Staff profile

Education

• 2009-2010: M.Sc. in GIS & Spatial Analysis in Archaeology: Read at University College London (UK).
• 2006-2009: BA Single Honours in Archaeology: Read at the University of Exeter (UK).
• 2005-2006: International Baccalaureate: Studied at Lower Canada College, Montreal (Canada).

Abstract

'Bringing Home' the Domestic Contexts of the Western Egyptian Delta during the Late Roman Period.

This research investigates the domestic contexts of the Egyptian Delta during the Late Roman period. Houses are a common type of structure, yet their in-depth study has not become a frequent objective in the investigation of Egyptian sites. Though notable exceptions exist (e.g. the Nile Valley sites of Tell el-Amarna, Deir el-Medina, the Fayum region, and the more recent investigations taking place in the Dakhleh Oasis), they are confined within specific time frames and geographical areas that do not necessarily reflect all the regional nuances and changes throughout Egypt’s long history. The Late Roman period in Egypt is characterised by a multi-cultural population that saw the blending of foreign influences with local traditions which would have been expressed through architecture, customs, and material culture. As the region of the Delta is a floodplain with distinct geomorphological characteristics different from the other Egyptian regions, it may also have shaped the architecture of houses.

The planning and artefact deposition of the houses of the Egyptian countryside will be investigated to examine daily life during a particular historical period, the extent to which acculturation and hybridisation influenced the lives of Egyptians living in the Delta, and whether the environment of the Delta played a role in shaping the design of houses. It will comprise a catalogue of the sites in the Delta and the other Egyptian regions where domestic contexts have been excavated (and published). Additionally, the Late Roman mud brick houses of the site of Kom al-Ahmer (in the Western Delta region of Beheira) will be used as a case study to analyse the degree of agency that individual households could exert.

Grants

• 2018: ASOR Member Supported Excavation Fellowship, American Schools of Oriental Research.
• 2018: BANEA Conference Grant.
• 2017: H.R. Haycock Studentship in the Archaeology of Egypt and the Ancient Near East, Department of Archaeology, Durham University, UK.

Conference Contributions

• 2019: ‘(Re)considering the domestic contexts of the Late Roman Nile Delta’ BANEA 2019 22-24 February, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom.
• 2018: ‘Daily life and commercial activities in the Late Roman Western Nile Delta: the case of a House and an Amphorae Storage; BANEA 2018 27-29 March, Durham University, United Kingdom
• 2018: 'Bringing Home' the Domestic Contexts of the Western Egyptian Delta during the Late Roman Period’ Sudan and Egypt Study Group, 15 February, Durham University, United Kingdom.
• 2017: ‘Ancient Metelis: the forgotten sites of Kom al Ahmer and Kom Waset’ the North East Ancient Egypt Society, 25 November, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.
• 2015: ‘Four years in the Western Delta of Egypt: Recent discoveries and its impact on ancient economy’, International Congress of Egyptologists XI (ICE) 23-30 August, Museo Egizio Firenze, Florence, Italy.
• 2015: ‘The Italian Archaeological mission in Beheira: 4 years of excavation and research’ Introductory Lectures on Beheira Tells, Fossils and Antiquities Program 11 May, Misr Public Library, Damanhour, Egypt.
• 2014: ‘Kom al-Ahmer/Kom Wasit Archaeological Project: tre anni di scavi e ricerca nel Delta Occidentale del Nilo, Egitto’, Kom al-Ahmer/Kom Wasit, la Scoperta di un’antica capitale sul Delta del Nilo 7 October, Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy.
• 2014: Kom al-Ahmer 2014, Kom al-Ahmer/Kom Wasit Archaeological Day 26 June. Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt.
• 2013: ‘Decline, Migration and Revival: Kom al-Ahmer – Kom Wasit, a History of a Forgotten City’ TRAC 2013 4-6 April, King’s College London, United Kingdom.
  
  

Projects

Field director of Kom al-Ahmer in the Kom al-Ahmer – Kom Wasit Archaeological Project, Padova University and Italian-Egyptian Archaeological Centre (2014- present).

Publications

Books

• Kenawi, M., and Marchiori, G., 2018. Unearthing Alexandria’s Archaeology: the Italian Contribution. Oxford: Archaeopress.

Articles

• Asolati, M., Kenawi, M, and Marchiori, G. 2018. La moneta nel contesto archeologico, la moneta come contesto archeologico: il caso dell’Unità 4 di Kom al-Ahmer (Delta del Nilo, Egitto). Post-Classical Archaeologies 8, pp. 133-50.
• Mondin, C., Asolati, M., Kenawi, M., Marchiori, G., and Larosa, N., 2016. Kom al Ahmer – Kom Wasit Archaeological Project: i primi risultati della campagna di scavo 2016, Studi di Egittologia e di Papirologia, 13, pp. 65-74.
• Asolati, M., Kenawi, M., Marchiori, G. and Mondin, C., 2015. Alla Ricerca della Capitale Perduta, Kom al-Ahmer e Kom Wasit. Archeologia Viva, 171, pp. 18-27.
• Marchiori, G., 2014. Decline, Migration and Revival: Kom al-Ahmer and Kom Wasit, a History of a Forgotten City. Proceedings of the Twenty-Third Annual Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference, 23, pp.79-89.
• Blouin, K., Faucher, T., Hudson, N., Kenawi, M., Kirby, A., Mairs, R., Marchiori, G. and Van Peene, M., 2013. Thmuis, a 'New Land' in the Eastern Nile Delta. First Canadian Mission at Thmuis. [online] pp.1-10. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/4754581/2013._Blouin_K._et_al._Preliminary_Report_of_the_First_Canadian_Mission_at_Thmuis [Accessed 26 Jan. 2016].

Chapter in Book

• Marchiori, G. in press. A Late Roman house and an amphorae storage. In M. Kenawi, ed., Kom al-Ahmer – Kom Wasit I, Excavations in the Metelite nome. Oxford: Archaeopress.
  
• Kenawi, M. and Marchiori, G. in press. Unit 1: the Cistern and Late Roman Structures. In M. Kenawi, ed., Kom al-Ahmer – Kom Wasit I, Excavations in the Metelite nome. Oxford: Archaeopress.
• Kenawi, M. and Marchiori, G. in press. The Early Islamic Presence. In M. Kenawi, ed., Kom al-Ahmer – Kom Wasit I, Excavations in the Metelite nome. Oxford: Archaeopress.
• Kenawi, M, and Marchiori, G. 2018. Italian Archaeology in Alexandria. In C. S. Zerefos and M. V. Vardinoyannis, eds., Hellenistic Alexandria Celebrating 24 Centuries. Oxford: Archaeopress, pp. 60-68.
• Kenawi, M. and Marchiori, G., 2015. La missione italiana nel Delta Occidentale del Nilo: Kom al-Ahmer/Kom Wasit Archaeological Project. In M. Famá, I. Inferrera and P. Militello, eds., Magia d'Egitto: Mostre archeologiche e convegni in Sicilia. Paceco: Litotipografia Abate, 175-82.

Teaching Commitments

• Tutor on Cities in Antiquity course, 2018/19
• Instructor on The East Mediterranean World in the Bronze Age, 2018/19

• Material and Visual Culture

• Saïs and its Hinterland: Dynamics and Power in the West Nile Delta