Pottery specialist

The Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw

National Museum in Warsaw

k.danys.erc@uw.edu.pl

Dr Katarzyna de Lellis-Danys is an archaeologist with broad-ranging expertise in the Nile Valley's socio-economic research of past societies based on ceramic studies.She focuses on the Late Antiquity to pre-modern times trade, cultural relations between populations, and knowledge transfer between pottery craftsmen. Her involvement in the fieldwork concentrates in Egypt and Sudan, where she has participated in various projects. Recently, she was a pottery team leader in the ERC project “UMMA”, founded by the European Research Council to study the Christian-Islamic liminal phase in Old Dongola, Sudan. At Berenike, she is conducting research on the pottery findings from the Animal Cemetery as a member of the project„Non-humans in Berenike society. Archaeozoological data for a discourse on ancient identity and value” (National Science Centre grant nr UMO-2021/43/B/HS3/02749).

Osteoarchaeologist, human osteology

nina.maaranen@gmail.com

Dr Nina Maaranen is an archaeologist specialised in human osteology. Her research focuses on the eastern Mediterranean and the ancient Near East, including field work in Lebanon, Egypt and Iraq. She has utilised bioanthropological methods together with statistical techniques to study skeletal assemblages across the region to reconstruct population histories as well as individual life histories, exploring themes such migration and mobility, palaeodemography and health.

Archaeologist

The Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw, emerita

i.zych@uw.edu.pl

“In small things forgotten…”, registrar of the Berenike project and much more. Involved with the project since 2001, she has spent more time than anyone in Berenike and around Berenike, with the exception of Steve Sidebotham, with whom she codirected the expedition for 13 years, from 2008 until 2020. Now retired from the logistics and everyday administrative worries, she is still at the heart of things more than ever: mentoring the Necropolis project as well as the Animal Cemetery team. She is also the author of Berenike’s finds registration system and is thus contributing to the publication of the Berenike Isis Temple Project. Currently working on publishing the clay oil lamp assemblage from the excavations. Apart from Berenike, she has worked—as trench supervisor, registrar, small finds specialist, expert on clay oil lamps and worked wood artifacts, as well as logistics person and head of the team—at a number of sites excavated by the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw: Marina el-Alamein, Naqlun, Alexandria Kom el-Dikka in Egypt and Saruq al-Hadid in the UAE.

Archaeologist

The Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw

j.mosiejczyk@uw.edu.pl

Dr Jakub Mosiejczyk is a field archaeologist experienced in various urban research. He has participated in excavations in Ukraine, Romania, Macedonia, and most recently in Tunisia. He is particularly interested in ancient townscapes and the cosmopolitanism of Roman cities. Driven by curiosity to explore the Edge of the Roman World, he has been involved in the Berenike Project since 2023, often reflecting on the notion that every end marks the beginning of something completely new. During excavations, he is responsible for trench supervision and field documentation.

Project manager

Director of Expeditions and Excavations at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Red Sea Antiquities Area

mahmoudbarna@gmail.com

Mahmoud Ahmed Hussein extensive experience encompasses collaborative efforts with numerous archaeological missions operating within the Red Sea region. Mahmoud's dedication and managerial prowess have been invaluable to The Berenike Project, where he has played a pivotal role in providing administrative support and strategic leadership. Widely regarded as one of the most dedicated individuals involved in our research endeavors, Mahmoud's contributions have significantly enhanced the project's success and impact.

Photographer, papyrologist

University of Warsaw

kk.zochowski@uw.edu.pl

In The Berenike Project Kacper Żochowski deals with photographic documentation of finds, as well as capturing daily struggle and happy moments of archaeological mission. Apart from being a photographer, he is a PhD student in Interdisciplinary Doctoral School UW (law and archaeology) with a project focusing on litigation in Roman Egypt as seen through papyrological evidence. His main interests are Greco-Roman antiquity, legal praxis in ancient Egypt, and linguistics, especially of Latin and Greek. During his studies (BA in classical philology, MA in law) he participated in excavations in Marea. In 2024 he joined the Berenike team.

Archaeologist

The Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw

m.gwiazda2@uw.edu.pl

Dr Mariusz Gwiazda is co-director of the Berenike Project. He specializes in the archaeology of the Greco-Roman Eastern Mediterranean. His current work focuses on mortuary archaeology, craft production and Late Antique cultural transformations. He participated in archaeological projects conducted in Lebanon, Kuwait, Turkey and Egypt and has joined the Berenike Project in 2011.

Pottery specialist

The Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw

jerzy.oleksiak96@gmail.com

Jerzy Oleksiak (MA, PhD researcher) is a ceramicist and arabist who has been working on the Berenike project since 2019. His research focuses on economic integration and dependencies of sites located in the Eastern Desert, Nile Valley, and Indian Ocean. His main area of interest is pottery, which plays a crucial role in studying and understanding the scale and vectorization of trade in the Late Antique Red Sea - a sphere of overlapping economic influence between the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Indian Ocean markets. He has worked as a ceramicist on various projects in Cyprus, Sicily, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.

