Meet the team

Carina van den Hoven
Mission Director

Carina is Research Fellow at The Netherlands Institute for the Near East in Leiden and Chercheur Associée at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris. She holds a BA and MA degree in French language and literature and a BA and MA degree in Egyptology, all from Leiden University. She obtained a double PhD degree in Egyptology at Leiden University and the École Pratique des Hautes Études/Université Paris Sciences et Lettres. Carina's expertise and research interests in Egyptology are in the principles and practice of temple decoration and tomb decoration, focusing on the interplay between iconography, inscriptions, architecture and religious ideas. Her research focuses not only on Pharaonic Egypt, but extends into the Graeco-Roman Period, and addresses such varied topics as textual and iconographic transmission processes, uses and reuses of the past, archaeology of religion, landscape archaeology, and collective memory. Carina also has a keen interest in Digital Humanities and its applications to Egyptology, especially digital epigraphy, spectral imaging techniques, 3D-modelling and 4D-visualisation.

Steffie van Gompel
Assistant Director

Steffie is a PhD student of Egyptology and Papyrology at the Leiden University Institute for Area Studies (LIAS). Her PhD research focuses on marriage traditions and family systems as reflected in Demotic and Abnormal Hieratic contracts, as well as in earlier Pharaonic Egypt. She holds a Research Master in Egyptology and a Bachelor’s degree in Assyriology, both from Leiden University. Her other research interests include daily and family life in the ancient world, socio-economic aspects of Egyptian society, and archaeological illustration.

Bianca Madden
Conservator

Bianca is a conservator who specialises in wall paintings, sculpture, and polychrome or gilded surfaces. She trained in conservation at the City and Guilds of London Art School. She undertook further training in Italy with a Leonardo da Vinci grant to study with a conservator in Urbino. Bianca also holds an MSc from University College London in Sustainable Heritage, covering conservation issues, methodologies, policies and practice, encompassing sites, built heritage, and collections. Bianca has a long-term involvement in the conservation of tomb                                                                                         painting and sculpture in Egypt.

Matjaž Kačičnik
Photographer

Matjaž is a Slovenian professional photographer/photojournalist living in Cairo. He specialises in documenting cultural heritage and archaeological sites. Matjaž holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Ljubljana. Since 2004, he has worked with a variety of projects documenting Egypt’s unique material and cultural legacies, photographing pharaonic tombs and Cairo’s Islamic and Coptic monuments.

Azab Taie Osman
Rais

Azab is the rais (foreman) of the project. He supervises the workmen and provides invaluable technical and practical assistance to the project.  

Mohamed Ahmed Selim
Inspector fieldwork season 2018

Mohamed was the inspector during the first fieldwork season in March 2018.  

OUR COLLEAGUES

We closely cooperate with the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities and with our Egyptian colleagues at the Inspectorate of Antiquities on the west bank of Luxor in the study and preservation of Egypt’s cultural heritage. We thank all the members of the Ministry of Antiquities and the Luxor Inspectorate of Antiquities for their continued support and assistance:
Dr. Khaled el-Enany, Minister of Antiquities, Dr. Mostafa Waziri, Secretary General, Dr. Mohamed Ismail, Director of the Department of Foreign Missions, Dr. Mohamed Abd el-Aziz, General Director of Antiquities for Upper-Egypt, Dr. Talat Abd el-Aziz, General Director of Antiquities for Luxor, Mr. Fathy Yasin Abd el-Karim, General Director of the West Bank of Luxor, Mr. Bahaa Abd el-Gaber Badawy, Director of the West Bank of Luxor, Mr. Ramadan Ahmed Ali Ahmed, General Director of Foreign Missions of the West Bank of Luxor, Mr. Ezz el-Din Kamal el-Nuby, Director of the Middle Area of the West Bank of Luxor, Mr. Ahmed Boughdadi, Chief Inspector of the Middle Area of the West Bank of Luxor.

Support the project

If you wish to support the project and join us in preserving Egypt's heritage for the future, make a donation or become a sponsor!