Education in Maritime Archaeology: The Egyptian Case Study

Abstract

The investigation of archaeological sites of maritime nature started in Egypt more than a century ago, with the discovery of the Dahshur boats (Haldane 1998) and the ancient harbour of Pharos (Jondet 1912); however, education in maritime and underwater archaeology in Egypt is still in its infancy. This paper will look at the development of maritime archaeology in Egypt as a scientific discipline and the progress achieved to date in providing Egyptian archaeologists with education and training in aspects of maritime archaeology and underwater cultural heritage.

From the Coast to the High Mountains: A Remote Sensing Survey of Disturbances and Threats to the Archaeology and Heritage of South Sinai

“…In 1996, the Department of Underwater Archaeology (DUA) was founded in Egypt, which is responsible for the protection of the entire submerged heritage along the coasts of Egypt and oversees all aquatic activity along the coast and inland waters of Egypt (Abd-el-Maguid 2012 ). Furthermore, the Alexandria Centre for Maritime Archaeology offers academic education and training programmes for underwater archaeology and heritage management (Khalil 2008 :87). However, detailed studies of underwater archaeology in the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba are not available.…”

Maritime Archaeology and Capacity Development in the Global South

“…The broader challenges of actually delivering capacity development will be addressed below, but it is worth initially considering the context of capacity development more broadly and the context of maritime cultural heritage more specifically. While awareness around the resource has been developing for decades, and the professional field of maritime archaeology has become embedded within university practice, there remains little understanding of the mechanisms to build the subject from a capacity perspective across the Global South (Khalil 2008). The specific problem has centred on the fact that maritime archaeology has been, for the most part, a subject that has developed and matured within a western context.…”

“…The project aimed to create a specialised center for postgraduate studies, and was set up in partnership with the University of Southampton, the Centre d'Etudes Alexandrines, Egypt, the Nautical Archaeology Society, UK, and Ulster University, Northern Ireland. Ten years later the CMAUCH continues to provide education and training in aspects of maritime and underwater archaeology predominantly at Diploma and Masters levels (Khalil 2008). The development of the CMAUCH and the workshop that was held at its launch (the '2010 International Workshop on Underwater Cultural Heritage'), was partly responsible for the formation in 2010 of the Maritime Archaeological Stewardship Trust (MAST) by one of the authors of this paper, Lucy Blue.…”

Work-Integrated Learning in Maritime Archaeology: An Australian Approach

“…T HE MARITIME ARCHAEOLOGY Program (MAP) in the Department of Archaeology at Flinders University is the largest sustained and only fully integrated program teaching maritime archaeology in Australia and, arguably, in the Asia-Pacific region. This is unlike the situation in Europe and North America where maritime archaeology is taught at both undergraduate and postgraduate level at quite a number of universities (Jasinski & Soreide 2008;Khalil 2008;Maarleveld & Auer 2008;Morozova & Zelenko 2008;Parham & Palma 2008;Ransley 2008;Stamirov 2008;Sturt 2008). This has also resulted in a more extensive discussion about education in maritime archaeology in recent years which will clearly be further expanded as a result of the bringing into force of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage (2001) on 2 Jan 2009 (Pydyn & Flatman 2008;Radic Rossi et al 2008).…”