Budka Julia

Budka Julia

Professor of Egyptian Archaeology and Art History; PI of ERC Project DiverseNile

MAIN AREAS OF RESEARCH
Late Bronze Age and Iron Age, Egypt and Nubia, Material culture, Settlement archaeology and social relationships, Cultural identities, Funerary culture and mortuary architecture

EDUCATION

2007    Dr phil awarded in Egyptology, University of Vienna, Austria

2000    Mphil in Egyptology, University of Vienna, Austria

1995-2000     Study of Egyptology (Major) and Classical Archaeology (Minor), University of Vienna

CAREER HISTORY

Since 2020 Principal Investigator of the ERC Consolidator Grant project DiverseNile, LMU Munich

Since 2015   Professor of Egyptian Archaeology and Art History, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (since 2020 tenured)

2012-2018    Principal Investigator of the ERC Starting Grant project AcrossBorders, hosted by the Austrian Academy of Sciences from 12/2012 to 03/2015; transfered to Munich in 04/2015

2012-2017    Principal Investigator of FWF START project “Across ancient borders and cultures”, hosted by the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OREA, Egypt & Levant)

2011-2012    Assistant Professor (Universitätsassistentin PostDOC) at the University of Vienna, Institute of Egyptology (granted leave from Humboldt University)

2010            Lecturer at the University of Leipzig, Institute of Egyptology

2004-2012    Scientific Researcher and Lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology, Humboldt University Berlin, Department of Egyptology and Northeast African Archaeology

HONORARY POSTS & ELECTED MEMBERSHIP 

since 2019 Corresponding Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences

2015-2018 Member of the board of directors of the Young Academy

2014-2016            Member of the Akademierat, Austrian Academy of Sciences

2014-2019 Member of the “Young Academy”, Austrian Academy of Sciences (Vienna)

since 2014            Member of the managing board of the “Freunde des Naturhistorischen Museums” (http://freunde.nhm-wien.ac.at/)

CV Budka

Publication list Budka (English, status: 2025)

Publikationsliste Budka (Deutsch, Status 2024)

Neueste Beiträge

Fuelled with inspiration: back from SAfA 2025

Conferences often provide plenty of new ideas and social and scientific encounters, as well as fresh input. This was exactly the case last week when the DiverseNile team participated in the SAfA 2025 conference.

The 27th biennial meeting of the Society of Africanist Archaeologists (SAfA 2025) took place at the University of the Algarve in Faro, Portugal, from 21 to 26 July 2025. The venue was lovely, Faro is a beautiful place to visit in the summer. The meeting was a great success thanks to the excellent organisation and rich programme, which included excellent keynote speakers and a highly inspiring plenary event.

Alongside Elena Garcea and Giulia D’Ercole, I organised a session titled „Investigating settlements versus cemeteries. Competing or complementing interests? A View from Sudan“.

We considered this session to be relevant for the following reasons:

Firstly, there are some general aspects to consider. Throughout history, research in Sudan has clearly focused more on burials than on settlements. Cemeteries are considered the most significant social units, providing vital insights for archaeological interpretation and the reconstruction of social, economic, and gender patterns. Ideal case studies are those that include both settlements and cemeteries, although these are often not contemporary with each other.

Furthermore, there are also some personal reasons for organising this session. The three of us have worked on Sai Island and developed a longue durée approach that considers both settlements and tombs. My current DiverseNile project clearly links to this, combining an assessment of domestic and mortuary sites (building on what we have already done during the AcrossBorders project on Sai Island).

Me introducing the theme of the session (photo: H. Aglan).

During our session, an impressive line-up of speakers (including our Sudanese friends and colleagues Ahmed Nassr and Mohamed Bashir) presented the various methodological and theoretical aspects, as well as the challenges and opportunities, of this field of study. Drawing on case studies from different regions of ancient Sudan, particularly the Middle Nile Valley, the Jezira plain and the hinterlands, the subject was explored in depth.

Case studies from the Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age, Meroitic, Post-Meroitic and Medieval periods were presented. We also discussed social patterns and cultural behaviours throughout history. This allowed us to link the assessment of settlement patterns with burial customs.

I am particularly pleased that Hassan Aglan discussed the relevance of the Kerma cemeteries within the MUAFS concession (highlightening our work at GiE 003), and that Chloe Ward presented innovative ideas regarding settlement patterns within the same area.

To conclude, our perspective on the topic is informed by observations from various periods and regions of Sudan. The session addressed the past, present and future of investigating settlements and cemeteries, an area in which much remains to be done.

We would like to thank all of our speakers, all participants and the organisers of SAfA 2025 again for now. Personally, I am already looking forward to the next meeting in 2027.

  1. Upcoming DiverseNile Seminar: Recent work in the Northern Butana Schreibe einen Kommentar
  2. More than one way to look at pottery Schreibe einen Kommentar
  3. Upcoming DiverseNile Seminar: A case study of recent research in archaeobotany and archaeoentomology Schreibe einen Kommentar
  4. About the situation in Sudan Schreibe einen Kommentar
  5. In focus: Napatan coronation ceremonies Schreibe einen Kommentar
  6. Announcement: DiverseNile Seminar 2025 Schreibe einen Kommentar
  7. New progress in the documentation of rock art in the MUAFS concession Schreibe einen Kommentar
  8. Nubian-style pottery of the New Kingdom in focus Schreibe einen Kommentar
  9. Embedded in Clay – Reflections and Impressions after the P.I.P.E conference Identity and Performance in Figurines and Ceramic Objects from Ancient Societies Schreibe einen Kommentar