Aliaa Ismail
on Preserving Egyptology through Disruptive Technology
An Egyptian proverb says: “Whoever lets himself be led by the heart will never lose his way.”
Just like the ancient Egyptians in their quest for immortality,Aliaa Ismail allowed her heart to lead her and found a way of becoming a guardian of Egypt’s rich cultural heritage for future generations. Once a disconnected Egyptian herself, Aliaa is now actively re-engaging and training a team of guardian Egyptians to educate them about their brilliant cultural heritage. Born in Cairo, but relocated to South Africa, Aliaa missed being in tune with her rich cultural past and felt its magnetizing callback. After being enrolled at the American University of Cairo and trained by Salima Ikram, she decided to commit to the mysterious love of pursuing a career as an Egyptologist.
Aliaa is a National GeographicExplorer, a key leader of the Theban Necropolis Preservation Initiative and the first Egyptian Egyptologist to use high-precision technologies to document cultural heritage sites. With courage and curiosity, she ventured to unlock the secrets hidden within the Valley of Kings, including the tomb of Tutankhamun or Seti I. It is believed that over 60% of Egypt’s sites and artefacts are still hidden underground. As a techno-archaeologist, Aliaa makes sure antiquities are excavated, protected and carefully preserved for her fellow humans to learn and understand the beautiful complexity of the civilizations that gave us stories, meaning, and transformed our lives.
Climate change affects the fragile ancient sites in Egypt, threatening to make them vanish and be forever lost, but Aliaa uses creative ways to understand and preserve Egyptian heritage as a way of strengthening her ancestry bond. By creating 3D replicas of these important ancient sites, she makes them accessible and reveals more secrets than are visible to the human eye. Her work has been featured in documentaries like Lost Treasures of Egypt or Unearthed, through which Aliaa strives to create more community awareness.
She dreams of crafting an educational program to encourage people to learn about the importance of neglected ancient sites. Local communities are ultimately the caretakers of the sites: “Looters always come from other cities. They are not locals. I train local Egyptians to sustain the conservation and always reinforce the importance of preserving an artefact, as the information held inside it is lost when sold on the black market.”
Grassroots activism is vital for igniting not only interest but also a genuine love for these ancient sites and preventing them from falling into obscurity and neglect: “When people understand and believe in what they're doing, that's what gives meaning to their work."
Read Aliaa Ismail’s answers for Inspirators and take good care of your beautiful rich history!
Thank you, Aliaa, for being a Passionate Egyptologist!
#INSPIRATORS QUESTIONNAIRE
Name: Aliaa Ismail
Initiative: Theban Necropolis Preservation Initiative (TNPI)
Title: National Geographic Explorer
Website: https://explorers.nationalgeographic.org/directory/aliaa-ismail
LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliaa-ismail-43502a56/
Country of origin: Egypt
Country you currently live in: Egypt
Your definition of Regeneration: Regeneration is a versatile term that has a unique understanding and practicality to every thinker. To me, regeneration entails recreation and rejuvenation of what has once existed.
Main business challenge you face: Fundraising.
Main driver that keeps you going: My passion towards my Ancient Egyptian Heritage.
The trait you are most proud of in yourself: Perseverance.
The trait you most value in others: Honesty and respect.
Passions & little things that bring you joy: Family, my husband and my children.
The Inspirators who determined you to take the regenerative path:
Dr. Fayza Haikal
Dr. Salima Ikram
A starting point for companies or professionals that are beginning the regeneration journey: Finding your true passion and seeing how to benefit your community through it is the way to start. Only when you are doing what you truly love will you be able to make miracles happen.
An honest piece of advice for young people who lose hope: Don’t lose hope and don’t listen to any negative criticism. Dream of the impossible, forget the fears that surround you because only you can make it possible.
Books that had a great impact on you / Must-Reads for any regenerative professional: The Alchemist and Brida by Paulo Coelho.
Movies / Documentaries you would watch all over again:
Lost Treasures of Egypt.
Music that makes you (and your heart) sing: Egyptian music, especially Upper Egyptian storytelling music (Al-Mo’aal).
Places you travelled to that left a mark on you: Everywhere I travelled has added to the person I am today. I travel, I see, I learn and with knowledge, I grow.
Global Regenerative Voices you recommend us to follow:
I recommend hearing anyone who tries to make efforts to engage local and Indigenous communities in their archaeological practice. It is important though to really see how the local involvement is taking place as the true application of community archaeology is rarely truly achieved.
Trends in Regeneration we should keep an eye on:
At the moment our world should start to gravitate towards community archaeology and abandon the colonial archaeological methods that were previously and still are practised at many international institutions worldwide.
It is time that the local and Indigenous communities start to take part in the future of their cultural heritage and begin to take part in their own story. This is the true definition of regenerative leadership in archaeology and that is what we need to look for and see.
Impactful and relevant Sustainable Development or Regeneration courses or certifications: It is hard to pick a course or specific certification and say that this is impactful or relevant to regenerative leaders today as the diversity of fields, specifications and situations that each leader is facing differs. However, the only advice I can give you is to look for the quality or skill that you need most to help you develop as a leader in your project/institution/initiative and go for it!
Reasons to feel optimistic about our future in 2030: Seeing how the presence of Egyptians leading Egyptian Archeological Missions has started to truly make an impact, I am very positive that by 2030 we shall witness true community archaeology in Egypt. By then we can truly see the Egyptians taking part in the future of their heritage. Those opportunities will allow the local communities to celebrate their Egyptian identity.
Reasons to feel pessimistic about our future in 2030: Honestly, I don’t like to feel pessimistic about the future as I always have hope. Hope for change, hope that we can do better and hope that all we are fighting for will be a reality one day no matter how long it takes. I always say Insha’Allah.
Regenerative Leadership qualities much needed today: ability to grow and change; wisdom to listen to your team; courage to make bold visionary decisions; openness to share your work with your community and the whole world.
The Inspirator you are endorsing for a future edition is:
Abdo Ghaba
The quote that inspires you:
"It always seems impossible until it's done." (Nelson Mandela)
"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are." (E.E. Cummings)
Your quote that will inspire us:
