Under the patronage of Prof. Ghada Farouk, Acting President of Ain Shams University, and Prof. Hossam Tantawi, Dean of the Faculty of Archaeology, Ain Shams University received, on Tuesday, September 12, a multinational delegation, including researchers from Germany, Lebanon, and Egypt, to launch the “Taziz” research project, which aims to “deal with material culture in the eastern Mediterranean: between excavation and digitization"

“Taziz” is a joint cooperation project between Ain Shams University, the German University of Marburg, the American University of Beirut, the University of Alexandria, the German Library for Middle East Research at the University of Halle, the Goethe Research Library at the University of Erfurt, and the German Institute of Archaeology in Cairo.

The project addresses topics concerned with heritage preservation and sustainable development, and also includes a joint master’s program between Ain Shams University and Marburg University.

The activities of the first day of the visit that the university will receive over the course of September 12 and 14, 2023 began with the delegation’s visit to the Saffron Museum, where they were received by A. Dr.. Mamdouh El-Damaty, supervisor of the museum, professor of Egyptology at the Faculty of Archeology at Ain Shams University, and former Minister of Antiquities, and Prof. Dr.. Ahmed Al-Shawki, Professor of Islamic Antiquities and Vice Dean of the College of Antiquities for Postgraduate Affairs.

He was accompanied by A. Dr.. Mamdouh El-Damaty gave the delegation a tour of the museum, during which he explained the history of the palace and the restoration and rehabilitation work being carried out on it, as well as the project to establish the Saffron Palace Museum and the artifacts it contains.

After that, the delegation headed to the university’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (I Hub) to begin the project’s inauguration ceremony and hold consultative sessions. Three consultative sessions were held that included presentations and discussions between all parties.

The participants in the sessions were: Prof. Albrecht Voss, Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Marburg and principal investigator of the project, Prof. Mamdouh El-Damaty, Professor of Egyptology and Academic Head of the Joint Master’s Program, Prof. Ahmed Al-Shawki, Professor of Islamic Archeology and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Archaeology for Graduate Studies, Prof. Ralph Bodenstein, Scientific Director of the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo, Dr. Carsten Falbner, Director of the German Academic Exchange Service in Cairo, Mrs. Lorena Moore, Scientific Attaché at the German Embassy in Cairo.

The sessions represent the first step on the path to exploring cooperation between the working groups, which were summarized at the end of the day and will be discussed in detail on the day following the meeting, corresponding to September 14, 2023.