In 2024, Kathrin Gabler has initiated the Autumn School format in Luxor. Since 2025, the Autumn School has been organized by the JGU Mainz in cooperation with the DAI Kairo. From 2026 onwards, participants from Luxor University can join the format via an ERASMUS KA171 cooperation between the JGU Mainz and Luxor University, incl. annual staff mobility for lecturers from Luxor. The annual format (each Autumn in early October) is addressed specifically to MA students in Egyptology, registration at a university is required. The format is designed to deepen knowledge and understanding on specific topics and sites around ancient Thebes. Different invited experts will instruct a selected group of up to 10 students from universities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland as well as 4 students from Luxor. The Autumn School is held entirely in English. The next call for applications will be circulated in early December 2026.
2nd JGU-DAIK Autumn School (2026)
The 2nd Autumn School will take place between 01. and 05.10.2026.
The course will focus in 2026 on the architecture of Seti I at Thebes. A fresh look at the buildings constructed during a single reign offers insight into how architecture is conceived, designed and constructed, its aims, function and effect on users. The course thus provides an introduction to the analysis of Egyptian architecture. The instructors Felix Arnold and Kathrin Gabler guide the participants during five days of intensive training in the German House and on site through selected buildings erected during the reign of Seti I, highlighting their design and construction process as well as their function and use.
The call for this year is closed, and the group of participants has been finalized. Preparation for the training has started with a hybrid meeting on 17.04.2026.
1st JGU-DAIK Autumn School (2025)
The 1st Autumn School took place between 01. and 05.10.2025. It focused on the houses of millions of years at the Theban Westbank and approached the temples as religious and economic centres, discussing them from an architectural, artistic, iconographic, economic, functional, religious and stylistic point of view. The instructors Hourig Sourouzian and Kathrin Gabler, supported by Andrea Kilian and Dietrich Raue, guided the participants during five days of intensive training in the German House and on sites through the mortuary temples built in the 18th, 19th, and 20th dynasty, including their re-use and impact in later periods than the New Kingdom. A summary by the participants is published in seventh newsletter of the Verband der Ägyptologie (page 43-45).
In July 2026 we had the pleasure to welcome two lecturers from Luxor University in Mainz. The staff exchange took place in the framework of a successful Erasmus KA171 application in which both universities will strengthen their academic networks in teaching and research over the next years. With Dr. Mahmoud Mohamed Gabalawy and Dr. Mohamed Ahmed Zein we had fruitful discussions on various topics, including introductions into the Egyptological projects at JGU, participation at scientific events and also co-teaching in two classes. They also presented their own research in our colloquium.
