Curator collections Egypt and Nubia
Dr Toon Sykora
Phone number: +31 (0)71 5163 114
e-mail: send a message
See his Academia-page
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-8802-4693
Academic studies and career
Toon Sykora (b. 1992) studied Archaeology and Egyptology at KU Leuven. He worked at the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels (KMKG and MIM) as a museum guide, while teaching courses on ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. From 2022 to 2023, Sykora was part of the exhibition team at the Gallo-Roman Museum in Tongeren. Later that year, he defended his PhD thesis on the decorated tomb complex of Djehutihotep in Dayr al-Barshā at KU Leuven. Since 2023, Toon Sykora has been the curator of the Egyptian collection at the National Museum of Antiquities, where he does research and creates exhibitions on ancient Egypt.
Research
Sykora has participated in KU Leuven’s excavations in Dayr al-Barshā since 2014. He worked as an epigrapher at the governors’ cemetery at the site. In tandem with this fieldwork, he studied the iconography of tombs from the Egyptian Middle Kingdom, using digital techniques to document their decoration. His other research has focused on music archaeology, (funerary) material culture and early travelers in Egypt.
Ask me a question about
- Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs
- The relation of the ancient Egyptians with death
- Ancient Egyptian painting and reliefs
- Ancient music
- Archaeological fieldwork in Egypt, past and present
- Egypt-themed board games and computer games
Important research projects
- Research on the governors’ cemetery at Dayr al-Barshā (2017-present day, in collaboration with KU Leuven)
Toon Sykora
Important publications
- Devillers, & Sykora, 2023. Enhancing visibility, Djehutihotep’s painter Horameniankhu. BIFAO 123, 53-81.
- Sykora, de Lima, De Meyer, Vergauwen & Willems, 2023. Puzzling Tombs: Virtual reconstruction of the Middle Kingdom elite necropolis at Dayr al-Barsha (Middle Egypt). In Lucarelli, Roberson, Vinson (red.), Ancient Egypt, New Technology: The Present and Future of Computer Visualization, Virtual Reality and Other Digital Humanities in Egyptology. Leiden, Brill, 533-550.
- Sykora, 2022. Op excursie naar de ‘Hiëroglifische Grot’. Een verkenning van vroege reisverslagen over het graf van Djehoetihotep. Ta-Mery 14, 50-71.
- Sykora, 2020. Recording Djehutihotep. Digital epigraphy in a Middle Kingdom governor’s tomb at Dayr al-Barsha, Part 2. Digital Epigraphy: Projects.
- de Lima, Sykora, De Meyer, Willems & Vergauwen, 2018. On Combining Epigraphy, TLS, Photogrammetry and Interactive Media for heritage Documentation: The Case Study of Djehutihotep’s Tomb in Dayr al-Barsha. In Sablatnig & Wimmer (red.), Proceedings of the 16th Eurographics Workshop on Graphics and Cultural Heritage. Wenen, 225-229.
- Sykora, 2017. Real or fake? An evaluation of the pre-funerary function of ancient Egyptian chordophones. SAK 46, 247-255.
- Sykora, 2016. The tomb of the harps, Egypt’s music-archaeological treasury, Saqqara Newsletter 14, 51-59.
- Sykora, 2015. Djehoetihotep, de laatste nomarch van de Hazegouw / Djehoutihotep, le dernier nomarque du Nome du Lièvre. In De Meyer & Cortebeeck (red.), Djehoetihotep. 100 jaar opgravingen in Egypte / Djehoutihotep. 100 ans de fouilles en Égypte. Leuven, Peeters, 22-38.
- Sykora, 2015. Wansleben en de herontdekking van Dayr al-Barsha / Vansleb et la redécouverte de Dayr al-Barcha. In De Meyer & Cortebeeck (red.), Djehoetihotep. 100 jaar opgravingen in Egypte / Djehoutihotep. 100 ans de fouilles en Égypte. Leuven, Peeters, 39-43.
Toon Sykora
Important lectures
- 2023, Djehutihotep’s lost singers. Poster, International Congress of Egyptologists, Leiden.
- 2023, Van potlood tot iPad: Egyptologie in het digitale tijdperk. Lezing, KMKG, Brussel.
- 2023, Djehoetihotep in detail: Turen naar muurbloempjes en kleurrijke figuren in een Middenrijkstombe. Lezing, Leuven
- 2022, Muziek van de Oudheid – op zoek naar klanken uit een ver verleden. Lezing, Gent.
- 2021, Warping the Egyptian ground loom: a new look at the Middle Kingdom textile scene of Djehutihotep. Lezing, European Textile Forum, Tilff-Méry.
- 2019, Documenting Djehutihotep’s tomb in Dayr al-Barsha – Digital documentation and 3D recording. Lezing, International Congress of Egyptologists, Cairo.
- 2019, Documenting Djehutihotep’s tomb at Dayr al-Barsha, Digital documentation and 3D reconstruction. Lezing, Netherlands/Flanders – Annual Chapter Meeting: Computer Applications & Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, Leuven.
- 2019, Documenting Djehutihotep’s tomb in Dayr al-Barsha, Digital Epigraphy and 3D recording. Lezing, International Conference of Young Egyptologists, Leuven.
- 2019, Puzzling Tombs, A digital reconstruction of the Middle Kingdom elite cemetery in Dayr al-Barsha. Digitale poster, conferentie Ancient Egypt and New Technology, Bloomington.
In the media
- 2022, Puzzelen met Pixels, Sonar (KU Leuven stories), 20 oktober
- 2021, CT-scan farao Amenhotep I, Radio 1, 28 december
Ancillary activities
- Visiting professor of archeology training, KU Leuven
- Supervisor reading group Egyptologica Flanders
