Mykola Tarasenko
Dates in Oxford:
1st October 2022 – 30th September 2025
Position:
Research Fellow
Associated Fellow at the Trinity College
(https://www.trinity.ox.ac.uk/people/mykola-tarasenko)
Leading Researcher at the А. Yu. Krymskyi Institute of Oriental Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Department of Near and Middle East
Head of the Centre of Egyptology at the А. Yu. Krymskyi Institute of Oriental Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
Correspondence Address:
Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Pusey Lane, Oxford, OX1 2LE
Email address:
mykola.tarasenko@ames.ox.ac.uk
Research Interests:
I am an Egyptologist specialized in the study of ancient Egyptian funerary literature and art, especially the Book of the Dead. My research interests centre on culture, religion, mythology, and art of ancient Egypt. I am also interested in the history and archaeology of civilizations of the Ancient Near East. The topics of my publications are visual and textual traditions of Egyptian funerary objects (papyri, coffins, mummy bandages, etc.) and ancient Egyptian artifacts in the museums of Ukraine. I’ve studied and published Egyptian objects in several Ukrainian museums, among them Odesa Archaeological Museum of the NAS of Ukraine, which contains the largest and oldest collection.
I have archaeological field experience, having taken part in the works of international expeditions in Giza necropolis and temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari (Egypt), Bilsk settlement in the Forest-Steppe Scythia (Poltava Region, Ukraine), ancient Hellenic settlements and the necropoleis of Tyras (Odesa Region, Ukraine), Iluraton and Kytea (Eastern Crimea, Ukraine).
Current projects:
- “Online Egyptological Bibliography”. Project of the Griffith Institute, University of Oxford; Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, and the International Association of Egyptologists (responsible for material in Cyrillic script).
- Ukrainian-Lithuanian Research Project “Ukrainian Mummy Project” (Department of Anatomy, Histology and Anthropology of the Vilnius University and A. Yu. Krymskyi Institute of Oriental Studies Institute of Oriental Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine) (coordinator and head of the Ukrainian research team).
- International Project “The Gate of the Priests. Bab el-Gasus Project: Funeral pragmatics of the ancient Egyptian (religious) elite in the Third Intermediate Period” (University of Coimbra, Portugal) (cooperation in publication of the 21st Dynasty artefacts from Bab el-Gasus Cache from the museums of Eastern Europe).
Selected Publications:
2024. Davnoiehypetski starozhytnosti XXI dynastii u muzeiakh Ukrainy [Ancient Egyptian antiquities of the 21st Dynasty in museums of Ukraine]. Kyiv: Akademperiodyka, 2024. (In Ukrainian with an English summary).
2023. (with J. Elias) 25th Dynasty Coffin Types Reconsidered. Typological Analysis of Coffin Lid KPL-Arch-829, National Preserve “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra”. Carlisle (Pennsylvania): Akhmim Mummy Studies Consortium.
2021. Davn’oyehypets’ki statuetky ushebti v zibranni Odes’koho arkheolohichnoho muzeyu NAN Ukrayiny [Ancient Egyptian shabti statuettes in the collection of the Odesa Archaeological Museum of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine]. Kyiv: Instytut skhodoznavstva im. A. Yu. Kryms’koho NAN Ukrayiny. (In Ukrainian and English).
2019. U poshukakh starozhytnostey z daru khedyva. Davn’oyehypets’ki pam’yatnyky XXI dynastiyi v muzeyakh Ukrayiny [In search of antiquities from the gift of the Khedive. Ancient Egyptian objects of the 21st Dynasty in the museums of Ukraine]. Kyiv: Instytut skhodoznavstva im. A. Yu. Kryms’koho NAN Ukrayiny. (In Ukrainian with an English summary).
2018. Papirusnyy svitok na vin’yetkakh drevneyegipetskoy Knigi mertvykh [Papyrus roll on the vignettes of the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead]. Kiev: Institut vostokovedeniya im. A. E. Krymskogo NAN Ukrainy. (In Russian with an English summary).
