Symposium Report: “Archaeology and International Cooperation in Egypt”
On Saturday, May 10, 2025, the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN) held a symposium entitled “Archaeology and International Cooperation in Egypt.” This symposium is part of an annual series that has been held since 2021, each year focusing on a different region. It aims to promote the protection of cultural heritage through the sharing of archaeological research results, as well as reports on collaborative projects such as site conservation and capacity building.
This year’s symposium focused on Egypt and was structured in two parts: keynote lectures by invited researchers from Egypt and from the Czech Republic; and project reports from various sites of Japan’s international cooperation efforts in Egypt.
First of all, we were honored to receive a welcome address from Prof. Sakuji Yoshimura, President of Higashi-Nippon International University and a pioneering figure in Japanese Egyptology.
In Session I, Dr. Hisham Elleithy of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Egypt, delivered a keynote lecture entitled “Recent and Ongoing International Joint Projects for the Egyptian Antiquities.” He presented archival work related to the Nubian Monuments Salvage Campaign, collaborative site management projects with France, South Korea, and Germany, and recent excavation achievements. This was followed by a lecture by Prof. Miroslav Bárta of the Czech Institute of Egyptology, Charles University, entitled “Cooperation on the Pyramid Fields: Abusir and Saqqara.” He presented an overview of the history of excavations conducted by the Czech team at the Abusir necropolis and introduced an ongoing re-excavation project at the so-called “Mariette Cemetery” in North Saqqara—originally explored by a French director of antiquities in the late 19th century but only fragmentarily published.
In Session II, the respective work and results of eight Japanese projects covering archaeological excavations, conservation, and capacity-building in Egypt were presented, entitled as follows:
“Conservation and Reconstruction of the Second Boat of Khufu” (Prof. KUROKOCHI Hiromasa; Ms. YAMADA Ayano)
“Wall Painting Conservation of the Mastaba Tomb of Idout” (Ms. SUITA Mariko)
“Excavation Project at North Saqqara” (Prog. Dr. KAWAI Nozomu)
“Excavation at Al-Khokha on the West Bank of Luxor” (Prof. Emeritus KONDO Jiro)
“Conservation of the Wall Paintings in the Royal Tomb of Amenhotep III” (Prof. NISHISAKA Akiko)
“GEM-CC (Grand Egyptian Museum Conservation Center) and GEM-JC (Joint Conservation) Projects” (Prof. TANIGUCHI Yoko)
“Excavation at Akoris” (Dr. HANASAKA Tetsu)
“Excavation at Kom al-Dibaʾ” (Prof. HASEGAWA So)
The symposium drew a significant number of researchers and graduate students, providing a valuable opportunity to reaffirm the importance of deepening archaeological knowledge through international collaboration. It also offered new prospects for academic contributions to cultural heritage preservation. Moreover, the event proved to be particularly meaningful by enabling participants to present their ongoing activities together with diverse Japanese projects beyond their institutional or team affiliations in one forum. The invited foreign experts also appreciated the opportunity to gain a comprehensive overview of the contributions being made by Japanese scholars in Egypt.