Erik Kiesel is a doctoral candidate in Egyptology and a member of the International Doctoral Programme in Philology (IDK Philologie) at the LMU of Munich and the JMU of Würzburg. He holds a BA in Archaeology and Philosophy and an MA in Archaeology, specialising in Egyptology, from the University of Bonn. His MA thesis examined the textual transmission of Pyramid Texts 247–250 and their later adaptations in the Coffin Texts and the Book of the Dead. His doctoral research focuses on secrecy as a communicative strategy in ancient Egyptian funerary literature, exploring the relationship between secret knowledge, textual authority, and scribal practices. Erik has contributed to Egyptological and DH research projects, particularly on the transmission and canonisation of the Book of the Dead, and has worked at the Egyptian Museum of the University of Bonn. His broader academic interests include textual criticism, hermeneutics, digital philology, and philosophical approaches to ancient Egyptian religious literature.

 Johann Thiele, University of Bonn (Germany)

Johann Thiele recently completed his master’s degree (M.A. thesis: “On the warlike Imagery of Iti at Gebelein”) at the University of Bonn and has since been a PhD student in the Department of Egyptology at the same university. His current academic work takes place within the Collaborative Research Center/Transregio (SFB/TRR 427) “Historical and Transcultural Narratology”, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). He is part of the sub-project “Hardship Teaches Storytelling: Two Great Societal Crises and New Narrative Styles on the Past in Pharaonic Egypt”, approaching the topic through the case study of Ankhtifi from El Mo’alla. His primary research interests lie in the material culture of the Predynastic and the First Intermediate Period, with a particular focus on Egyptian iconography and rock art. CRE 27 Bonn will be his first international conference, and he looks forward to a lively and diverse exchange with colleagues from around the world.

 Yannick Wiechmann, University of Bonn (Germany)

Yannick Wiechmann is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bonn, where he is involved in a narratological research project on texts from the late Hyksos period and the early New Kingdom. He recently submitted his PhD dissertation on paratextuality in ancient Egyptian funerary literature, with a particular focus on titles in the Book of the Dead. His main research interests concern the ancient Egyptian language, scripts, and texts, particularly intertextuality, literary and funerary texts, and the history of writing. He is also interested in cultural contacts, transformations in Late Antiquity, and the ancient cultures of Mesopotamia, Iran, and India. He has published seven academic papers to date and is preparing three further articles for publication, as well as two monographs and two edited volumes.