2016. Studies on the Vignettes from Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead. I: The Image of mś.w Bdšt in Ancient Egyptian Mythology (Archaeopress Egyptology 16). Oxford: Archaeopress.
Edition
2024. M. Tarasenko, L. Morenz, J. Baines (eds), “Niemand kann alleine kämpfen” / “Nobody can struggle alone” / “Ніхто не може боротися наодинці”: an Egyptological volume on behalf of Ukraine, Bonner Ägyptologische Beiträge, 14. Berlin: EB-Verlag Dr. Brandt.
Articles
2024. “Shabti of Nes-ta-wedjat-akhet (OAM no. 52539): a contribution to the prosopography of the 21st Dynasty”, in M. Tarasenko, L. Morenz, J. Baines (eds), “Niemand kann alleine kämpfen” / “Nobody can struggle alone” / “Ніхто не може боротися наодинці”: an Egyptological volume on behalf of Ukraine, Bonner Ägyptologische Beiträge, 14. Berlin: EB-Verlag Dr. Brandt: 41–58.
2023. (with M. M. Ibrahim) “Mummy Bandage Cairo J.E. 7638”, Le Bulletin de lInstitut français darchéologie orientale 123: 273–293.
2023. “Shabtis from the Bab el-Gusus Cache in the Museums of Ukraine”, in S. Moser, J. Popielska-Grzybowska, J. Iwaszczuk and C. R. Redda (eds). Ancient Egypt 2021: Perspectives of Research (Travaux de lInstitut des Cultures Méditerranéennes et Orientales de lAcadémie Polonaise des Sciences, T. 14). Warsaw & Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag: 155–163, 237–241.
2022. “The semantics of the expression m-ḫt mni=f in the Book of the Dead Spell 17”, in M. K. Jakobsen (ed.), Sociolinguistics: Past, Present and Future Perspectives, New York: Nova Publishers: 107–119.
2022. “Ancient Egypt in Ukraine”, ICOM/CIPEG E-News, 17: Special issue on Egyptian collections in the Ukraine: http://cipeg.icom.museum/media/docs/2022-17-cipeg-e-news.pdf
2021. “Egyptian Mummies in Ukrainian Museums: An Overview”, Journal of the Hellenic Institute of Egyptology 4: 145–150.
2021. (with Piombino-Mascali D. & Jankauskas R.) “What’s hidden in the Sarcophagus? The first-ever Lithuanian mummy exhibition (2021–2022)”, Journal of the Hellenic Institute of Egyptology 4: 141–144.
2021. “Oud-Egypte in Oekraïne”, in Mehen. Essays over het oude Egypte (2021–2022), Leiden: 132–147.
2021. “Some Remarks to the Semantics of Image of Deity on the Coffin of Sepi III (Cairo CG 28083)”, in L. Vives-Ferrándiz Sánchez (ed.), Eternal Sadness: Representations of Death in Visual Culture from Antiquity to the Present Time (Eikón Imago 10 (Monographic Issue)), Madrid: 229–239.
2021. “The Lot VI of Bab el-Gasus in the light of the new archive documents”, in R. Sousa, A. Amenta, & K. M. Cooney (eds), Bab el-Gasus in Context. Rediscovering the Tomb of the Priests of Amun (Egitto Antico 4), Roma & Bristol: L’Erma di Bretschneider: 263–278.
2020. “Gliedervergottung Texts & Theogonic Ideas in Ancient Egypt”, in A. Maravelia & N. Guilhou (eds), Environment and Religion in Ancient and Coptic Egypt: Sensing the Cosmos through the Eyes of the Divine (Archaeopress Egyptology 30), Oxford: Archaeopress: 431–442.
2020. “The vignettes of Chapter 17 from the Book of the Dead as found in the Papyrus of Nakht (London BM EA 10471): at the beginning of the Ramesside Iconographic Tradition”, Journal of the Hellenic Institute of Egyptology 3: 131–146.
