Since 2016    
Professor of Egyptology, University of Cologne

2010-2016      
Lecturer in Egyptology and Egyptian Archaeology, University College London

2010
Research fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Cambridge University

2007-2010
Assistant lecturer, Free University of Berlin

2007
PhD in Egyptology, Free University of Berlin

2004-2006
PhD fellow of the Research Training Group Monotheism and Polytheism in the Ancient World, Göttingen University

2002
Magister Artium in Egyptology, Assyriology and theology, Free University and Humboldt University Berlin

Since 2021    
Head of Department of Non-European Societies and Cultures, University of Cologne

Since 2019   
Secretary General of the International Association of Egyptologists

Since 2019   
Appointed Member of the German Archaeological Institute

Since 2019 
Member of the advisory board of the German Archaeological Institute, Cairo Branch

Since 2019     
Speaker of the Association of archaeological institutes in Cologne and Bonn

• Archaeology of ancient Egypt
• Early complex societies
• Archaic states
• Urbanism in northeast Africa
• Cultural theory
• Cultural heritage

The project contributes to current debates of the early ancient Egyptian state and its development in local landscapes. The focus is placed on the excavation, scientific analysis and publication of the recently discovered cemetery of the early Old Kingdom (ca. 2700-2500 BC) at Zawyet Sultan, Egypt, as well as its interpretation in the wider historical and archaeological context. Different from other provincial sites, where elite tombs dominate the archaeological record, the cemetery of Zawyet Sultan includes burials of individuals of lower social standing. The project combines excavation with geophysical survey, archaeobotanical analysis, the study of human remains and conservation. Departing from the results of the analysis, the cemetery will be compared to similar provincial cemeteries, positioned in the local and regional funerary landscape, and embedded in the extant settlement remains at the site. The project explores social organisation and funerary practices in a region of Egypt, which is archaeologically comparatively poorly documented. Parallel to the archaeologial exploration of the site, the project explores new forms of site management and hertiage practices.

Funding:

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

Duration:

2020-2023

The project establishes a fresh foundation for research into the earliest inscriptions of Egypt. The ca. 6,000 published inscriptions date to the formative period of the ancient Egyptian state, from the first hieroglyphs to the beginning of the Old Kingdom (3,000-2,700 BC). They shed light on forms of royal and elite self-representation and new administrative practices. In this project, the inscriptions are tranliterated, translated and incorporated in the online access database Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae  run by the Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Sciences. A wealth of meta data added to the inscriptoins is designed to facilitate an interpretation of the inscriptions in their material and archaeological context. At the interface of philology, archaeology and the digital humanities, the project aims to extend systematic research of the ancient Egyptian language from later periods back to the origins of the earliest inscribed objects, to develop new methods for digital recording, and to facilitate advanced interpretation of the inscriptions in their historical and sociological context.

Funding:

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

Duration:

2020-2022