Australian Centre for Egyptology

Egypt produced one of the first great civilizations known to history. For two and a half millennia it dominated the Eastern Mediterranean and under its influence developed the major sources of our culture, such as Israel, Greece and Rome. Its brilliant and massive achievements fascinated the ancient mind no less than the modern. Many Australians have in the past specialized in Egyptology and indeed, made a contribution to this field, but they had to study at overseas universities and work with foreign archaeological expeditions in Egypt. Macquarie University was the first Australian institution to introduce a full training program in Egyptology and to conduct Australian-based expeditions to excavate, record and preserve Egyptian sites. Since 1980 the Macquarie teams, formed of staff and students, have worked annually on a number of important sites including Thebes, Saqqara, Helwan and Giza. Some of these excavations are carried out as joint Australian-Egyptian projects in conjunction with the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities (Cairo).