Mervat Seif el-Din,
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
: ميرفت سيف الدين (born 1954) is a
classical archaeologist
Classical archaeology is the archaeological investigation of the Mediterranean civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Nineteenth-century archaeologists such as Heinrich Schliemann were drawn to study the societies they had read about ...
from
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
, who was Director of the
Graeco-Roman Museum
The Graeco-Roman Museum is an archaeological museum located in Alexandria, Egypt.
History
Erected in 1892, it was first built in a five-room apartment, inside one small building on Rosetta Street (later Avenue Canope and now Horriya). In 1895, ...
of
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
from 2004 to 2010. A specialist in the archaeology of Alexandria, el-Din is an expert on
faience
Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major ...
and funerary painting in particular.
Biography
El-Din was born in
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
in 1954.
She studied at the
University of Alexandria
Alexandria University ( ar, جامعة الإسكندرية) is a public university in Alexandria, Egypt. It was established in 1938 as a satellite of Fouad University (the name of which was later changed to Cairo University), becoming an indepen ...
from 1970 to 1974 in the Department of Archaeology for her undergraduate and Master's degrees.
In 1976 she became assistant curator at the
Graeco-Roman Museum
The Graeco-Roman Museum is an archaeological museum located in Alexandria, Egypt.
History
Erected in 1892, it was first built in a five-room apartment, inside one small building on Rosetta Street (later Avenue Canope and now Horriya). In 1895, ...
of Alexandria, where she worked until she emigrated to Germany to undertake postgraduate research.
Between 1979 and 1985 she completed her doctorate at the
University of Trier
The University of Trier (german: Universität Trier), in the German city of Trier, was founded in 1473. Closed in 1798 by order of the then French administration in Trier, the university was re-established in 1970 after a hiatus of some 172 y ...
.
She was supervised by the archaeologist
Günter Grimm (
de).
In 1999 she served as the Secretary General of the
Archaeological Society of Alexandria. She taught at
Ain Shams University
Ain Shams University ( ar, جامعة عين شمس) is a public university located in Cairo, Egypt. Founded in 1950, the university provides education at the undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate levels.
History
Ain Shams University was ...
and at
Helwan University
Helwan University is a public university based in Helwan, Egypt, which is part of Greater Cairo on over . It comprises 23 faculties and two higher institutes in addition to 50 research centers.
Overview
Helwan University is a member of the ...
in Egypt before returning to the Greco-Roman Museum of Alexandria as Chief Curator, which she then headed from 2004 to 2010.
Since 2010, she has been responsible for the publication of recent excavations in the
Bubasteion of Alexandria (
fr).
A specialist in
Greco-Roman Egypt
The history of Egypt has been long and wealthy, due to the flow of the Nile River with its fertile banks and delta, as well as the accomplishments of Egypt's native inhabitants and outside influence. Much of Egypt's ancient history was a myster ...
, she carried out studies covering both large sculpture and funerary painting, as well as moulded relief ceramics, earthenware, crockery and metal figurines.
In 2014 a
festschrift
In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the ...
was published in honour of her 60th birthday, which examined the archaeology of Alexandria through different material cultures.
Selected publications
* ''Die reliefierten hellinistisch-römischen Pilgerflaschen'', French Institute of Oriental Archeology in Cairo (IFAO), 2006.
* With Marie-Dominique Nenna, "The small earthenware plastic of the Greco-Roman museum of Alexandria" in ''Bulletin de correspondence hellénique'' , vol. 118,
p. 291-320.
* With Marie-Dominique Nenna, ''Earthenware tableware from the Greco-Roman period'' , French Institute of Oriental Archeology in Cairo (IFAO), 2000.
* With Ahmed Abdel-Fattah, Mostafa El-Abbadi, ''Alexandria, Graeco-Roman Museum: A Thematic Guide'', American University in Cairo.
* With Ahmed Abdel-Fattah, Mostafa El-Abbadi, ''al-Iskandarīyah: al-Matʹḥaf al-Yūnānī al-Rūmānī'' , Cairo, 2003.
Gallery
File:Fassade des griechisch-römischen Museums in Alexandria, Ägypten (cropped).jpg, Graeco-Roman Museum
File:Sophilos Mosaic from Thmuis.jpg, Sophilos Mosaic
File:Osiris-Antinous in marble 2nd century CE at the Greco-Roman Museum in Alexandria Egypt AG.jpg, Osiris-Antinous in marble 2nd century CE
File:GD-EG-Alex-MuséeNat043.JPG, Figurines
File:Egypt-14A-026 - Cleopatra (2216749069).jpg, Cleopatra
File:AlexMusNilePlates.jpg
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Din, Mervat Seif
1954 births
Living people
Classical archaeologists
Museum directors
Egyptian women archaeologists
Egyptian archaeologists
Egyptian Egyptologists
Women classical scholars
People from Alexandria
University of Trier alumni
Alexandria University alumni
Ain Shams University alumni