2019. “The Book of the Dead fragments in the Collection of the Institute of Manuscripts of the V. I. Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine (F. VIII, no. 565/15)”, in M. Mosher, Jr. (ed.), The Book of the Dead, Saite through Ptolemaic Periods. Essays on Books of the Dead and Related Topics (SPBD Studies), Prescott (Arizona): 541–555.
2019. “Mummy-cover fragment Ar–227 in the Lviv Museum of History of Religion”, in H. Strudwick & J. Dawson (eds), Ancient Egyptian Coffins: Past – Present – Future, Oxford & Philadelphia: Oxbow: 215.
2017. “‘Children of Weakness’ in the Book of Gates”, in M. Tomorad & J. Popielska-Grzybowska (eds), Egypt 2015: Perspectives of Research. Proceedings of the Seventh European Conference of Egyptologists (2nd–7th June, 2015, Zagreb – Croatia) (Archaeopress Egyptology 18), Oxford: Archaeopress: 31–44.
2017. “Studies on BD 17 vignettes: iconographic typology of Rw.tj-scene (New Kingdom – Third Intermediate Period)”, in M.-C. Guidotti & G. Rosati (eds), Proceedings of the XI International Congress of Egyptologists, Florence, Italy 23–30 August 2015 (Archaeopress Egyptology 19), Oxford: Archaeopress: 615–621.
2017. (with Mladen Tomorad) “The shabtis from the Museum of Oriental Civilizations in Zolochiv Castle, Ukraine”, Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur 46: 257–266, Taf. 23–26.
2017. “Images of papyrus rolls in vignettes of the Book of the Dead”, in K. A. Kóthay (ed.), Burial and Mortuary Practices in Late Period and Graeco-Roman Egypt. Proceedings of the International Conference held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, 17–19 July 2014, Budapest, MFA, Budapest: MFA: 73–80, pl. 8–12.
2016. “The ‘Children of Nūt’ and their Rebellion in Chapter 175A of the Book of the Dead”, in N. Guilhou (ed.), Liber Amicorum–Speculum Siderum: Nūt Astrophoros. Papers Presented to Alicia Maravelia (Archaeopress Egyptology 17), Oxford: Archaeopress: 35–48.
2014. “The illustrations of the Book of the Dead chapter 17 during the 18th Dynasty”, in M. Tarasenko (ed.), Pre-Islamic Near East: History, Religion, Culture, Kyiv: IOS NASU: 241–225.
2013. “Development of illustrative tradition of the chapter 42 of the Book of the Dead”, Studien zur altägyptischen Kultur 42: 325–348.
2012. “The vignettes of the Book of the Dead chapter 17 during the Third Intermediate Period (21st − 22nd Dynasties)”, Studien zur altägyptischen Kultur 41: 379–394, Taf. 35–37.
2011. “The vignettes of the Book of the Dead chapter 17 during the Saite Period”, in E. Kormysheva, D. Michaux-Colombot & E. Fantusati (eds), Cultural Heritage of Egypt and Christian Orient 6, Moscow, Orleans & Roma: IOS RAS: 71–87.
2009. “The BD 42 vignettes during the New Kingdom and Third intermediate Period”, in B. Backes, M. Müller-Roth & S. Stöhr (eds), Ausgestattet mit den Schriften des Thot. Festschrift für Irmtraut Munro zu ihrem 65. Geburtstag (Studien zum altägyptischen Totenbuch 14), Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag: 239–265.
2006. “Mythological allusions connected with Cosmogony in Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead”, in B. Backes, I. Munro & S. Stöhr, Totenbuch-Forschungen: Gesammelte Beiträge des 2. Internationalen Totenbuch-Symposiums, Bonn, 25. bis 29. September 2005 (Studien zum Altägyptischen Totenbuch 11), Wiesbaden: Harrаssowitz Verlag: 339–355.
PDFs of the publications are available here:
https://krymskiy.academia.edu/MykolaTarasenko
and here: https://bit.ly/3Cv4IOH
