معرفی
Sofie Schiødt is an Egyptologist and External Researcher at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen. Her research focuses on ancient Egyptian medicine, magic, and social history through philological, archaeological, and osteological methodologies. She completed her PhD in 2021 at the University of Copenhagen with a groundbreaking dissertation on a 6-meter-long medical papyrus.
Education:
- PhD in Egyptology, University of Copenhagen (awarded March 2021)
Research Focus: Schiødt specializes in deciphering ancient medical papyri to explore physician-patient dynamics, disease classification, and the intersection of empirical medicine with magical practices in Pharaonic Egypt. Her work reveals sophisticated diagnostic frameworks and therapeutic approaches in areas like ophthalmology, gynecology, and dermatology, contextualized within broader social and religious frameworks of ancient Egyptian science.
Publication Trends: Recent publications (2023-2025) demonstrate concentrated analysis of New Kingdom medical texts, particularly the Carlsberg Papyri series. Her research identifies specialized medical genres (e.g., early herbal treatises), technical terminology evolution, and cross-cultural knowledge transmission in ancient Mediterranean medicine, with emphasis on material evidence from embalming workshops and funerary contexts.
Awards:
- Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (2022-2024) at University of Tübingen
Academic Engagement: Schiødt has organized international conferences including the Scientific Traditions in the Ancient Mediterranean and Near East series, securing collaborative funding for papyrological research. Her media outreach includes major features in National Geographic and BBC on ancient mummification techniques, translating complex philological findings for public audiences through Danish National Radio and print media.
Research Ecosystem: She operates within Copenhagen's Carsten Niebuhr Institute network, collaborating with Egyptological collections across Europe to analyze unpublished papyri. Current work integrates osteological data with textual evidence to reconstruct disease prevalence and medical interventions in ancient Egyptian populations.
