1 The Pyramid Complex of Djedkare-Isesi at South Saqqara and its Decorative Program Mohamed Megahed Abstract The present thesis aims to publish pyramid complex of King Djedkare and its decorative program for the first time. The rule of King Djedkare was very significant and many important changes happened in the Egyptian state during his time. He is known to have reorganized the royal mortuary cults of his predecessors in Abusir; the remains of the papyrus archives discovered in three mortuary temples in Abusir are to a great extent related to this reorganization, as most of the preserved papyrus fragments come from the time of this king. Besides the other available evidence from his reign, numerous finds were discovered in the king's pyramid complex, which have, however, not been published until now. These include fragments of relief decoration and the present study thus can help us better understand and interpret the development of royal relief at the end of the Fifth Dynasty. The thesis is divided into five chapters, the first chapter provides a guideline to the thesis and its catalogue, and presents an up to date state of research on the decoration of the royal mortuary complexes of the Old Kingdom. Another section in this chapter is devoted to the methods that the author followed during his...

is study is composed of two units: manuscript of the author's publication Interpreting Ancient Egyptian Narratives: A Structural Analysis of the Tale of Two Brothers, the Anat Myth, the Osirian Cycle, and the Astarte Papyrus (Nouvelles études orientales, Bruxelles-Fernelmont: EME, 2014) and an additonal chapter entitled Accommodating Ambivalence: Case of the Doomed Prince and His Dog, which follows directly a er the Index of the first unit and which extends the applied methodology to yet another New Kingdom mythological narrative, the so-called Tale of the Doomed Prince. Methodologically, the author follows the neo-structuralist approach. Both studies explain the strong configurational character of ancient Egyptian (mythological) thought which has the ability to connect various ontological levels of human experience with the surrounding world into complex synchronic structures. ese symbolical systems are shown to be mediating between the various cultural paradoxes which were inherent to ancient Egyptian society. Axial role in this process is a ributed to the institution of positional kingship represented by the Pharaoh. Its transformative function is also put into relation to the special status of female characters who are shown to play the part of the "powerful powerless ones" further personifying...