czech Egyptologist Jaroslav Cerný (1898–1970)". in ''Archiv Orientální 66 (1998)'', pp. 27–30. * M. L. Bierbrier, ''The Tomb-Builders of the Pharaohs'', American University in Cairo Press 1992, p. 144 *Jiřina Růžová, ''Písař Místa Pravdy'' (The Scribe in the Place of Truth), Libri 2011, *Hana Navrátilová, "Jaroslav Černý (1898–1970): Egyptologist, diplomat and traveller". In Macková, Adéla Jůnova and Pavel Onderka (eds), ''Crossroads of Egyptology: the worlds of Jaroslav Černý'', Prague: National Museum 2010, pp. 9–35. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cerny, Jaroslav 1898 births 1970 deaths 20th-century Czech archaeologists Writers from Plzeň Czech Egyptologists Christian Peace Conference members Professors of Egyptology (University of Oxford) Burials at Wolvercote Cemetery Charles University alumni Fellows of the British Academy