Meet the Egyptian Female Archaeologist Leading Her Own Excavation

Egyptian archaeologist Nora Shawki during one of her excavations.

Nora Shawki is a 27-year-old Egyptian archaeologist who has been excavating ancient sites in the Delta for almost five years and is now getting ready to direct her very own dig this October. She maintained her passion for the field all through her undergraduate studies in archaeology at SOAS University in London and further on through her graduate studies at Durham University.

“My main challenge right now is trying to receive the permits from Egypt for the dig as the director. There are various roadblocks my way in the sense that I’m a female director, and that I did not obtain my degree from Cairo University,” she said. Shawki however is confident that with a little bit of diligence and persistence, she’ll be able to obtain the permits she has been trying to get a hold off for almost a year.

In 2015, Shawki received the prestigious Young Explorer Grant from National Geographic, which provided her with the funding needed to lead her own excavation of Tell Zuwelen, a site in Sharqiya governorate. This settlement was a satellite of Tanis, a major religious, economic, and cultural center in ancient Egypt.