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Salima Ikram

  • Position: Distinguished University Professor, Sociology, Egyptology and Anthropology
  • Department: Department of Sociology, Egyptology and Anthropology
  • Email: [email protected]
Brief Biography

Salima Ikram is a distinguished university professor of Egyptology at The American University in Cairo (AUC) and has worked as an archaeologist in Turkey, Sudan, Greece and the United States. After double majoring in history and classical and near eastern archaeology at Bryn Mawr College, United States, she received her MPhil in museology and Egyptian archaeology and PhD in Egyptian archaeology from Cambridge University. She previously directed the Animal Mummy Project, the North Kharga Darb Ain Amur Survey, Valley of the Kings KV10/KV63 Mission co-directed the Predynastic Gallery project and the North Kharga Oasis Survey. She has also participated in several other archaeological missions throughout Egypt. She has lectured on her work internationally and publishes in both scholarly and popular journals. She also has an active media presence.

Research Interest
  • Funerary archaeology
  • Daily life
  • Archaeozoology
  • Rock art
  • Cultural heritage and museology
  • Experimental archaeology
  • Ethnoarchaeology
  • Bioarchaeology

Books

  • 2024. Ikram, S., S. Aicardi, and F. Faccetti (eds.). The Animal Mummies of the Museo Egizio, Turin. Studi del Museo Egizio 5. Turin: Museo Egizio.
  • 2024. Veldmeijer, A. J. and S. Ikram. 2024. Let a Cow-Skin be Brought. Amsterdam: Sidestone Press.
  • 2023. Pirelli, R., M. D. Pubblico, and S. Ikram, (eds). Animals in the Religion, Economy, and Daily Life of Ancient Egypt and the Middle Nile. Serie Egittologica, 4. Naples: UniOr Press.
  • 2022. Veldmeijer, A. J. and S. Ikram. The Basketry from the Tomb of Tutankhamun, Catalogue and Analysis. Amsterdam: Sidestone.
  • 2021. Ikram, S., J. Kaiser, and S. Porcier (eds.). 2021. The Ancient Egyptians & the Natural World. Amsterdam: Sidestone Press.
  • 2021. Bednarski, A., A. Dodson, and S. Ikram (eds.) 2021. A History of World Egyptology. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • 2021. Franci, M., S. Ikram, and I. Morfini (eds.). Rethinking Osiris: Proceedings of the International Conference. Florence, Italy 26-27 March 2019.  Studies on the Ancient Near East and the Mediterranean (SANEM 5). Rome: Arbor Sapientiae Editore.
  • 2020. Guardian of Ancient Egypt: Essays in Honor of Zahi Hawass v. 1-2, edited by Janice Kamrin, Miroslav Bárta, Salima Ikram, Mark Lehner, and Mohamed Megahed. Prague: Charles University, Faculty of Arts.
  • 2019. S. Porcier, S. Ikram and S. Pasquali, eds. Creatures of Earth, Water, and Sky: Proceedings of the International Symposium of Animals in Ancient Egypt. Amsterdam: Sidestone.
  • 2018. Rossi, C. and S. Ikram, eds. The North Kharga Oasis Survey: Explorations in Egypt’s Western Desert. British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 5. Leuven/Paris/Bristol, CT.: Peeters.
  • 2018, A. J. Veldmeijer and S. Ikram (eds.), with contributions by O. Herslund, L. Sabbahy and L. ,Skinner. Chariots in Ancient Egypt: The Tano Chariot: A Case Study. Amsterdam: Sidestone.
  • 2015 (2n ed.) (ed.) Divine Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt.  Cairo: American University in Cairo.
  • 2015. Egyptian Bioarchaeology: humans, animals, and the environment, S. Ikram, J. Kaiser and R. Walker, eds. Amsterdam: Sidestone.
  • 2014. with A. J. Veldmeijer. Catalog of the Footwear in the Coptic Museum (Cairo). Amsterdam: Sidestone.
  • 2013. edited with André J. Veldmeijer. Chasing Chariots. Proceedings of the First International Chariot Conference (Cairo 2012). Amsterdam: Sidestone.
  • 2012. edited, with M. Fisher, P. Lacovara, and S. D’Auria. Ancient Nubia: African Kingdoms on the Nile. Cairo: AUC Press.
  • 2010. Ancient Egypt, An Introduction. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • 2008. The Tomb in Ancient Egypt, with A. M. Dodson. London: Thames and Hudson.
  • 2002. Catalogue Général of the Egyptian Museum: Non-Human Mummies, with N. Iskander. Cairo: Supreme Council of Antiquities Press.
  • 1998. The Mummy in Ancient Egypt, Equipping the Dead for Eternity, with A. Dodson, London: Thames and Hudson, Ltd./American University in Cairo Press.
  • 1995. Choice Cuts:  Meat Production in Ancient Egypt, Leuven: Peeters Publications.
  • Catalog of the Footwear in the Coptic Museum (Cairo)with A. J. Veldmeijer., Amsterdam: Sidestone.
  • 2012. Chasing Chariots. Proceedings of the First International Chariot Conference (Cairo 2012), edited with Andr J. Veldmeijer., Amsterdam: Sidestone.
  • Ancient Nubia: African Kingdoms on the Nile, edited with M. Fisher, P. Lacovara, and S. D'Auria., The American University in Cairo Press.
  • Ancient Egypt, An Introduction., New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Thebes and Beyond: Studies in Honour of Kent R. Weeks, edited with Z. Hawass., Cairo: Supreme Council of Antiquities.
  • Beyond the Horizon: Studies in Egyptian Art, Archaeology, and History in Honour of Barry J. Kemp 1-2, edited with A. M. Dodson., Cairo: Supreme Council of Antiquities.
  • Area Editor, Blackwell's Encyclopedia of the Ancient World. A printed and online encyclopedia.
  • The Tomb in Ancient Egypt, with A. M. Dodson., London: Thames and Hudson.
  • Death and Burial in Ancient Egypt., The American University in Cairo Press.
  • The Mummy in Ancient Egypt, Equipping the Dead for Eternity, with A. Dodson., London: Thames and Hudson, Ltd./American University in Cairo Press.
  • Choice Cuts: Meat Production in Ancient Egypt., Leuven: Peeters Publications..
  • The Tomb in Ancient Egypt, London: Thames and Hudson.
  • Catalogue Général of the Egyptian Museum: Non-Human Mummies, Cairo: Supreme Council of Antiquities Press.
  • The Royal Mummies, Cairo: American University in Cairo Press and Zeitouna.
  • Choice Cuts: Meat Production in Ancient Egypt, Leuven: Peeters.
  • Egyptian Pyramids, Cairo: Zeitouna.