Bioarchaeology

Institute of Archeology of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow

judyta.bak@doctoral.uj.edu.pl

In The Berenike Project, Judyta Bąk is involved in research on funeral customs at the Berenike site. She specializes in archeology and anthropology of the body. Her interests and research activity related to the subject of body decoration and modification, funeral customs and analysis of human remains. Currently, she is a PhD student at the Doctoral School of Humanities JU, preparing a dissertation about the tradition of body painting and tattooing in pre-Hispanic coastal cultures of Peru.

Archaeologist

Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures, Polish Academy of Sciences

mawozniak@iksio.pan.pl

In Berenike, Dr. Marek Woźniak is responsible for researching the Hellenistic phase of the cities functioning. Manager of the (now completed) NCN 'Prelude' grant on issues related to the shape, origins and functioning of the Ptolemaic Berenike. He specializes in the archaeology of the Greco-Roman period, with a particular focus on the archaeology of the ancient, maritime trade and communication routes of the Indian Ocean and sites on the Asiatic and African peripheries of the Hellenistic world. Member of archaeological missions in Turkmenistan, Cyprus, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Sudan and, of course, Egypt (Alexandria, Sakkara, Berenike). In the 'Berenike Project' since 2009.

Archaeologist, numismatist

The Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw

e.smagur@uw.edu.pl

Dr Emilia Smagur is an archaeologist in Berenike. She is also responsible for the documentation and analysis of coin finds. Her main field of expertise is archaeology of South Asia, the Indian Ocean trade as well as Indian and Roman coinage. Her current work focuses on the value and use of coins in the Indian Ocean ports, as well as on the agency of imports. She participated in many archaeological projects conducted in India, Nepal, Cambodia, Cyprus, Israel, Bulgaria and Ukraine and has joined the Berenike Expedition in 2021.

Archaeologist

Independent Researcher

snc28@pitt.edu

Sana Chowdhry (MA RPA) is an independent researcher with archaeological experience in the commercial and non-profit sector. She has conducted archaeological field work in North America, Egypt, Jordan, England, and Saudi Arabia. Her research expertise and interests lie in the archaeology of Arabia, pre-modern trade networks of the Red Sea & Indian Ocean, pre-Islamic belief systems, and antiquity laws. Her technical expertise is in field surveying, GPR, and GIS analysis. She is currently a heritage management professional and freelance archaeologist based in the USA and is delighted to serve as a trench supervisor since the 2023 season of the Berenike Project.

Conservator

mahmoudsamir.arch@gmail.com

Dr. Mahmoud Samir Hussein is a researcher in antiquities restoration. He is responsible for restoring the archaeological small finds discovered in Berenike. He holds the position of Director of Restoration of the Tomb of Ramses II in the Valley of the Kings under the mission of Dr. Zahi Hawass. His main area of ​​expertise is the restoration of archaeological finds and murals. He also holds the position of restoration officer at the excavations of New York University in the Dakhla Oasis and the excavations of the Greek mission, the Center for Hellenic Studies in Alexandria, and director of the Royal Art Company for the restoration of palaces and monuments.

Archaeologist, glass specialist

Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology; University of Warsaw;

rkucharczyk@uw.edu.pl

She is a glass specialist involved in archaeological projects at various sites in Egypt and in the Mediterranean. Her research focuses on diverse aspects of ancient glass studies: from technology to typology, through distribution and consumption. The chronological extent of her scholarly interests ranges from the Roman period to early Islam and parallels the geographical range. She is primarily engaged in research in Alexandria (Kom el-Dikka). Recently, has also worked on glass finds from the newly discovered temple of Bubastis. In addition, the scope of her research further includes Marina el-Alamein, Marea and the temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, as well as Ptolemais in Libya and Akrai in Sicily.

Pottery specialist

alexandra.archeo@gmail.com

Dr. Alexandra Konstantinidou is charged with the documentation and analysis of the pottery finds at Berenike. She has a long experience both as pottery expert and field archaeologist, being a member of several archaeological expeditions in Greece and Egypt. She is particularly interested in monastic archaeology, ancient technology and material culture as well as in archaeological theory.

Textile and painting conservator

Faculty of Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art, Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw

anna.konopko@asp.waw.pl

Anna Konopko (MA, PhD Researcher) is a conservator holding diplomas in two specialties: conservation of textiles and conservation of paintings. It reflects her interest in interdisciplinary historic and modern objects which can’t be classified within traditional categories of arts and crafts. Currently she is working on completing her PhD which focuses on 18th/19th Chinese export art– mixed-media decorative wall panels. 2022 will be her first season at the Berenike site, where she will be responsible for cataloging, analysing textile artifacts, their preventive conservation as well as developing a methodology for future treatments and research.

Archaeologist, amphora stoppers specialist

Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures, Polish Academy of Sciences

mbajtler@iksio.pan.pl

Field archaeologist specializing in the ancient economy and maritime archaeology. Her current work focuses on architecture and urban planning of the site, mainly on the relation between main city roads and public buildings. Also responsible for documentation and analysis of amphorae stoppers. Since 2013 a member of "The Berenike Project".