The scholars leading research and teaching on the ancient world.
Archaeology; History; Egyptology; Cross-Cultural Encounters; Cultural Transformation; Funerary Archaeology; Digital Epigraphy; Digital Humanities; Cultural Heritage
Anna-Latifa Mourad-Cizek studies the links between ancient cultural encounters and socio-cultural transformations. Her research has focused on relations between Egypt and Western Asia during the Third and Second Millennia BCE. She is particularly interested in the processes related to the movement of concepts, objects and people across geographic, social and cultural borders, and how these lead to change. Her approach integrates archaeological, textual and artistic data with current theoretical understandings on social identities, cultural encounters, and socio-cultural transformations. Anna has worked on several archaeological field projects. She currently co-directs the Khentika Project at Saqqara, and the Beni Hassan Project.
Anna's monographs include Rise of the Hyksos: Egypt and the Levant from the Middle Kingdom to the Early Second Intermediate Period (Archaeopress, 2015); The Enigma of the Hyksos, Vol II: Transforming Egypt into the New Kingdom (Harrassowitz, 2021); and Egypt and the Levant: Networks and Negotiations in the Bronze Age (Cambridge University Press, 2026). Her current research examines how communities adapted to shifting long-distance connectivities across Egypt and Western Asia from the Third to Second Millennium BCE. It seeks to elucidate the links between connectivity, environmental and climatic change, as well as regional and local transformations.
Books
Articles
Beni Hassan is located around 245 km south of modern Cairo, Egypt. It is renowned for its Middle Kingdom burials (ca 2080–1819 BCE). These include the beautifully decorated tombs of the area’s…
The Khentika Project was launched in July 2025. It focuses on the mastaba of Khentika, located in the Teti Cemetery at Saqqara. The tomb belongs to a vizier who served Pharaohs Teti and Pepy I across…