Articles and Chapters in Books

  • Spedding, J. V., Snape, S., Ikram, S., Lazagabaster, I. A., & Bro-Jørgensen, J. (2025). “Patterns in the Population Distribution of Lower Egypt from the Predynastic to the Ptolemaic Period as Estimated from Archaeological Evidence”, Journal of African Archaeology, 23.1: 53-77.
  • 2025. Bro-Jørgensen, J., S. Ikram, J. V. Spedding, C. D. Thomas, S. Snape, M. Nilsson, and I. A. Lazagabaster. “Applying habitat suitability modelling to establish the species identity of ambiguous animal depictions in archaeology: new insights into the wild bovids of ancient Egypt”, Journal of Archaeological Science 179: 106239 ,
  • 2025. Lazaridis, Nikolaos and Salima Ikram. ‘Graffiti Interactions at Pet Rock, Kharga Oasis’, Studies on Late Roman to Modern Egypt in Honour of Fred Leemhuis (Gillian E. Bowen, Colin A. Hope, Olaf E. Kaper, Paul N. Kucera, eds.) The Oasis Papers 7, Dakleh Oasis Project Monograph 25. Bicester: Archaeopress, 165-174.
  • Belova, G. A., B. F. Khasanov, O.A. Krylovich, S. Ikram, D.D. Vasyukov & A.B. Savinetsky. 2024. ‘A Pack of Hounds and its Master? A Bi-Species Burial from the Necropolis of Deir El-Banat (Fayum)’ Archaeofauna, International Journal of Archaeozoology, 33.1: 81-100.
  • 2023. ‘All Good Things: On the Study of Ancient Egyptian Food and Drink’, Food & Drink in Egypt & Sudan. Selected Studies in Archaeology, Culture, and History, M. El Dorry (ed.), Bib. Ét. 184. Cairo: IFAO, 7-20.
  • 2023. Ikram, S., H. Vymazalová, Z. Hashesh, A. Gabr, A. Quiles, and M. Megahed. 2023. ‘Pushing Boundaries: Old Kingdom Mummification Revised’, Journal of Archaeological Science Reports 52, 104272.
  • 2023. ‘News and Views: Recipes and ingredients for ancient Egyptian mummification’, Nature.
  • 2023. ‘Displaying and Studying Mummies in Egypt. An Overview and View from 2021’, Human Remains. Ethische Herausforderungen für Forschung und Ausstellung, G. Facler, T. M. Klotz, and S. Menke, eds. wbg Academic, 256-67.
  • 2022. ‘Rock Art in Egypt’, Networking for Rock Art. Global Challenges, Local Solutions, N. Agnew, J. Deacon, N. Hall, T. Little, T. McClintock, P. Robinson, S. Sullivan, and P. Taçon, eds. Los Angeles: Getty Conservation Institute, 67-68.
  • 2022. “Using Mitogenomes to Explore the Social and Ecological Contexts of Crocodile Mummification in Ancient Egypt”, Evon R. Hekkala, Roger Colten, Seth W. Cunningham, Oliver Smith, and Salima Ikram Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 63(1):3–14.  
  • 2021. Ikram, S., N. Warner, N. Lazaridis, L. A. Warden, R. Cook, C. Boyer, and J. Bunbury. ‘A “Late Antique” Mining Community in the North Kharga Oasis (Egypt)’, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 57: 123-70.
  • 2020. ‘Rock art and the transformation of landscape in the Kharga Oasis’. Epigraphy through five millennia. Texts and images in context, Svenja C. Dirksen and Lena S. Krastel, eds. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
  • 2017. Richardin, P., S. Porcier, S. Ikram, G. Louarn, and D. Berthet. 2017. ‘Cats, Crocodiles, Cattle, and More:  Initial Steps Toward Establishing A Chronology of Ancient Egyptian Animal Mummies’, Radiocarbon 59.2: 595-607.
  • 2017. ‘Animals in ancient Egyptian religion: belief, identity, power, and economy’, The Oxford Handbook of Zooarchaeology, U. Albarella, M. Rizzetto, H. Russ, K. Vickers, and S. Viner-Daniels, eds. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 452-65.
  • “A Curious Case of Canine Burials from Abydos’,” in Kleine Götter-Grosse Götter: Festschrift für Dieter Kessler zum 65. Geburtstag, 265-71.
