Although the current temperatures both in Germany and Egypt would suggest it is still summer, our short summer break comes to an end. I am delighted to announce the next DiverseNile Seminar by Egyptologist Fatma Keshk next week.

Fatma is an old friend I have meet many years ago during the German excavations in Elephantine; she then also joined me once for our AcrossBorders project on Sai Island in Sudan, a truly enjoyable experience. It was actually 10 years ago – amazing how time flies by (there are photos as evidence that we were both younger back then 😉).

Through our personal encounters, I have been able to follow Fatma’s career over the last years. And it’s just amazing how successful it is!

After obtaining her PhD in 2021 at the Free University of Berlin with a dissertation entitled: “An Ethno-archaeological Study of Streets and Open Courtyards from Modern Nubia and Ancient Egyptian Settlements from the Predynastic Period to the end of the Middle Kingdom”, she was successful in securing two postdoctoral fellowships in Cairo in the past years. She is currently affiliated with the IFAO. Last year, she was the organizer of the fantastic conference “Living in the House”, which Chloë and I had the pleasure to attend (see also Chloë’s report on this event).

Fatma has a strong interest in settlement archaeology and here especially in understanding the use of space – this makes her an ideal person to exchange ideas for our own DiverseNile project. She applies inter-disciplinary methodologies in her research, notably ethno-archaeological approaches. Fatma has also engaged in heritage outreach activities with different local Egyptian communities over the past years. In her upcoming DiverseNile Seminar on Tuesday, September 19, she will focus on her observations for the site of Saqqara – stressing that there are peculiarities for every site in Egypt, not least because of diverse participants, audience, and overall goals.

I am very much looking forward to this presentation and grateful to Fatma for sharing her experience in an important and growing field of studies.