Regional Identities in Middle Egypt

The village of Shutb, 5km south of Asyut city, is an important window into the history of a rural community living above an ancient site. The village is built on the remains of ancient Shashotep, a regional centre and capital of the 11th Upper Egyptian province from 2000 BC onwards. It provides an ideal archaeological and anthropological context rarely preserved in the Egyptian Nile valley – a middle-sized provincial town combined with its hinterland in a continuous historical setting that is accessible for research. 

Fieldwork has traditionally been physically and intellectually separated from the surrounding environment and communities. But in this project, an interdisciplinary team of Egyptian and UK-based consultants have collaborated with local stakeholders to develop a set of protection measures to:

• Research and uphold the site's archaeological value
• Prevent further decay of the historic fabric
• Enhance the socio-economic conditions of the inhabitants

Some artefacts from Asyut – including sculpture, ceramics, funerary equipment, textiles and papyri – were taken to the British Museum following excavations by David George Hogarth in 1906–7. This project aims to recontextualise these finds by cross-referencing information from old field notes with tomb numbers marked on the objects, and by matching the artefacts with similar items from other museums as well as from more recent fieldwork.

This project aims to research and document Asyut's threatened cultural heritage and to plan further conservation work to prevent permanent loss of the historic fabric. The project's success is dependent on collaboration and coordination with local communities and heritage professionals, which will be achieved by:

• Providing training in archaeological documentation
• Implementing policies to protect Asyut's threatened cultural heritage
• Exchanging experience in areas of archaeological fieldwork, urban planning and policy making, to build capacity with local stakeholders

The project also aims to develop a new method for integrating archaeological fieldwork with museum collections and archives to produce a more holistic approach to researching and understanding the cultural heritage of regional Egypt.

Research results have and continue to be shared through a variety of platforms including books, journal articles and videos. In addition to the scholarly community, the general public and the people of Asyut are kept up-to-date with the outcomes of the project through mission reports published in English and Arabic. 

Outputs also include reports on:

• Vernacular architecture
• Heritage outreach workshops with young people
• The social dynamics and perceptions of the village

The project has successfully tested a holistic approach for innovative and sustainable fieldwork initiatives, promoting increased empowerment of, and participation by, local communities. Such an all-inclusive approach has rarely been tested in Egypt, where most projects are physically and intellectually separated from present-day inhabitants of rural areas with large numbers of low-profile sites and unlisted historic buildings. 

Our outputs (surveys, documentation, excavation, training, publications) have provided important information on:

• The history of the Asyut region represented within the British Museum collection
• Perceptions on local tangible and intangible heritage and the social dynamics of the villages

Designed to provide a better understanding of people's perceptions of their ancient heritage, our outreach activities have been a medium for local people to give voice to the stories and memories that shape their understanding of the village and themselves. The aim is to build on these experiences in order to explore future collaboration and inform the redisplay of objects from Asyut at the British Museum.

Project supporters

Supported by