Tereza Menšíková and Jana Kendíková received the Dean's award
Tereza and Jana were recognized by the Dean's award for their PhD and BA theses.
Gods on the barge
On the occasion of launching the course Religious Phenomena in Computational Modelling, we remind a strategy game inspired by cutting-edge research of Tomas Glomb and Adam Mertel. Based on the GEHIR project’s computer modelling of the spread of Egyptian cults, the game challenges players to test how ancient religions could conquer the Mediterranean and to outsmart rival deities such as Isis, Serapis, Anubis or Bastet.
The game is rooted in the interdisciplinary project that founded CEDRR. It uses formal modelling and computational simulations to explore how religious ideas travel. One of its key case studies examines the expansion of Egyptian cults in the Hellenistic period, when deities from the Nile found followers from Alexandria to distant Mediterranean ports. Archaeological finds reveal where the cults took hold, but not precisely how they spread. The research—and the game—focus on two main hypotheses: that maritime trade routes and Ptolemaic political influence were decisive. Players choose one of four cults and compete to attract the most worshippers by directing grain shipments, upgrading ships and ports, and making political moves, mirroring the real-world dynamics that scholars are still seeking to understand.
