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Staff profile

Overview

Dr Rennan Lemos

Assistant Professor Egyptian Archaeology

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Assistant Professor Egyptian Archaeology in the Department of Archaeology

Biography

Before joining the Department of Archaeology at Durham, I lectured in Egyptian and Sudanese archaeology at the University of Cambridge, where I also held a research appointment at Emmanuel. I additionally held a research position in Germany, where I taught both undergraduate and graduate students. I have worked continuously in Egypt and Sudan for over a decade. I currently serve as Assistant Director of the Sanam Temple Project, through which I have led excavations at a temple built by Taharqa in the Fourth Nile Cataract region, in collaboration with New York University. In collaboration with Sudan’s National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM), I also co-direct a field project on the 18th Dynasty tomb of Djehutyhotep, which was relocated from Lower Nubia to the Sudan National Museum in Khartoum during the UNESCO Nubian campaign. I have also overseen excavations at a large Kerma cemetery at Ginis East, North Sudan. In Egypt, I have excavated at Amarna and the Theban Necropolis (modern-day Luxor), where I remain actively involved in fieldwork.

Research

My current research, funded by the British Academy, explores the New Kingdom Egyptian colonisation of Nubia by examining how Egyptian-style objects helped shape local social relations in the colony. For this project, I have investigated how various foreign objects go through material and symbolic “metamorphoses” to perform essentially local tasks by using various archaeological science techniques. Among the objects and materials analysed are kohl and other make-up substances, coffins and funerary masks, clay figurines, copper-alloys and gold. I am also collaborating with colleagues at ISAW/NYU and the British Museum to expand these results by exploring Kerma Period kohl and other make-up recipes, with funding from the Michela Schiff Giorgini Foundation.

I am also co-directing another Schiff Giorgini Foundation-funded project on faience production and political economy in Napatan Nubia, in collaboration with the IFA/NYU. This work combines excavation results at Sanam with materials analysis.

I am also engaged in digital heritage work in Sudan, focusing on the 3D reconstruction of the tomb of Djehutyhotep and the creation of a virtual reality environment to allow engagement with heritage at risk of destruction due to the current internal war in Sudan. Initial work was funded by the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. Continuing work on Djehutyhotep will feed into a larger initiative, the Sudan Virtual Museum Project, led by NCAM and the Section Française de la Direction des Antiquités du Soudan (SFDAS), funded by Fonds Équipe France.

In Egypt, my current work focuses on the Nubian diaspora in Egypt during the New Kingdom. This is mostly based on epigraphic work in the late 18th Dynasty Theban tomb of Neferhotep (TT49). I am also researching the Old Kingdom socio-economic landscape of Thebes, especially focusing on the exploration of a recently identified new tomb in el-Khokha.

My research has a strong theoretical focus, with particular interest in postcolonial theory and decolonial theory as tools to build bottom-up interpretations. My research interests include the study of past forms of colonisation and alternatives to colonisation through material culture; social stratification and power; relations of production and consumption; and how inequalities determine the expression of identities through material culture.

Teaching

I am the convenor of 'The East Mediterranean World in the Bronze Age' module and responsible for the Egypt and Sudan components of the following modules:

- Ancient Civilisations of the East

- Ancient Mediterranean Civilisations: East and West

- Cities in Antiquity

- Advanced Skills in Archaeology

I also offer an 'Archaeology of Ancient Nubia' module in 'Specialised Aspects of Archaeology'.

Student supervision

I am keen to supervise research students interested in all aspects of the social archaeology of ancient Egypt and Sudan. I particularly welcome projects that develop theoretical, critical perspectives and innovative methodologies in Egyptian and Sudanese archaeology, as well as those that integrate the ancient Nile valley and surrounding deserts into their broader African context.

Research interests

  • Egyptian and Sudanese archaeology
  • Archaeology of Colonialism
  • Material Culture Studies
  • Postcolonial and Decolonial Theory
  • State Formation and Expansion

Esteem Indicators

  • 2024: Prize “à la mémoire de Jean Leclant”, awarded by the Michela Schiff Giorgini Foundation, Switzerland:
  • 2023: Prize “Aluno Eminente”, awarded by Colégio Pedro II, Brazil:
  • 2017: Certificate of Appreciation, offered by the South Valley University, Qena, Egypt:

Publications

Book review

Chapter in book

Edited book

Journal Article

Newspaper/Magazine Article