The 12th Egypt and Austria conference (Zagreb, 17–22 September 2018) was organised by the Egypt and Austria Society and the Faculty of the Croatian Studies of the University of Zagreb. The event took place in the Croatian Institute of History (Opati�ka 10, Zagreb). The main theme of the conference was current research related to the interactions between Egypt and the states of the former Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire up to the middle of the 20th century. During the conference more than 39 papers were presented, of which 26 are presented in this proceedings volume.

At first sight, it seems that ancient Egyptian history and culture have no meaningful ties with present-day Croatia. However, when we scratch beneath the surface of the common idea of Egypt, that of a distant and ancient civilisation, we notice that its elements have been present in Croatia ever since antiquity. Egypt in Croatia provides a closer look at many aspects of the presence and fascination of ancient Egyptian culture in Croatia, from antiquity to the present. The topics explored are the artefacts discovered in present-day Croatia (mostly from the early 19th century), Croatian travellers to Egypt from the 16th to the middle of the 20th century, Egyptian collections in Croatia and early collectors from the 1820s until the 1950s, an overview of the development of Egyptology of study within Croatia as well as the various elements of 'Egyptomania' found in Croatia, mostly from the beginning of the 19th century.

The Seventh Central European Conference of Egyptologists. Egypt 2015: Perspectives of Research (CECE7) was held at the University of Zagreb in Croatia in 2015. It was co-organised by two scholarly institutions: the Department of History at the Centre for Croatian Studies of the University of Zagreb, Croatia (Dr Mladen Tomorad), and the Department of Ancient Cultures of the Pultusk Academy of Humanities in Pultusk, Poland (Dr Joanna Popielska-Grzybowska). This book presents a selection of papers which were read at the conference. The volume is divided into six sections in which thirty-two scholars from fourteen European countries cover various fields of modern Egyptological research. The first group of five papers is devoted to language, literature and religious texts; in the second section three authors describe various themes related to art, iconography and architectural studies; the third group contains four contributions on current funerary and burial studies; in the fourth (largest) section, ten authors present their recent research on material culture and museum studies; the fifth is concerned with the history of Ancient Egypt; and in the last (sixth), two authors examine modern Egyptomania and the 19th century travellers to Egypt.

The history of Ancient Egypt has been studied in the region of Southeast Europe since the end of the nineteenth century. In some of the countries this was not the case for various reasons, but mainly because of the undeveloped scholarly capabilities and institutions, insufficient funds for archaeological research in Egypt, and the lack of cooperation with scholars from other countries. From the 1960s, however, this situation has changed for the better, firstly with the numerous publications of the diffusion of the Ancient Egyptian cults during Graeco-Roman period, and then with publications (articles, catalogues, books) on Ancient Egyptian collections in various museum institutions located in Southeast Europe. From the early 1990s one can trace the increased production of various scholarly papers in which researchers from Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Romania, and Bulgaria not only researched the Egyptian cults in the Roman Empire, but also on the various aspects of history, religion and literature of Ancient Egypt. Their work, however, was mostly unknown to the scholars outside the region primarily because the results were written in the native languages. This book will try to give a review of the history of the studies of Ancient Egypt done in Southeast Europe, and present some of the latest research. A History of Research Into Ancient Egyptian Culture in Southeast Europe comprises a selection of papers in which scholars from various institutions of the region reviewed the different aspects of past studies and the development of the research of the Ancient Egypt in some countries, along with recent research in the field. We hope that this publication will be useful for all scholars who are unfamiliar with the historiography of this region.