About CCER

The Centre for Computer-aided Egyptological Research (CCER) has established an international reputation as a scientific institution since it was established in 1990 at Utrecht University (Department of Relgious Studies, Faculty of Theology). It has continued to play a pioneering and innovating role in the development and application of information and communication technology in the field Egyptology. Whilst doing that,  CCER took the initiative to develop standards in this particular discipline and also set up a number of international projects. From 1992 to 2003, CCER coordinated the activities of the Computer Working Group of the International Association of Egyptologists (IAE).  CCER published a series of books and software packages Publications Interuniversitaires de Recherches Égyptologiques Informatisées (PIREI) and a series of CD-ROMs Egyptian Treasures in Europe. CCER inaugurated the Global Egyptian Museum (GEM) which is directed by  Dirk van der Plas (CCER, The Netherlands) and Mohamed Saleh (former director of the Egyptian Museum, Cairo).

CCER developed the hieroglyphic text processing program Glyph for Windows. Two versions are available. Glyph Basic is the low budget version for students and amateurs. The hieroglyphic font includes c. 850 of the most common signs from the Middle Egyptian. Glyph Professional is the highly sophisticated version for professional Egyptologists with an extended library of c. 6900 different hieroglyphic signs. It answers all demands for the compiling and publication of the most complex texts, for instance from the Ptolemaic temples. Glyph for Windows is used all over the world as the standard program. Its Macintosh counterparts MacScribe Basic and MacScribe Professional have been developed under the aegis of the Insitut Français d'Archéologie Orientale (IFAO,Cairo) and are presently distributed by the author Eric Aubourg. The coding system for the electronic storage and presentation of hieroglyphic texts which forms the backbone of Glyph for Windows is in force as the international standard in the field.

CCER took the initiative (1988) for extension of the hieroglyphic font, originally consisting of c. 700 signs. The present Extended Library with c. 6900 different hieroglyphic signs is a good example of international collaboration. It could be realized only thanks to the synergy between CCER, the Humboldt University in Berlin and the IFAO. This font of hieroglyphic signs is published under the title Hieroglyphica. It is currently the most complete list and the standard in the field of Egyptology. CCER is responsible for updating and continuation.

CCER took the initiative (1991) for another international project, the Multilingual Egyptological Thesaurus (MET). This thesaurus offers the standardized words, terms and names required for uniform registration of the object information of Egyptian artifacts in databases. Originally published in German, English and French (1996), the MET is currently recommended as the international standard by the Committee for Egyptology (CIPEG) of the International Council of Museums (ICOM-UNESCO). At present the MET is available eight languages: Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. An Arabic version is being prepared by CULTNAT (Cairo).

CCER designed and developed the Integrated Egyptological Database System (IEDS) a multilingual multimedia program for those currently conserving, maintaining, describing and researching all kinds of artifacts in Egyptian collections. The IEDS is still the only database programme in which the Multilingual Egyptological Thesaurus (MET) has already been integrated. The IEDS program also includes a number of options, which are essential for research in the field of Egyptology. To these belong the availability of (full color) images of every object and the possibility of generating texts in hieroglyphics, Coptic and Greek script, including a fount which is necessary for the diacritic transliteration of Egyptian texts.

CCER designed and co-ordinates the Champollion (acronym for: Cultural Heritage And Multilingual Program of Longstanding Legacy In Open Network) project. The objective of the Champollion is to create a network of multimedia electronic databases of Egyptian collections. Commonly accepted standards and formats enable exchange and merging data between the individual databases in seven European Languages. The results are published in Egyptian Treasures in Europe. The Champollion project is financially supported by the European Commission and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).

Other international projects inaugurated by the CCER: Computer-aided research on Egyptian Stelae from the Middle Kingdom, Computer-aided Research on Funerary Texts and Iconography, and Corpus Textuum Aegyptiacorum (CTAe).

CCER keeps a number of electronic databases: the Prosopographia Aegypti, the Multilingual Egyptological Thesaurus (MET), and the Field-list Directory, which includes a checklist and brief reports of recent archaeological excavations. The databases also include the names and addresses, etc. of Egyptological collections, research institutions and Egyptologists. For the benefit of the public, there is a series of educational programs, which includes (for example) a visit to the temple of Abu Simbel.

The most resent CCER publication is The Global Egyptian Museum, a virtual gallery with nearly 11,000 artifacts from twelve European museums with detailed information for both professionals and non-professionals. Moreover the site (address: www.GlobalEgyptianMuseum.com) has a special corner for children at the age of 8-12 years, called "Kids!".

CCER organized workshops, known as the "Horssen meetings". About 10 Egyptologists from all over the word were invited to work together and to develop new international projects in the informal atmosphere of the "Heerlijkheid Horssen" estate.

Since 2003 the Centre for Computer-aided Egyptological Research (CCER) is an independent foundation specialized in matters related to the application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Egyptology.

CCER is headed by Prof. Dirk van der Plas.