Under the patronage of Prof. Ghada Farouk - Acting President of Ain Shams University, Prof. Hossam Tantawi - Dean of the Faculty of Archeology at Ain Shams University. On Thursday, September 14, 2023, the Faculty of Archeology received the activities of the third day of the workshop for launching the research project “Taziz”, which is a joint cooperation project between Ain Shams University, the German University of Marburg, the American University of Beirut, the University of Alexandria, and the German Library, for Middle East Research at the University of Halle, the Gotha Research Library at the University of Erfurt, and the German Oriental Research Institute. The project aims to “deal with material culture in the Eastern Mediterranean: between excavation and digitization,” and will last for three years.

During the meeting, Prof. Ghada Farouk expressed her happiness and welcome of their participation in the project, stressing the importance of cooperation between the project members in order to preserve and digitize material culture. Her Excellency indicated her pride in hosting Ain Shams University for this important event, which deals with topics concerned with heritage preservation and sustainable development, and her personal passion for cultural heritage and the information it tells us about the social life of its predecessors, the arts and architecture at that time, and other important matters that enhance a person’s identity and link him to his origins, and hoped that the workshop will be the beginning of more cooperation and activities that highlight and enhance the true value of our cultural heritage.

The activities of the third day included four consultative sessions enriched with presentations from all parties, which aimed to create working groups to study material culture from multidisciplinary perspectives, as well as to study the infrastructure of the participating institutions and what they can offer to achieve the objectives of the project. The project map for the coming period was also drawn up to include workshops, and schools in the fall hosted by participating institutions in Egypt, Lebanon and Germany.

The meeting was organized by the International Cooperation Office team at the Faculty of Archeology at Ain Shams University, represented by Dr. Manar Al-Khayal - Director of the Faculty’s International Cooperation Office, Dr. Nihal Al-Ansari - Member of the International Cooperation Office, Mr. Ahmed Naqshara - Member of the International Cooperation Office, Dr. Rasha Al-Muftesh – Faculty Public Relations Officer.

Participated in the workshop from the Egyptian side, from Ain Shams University: Prof. Mamdouh El-Damaty - Professor of Egyptology, former Minister of Antiquities, and Academic Head of the Joint Master’s Program in the project, Prof. Ahmed Al-Shawki - Professor of Islamic Archeology and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Antiquities for Postgraduate Studies and Research, Prof. Abdel Razek Al-Najjar - Professor of Heritage Sciences at the Faculty of Archaeology, Dr. Hassan Obaid - Lecturer of Archival Materials at the Faculty of Archeology, Dr. Mennat Allah Al-Dari - Lecturer of Archaeological Plants at the Faculty of Archaeology, Dr. Manar Al-Khayal - Lecturer of Heritage Sciences at the Faculty of Archaeology, Prof. Ahmed Naqshara - Assistant Lecturer in Archaeological Sites Management at the Faculty of Archaeology.

From Alexandria University: Prof. Heba Saad - Professor of Islamic Archeology at the Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Prof. Sarah Katat - Professor and Head of the Tourism Guidance Department at the Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Dr. Manar Ahmed Hafez - Lecturer of Islamic Archeology and Arts in the Department of Tourism Guidance at the Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Dr. Sarah Mustafa Ragab - Modern and Contemporary History Teacher in the Department of Tourism Guidance at the Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Dr. Doaa Samir - Lecturer of Heritage Presentation at the Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Dr. Shaima Taha - Lecturer of Tourism Marketing and E-Marketing in the Department of Tourism Guidance at the Faculty of Tourism and Hotels.

From the German side: Prof. Albrecht Vos - Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Marburg and principal investigator of the project, Prof. Tanja Pommerning - Executive Director of the Institute for the History of Pharmacy and Medicine at the University of Marburg, Prof. Winfried Heide - Head of the Department of Archeology at the University of Marburg, Dr. Susan Sakr - Scientific Research Assistant at the Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Marburg, Dr. Christine Felkening - Researcher at the Department of Archeology at the University of Marburg, Mrs. Irene Al-Kharazati - Head of the Marburg University Coordination Office in Cairo, Asaad Ozturk - Project Coordinator at the University of Marburg, Mrs. Marisa Cooney - Researcher at the University of Marburg, Mr. Anthony Kueckel - Researcher at the University of Marburg, Dr. Ahmed Abdel Salam - Associate Researcher at the University of Marburg, Prof. Dietrich Gau - Director of the German Institute for Oriental Research in Cairo, Asst. Dr. Ralph Bodenstein, Scientific Director of the German Institute for Oriental Research in Cairo, Dr. Hendrikje Karius – Deputy Director of the Gotha Research Library and Head of the User and Digital Library Department, Dr. Firas Karmisti - Curator of Oriental Manuscripts and Emigrant Letters at the Gotha Institute, Dr. Christen Falbner - Director of the German Authority for Cultural Exchange in Cairo, Mrs. Lorena Mohr - Scientific Attaché at the German Embassy in Cairo, Dr. Yasmine Ahmed Amin - German Institute for Oriental Research, and Mrs. Maha Maher Wissa – from the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany.

From the Lebanese side: Prof. Ilan Sadr - Professor of Archeology in the Department of History and Archeology at the American University of Beirut, Prof. Claire Malleson - Professor of Plant Paleontology, at the American University of Beirut, Prof. Tariq Abu Hussein - Professor of Ottoman Studies at the American University of Beirut,

In addition to guests from various institutions: Prof. Anja Zalta - Assistant Professor at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, Prof. Anya Beller – from the University of Halle.

The sessions concluded with a discussion of the fall school that will be held at Alexandria University at the end of next November.