  • “A Torso from the Gayer-Anderson Museum, Cairo,” in The Art and Culture of Ancient Egypt: Studies in Honor of Dorothea Arnold,, (A. Oppenheim and O. Goelet) Ed(s), New York: The Egyptological Seminar of New York, 389-92.
  • “A Twenty-Second Dynasty Mummy Cartonnage in the Gayer-Anderson Museum,” in Another Mouthful of Dust: Egyptological Studies in Honour of Geoffrey Thorndike Martin, (J. van Dijk) Ed(s), Leuven: Peeters, 309-22.
  • “An Enigmatic Granite Fragment in the Gayer-Anderson Museum, (Beit al-Kritliyya) Cairo,” in Joyful in Thebes: Egyptological Studies in Honor of Betsy M. Bryan, Atlanta, GA: Lockwood Press, 229-32.
  • “‘Speculations on the Role of Animal Cults in the Economy of Ancient Egypt’,” in Apprivoiser le sauvage/Taming the Wild (CENiM 11), (M. Massiera, B. Mathieu, and Fr. Rouffet (eds.). ) Ed(s), Montpellier: University Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, 211-28.
  • “Interpreting Ancient Egyptian Material Culture,” in A Companion to Ancient Egyptian Art, (M. K. Hartwig) Ed(s), Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 175-88.
  • “A Preliminary Note on the Faunal Remains from the South Asasif Conservation Project,” in Tombs of the South Asasif Necropolis, Thebes, 263-68.
  • “‘Canine Cults in Kharga Oasis: the Dogs of Dabashiya’,” in Le Myrte et la rose. Mélanges offerts à Françoise Dunand par ses élèves, collègues et amis, (G. Tallet et Chr. Zivie-Coche (éds.)) Ed(s), Montpellier: CENIM, 349-55.
  • “Evidence of desert routes across northern Kharga (Egypt’s Western Desert),” in Desert Road Archaeology in Ancient Egypt and Beyond., (Frank Förster Heiko Riemer ) Ed(s), Cologne: Heinrich-Barth-Institut, 265-82.
  • “‘The Mummification of Djau’,” in Deir el-Gebrawi III, the Southern Cliff: The Tomb of Djau/Shemai and Djau, Oxford: 60-63.
  • “The Sacred Ram Mummies of Khnum from Elephantine in Egypt’,” in Der Widderfriedhof des Chnumtempels, Mit Beiträgen zur Archäozoologie und zur Materialkunde, (Elisabeth Delange and Horst Jaritz (eds.), ) Ed(s), Wiesbaden: 214-222.
  • “An Eternal Aviary: Bird Mummies from Ancient Egypt’,” in Between Heaven and Earth: Birds in Ancient Egypt, edited by R.Bailleul-LeSuer, Chicago: Oriental Institute Museum, 41-48.
  • “Kharga Oasis: a Saharan patchwork of lakes', with J. Bunbury.,” Egyptian Archaeology 45: 9-12.,.
  • “Purported Medical Diagnoses of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, c. 1300 BC', with Frank Rühli, HOMO.,” Journal of Comparative Human Biology 65.1: 51-63.
  • “Killing Man's Best Friend?', with Paul Nicholson, Louise Bertini, Delyth Hurley, Archaeological Review from Cambridge 28.2: 48-66.,”
  • “Organic chemistry of balms used in the preparation of pharaonic meat mummies', with K. A. Clark and R. P. Evershed. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110.51: 20392-20395.
  • “Cultural Heritage in Times of Crisis’,” Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology Heritage Studies (JEMAHS),1.4366-71.
  • “The Significance of Petroleum Bitumen in Ancient Egyptian Mummies,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 2016-09-19,374309-22.
  • “When elephants battle, the grass suffers: power, ivory, and the Syrian elephant’,” Levant,2016-07-22,48(2),1-17.
  • “An Egyptian Mummy of the Late Old Kingdom in the Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University’,” Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, 2016-01-01,5165-74.
  • “ Mini-Menagerie: Animal Mummies at Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery’,” KMT: A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt, 2016-01-01,27(1),68-73.
  • “Radiocarbon dating of Sacred Ibis mummies from ancient Egypt,” Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports ,2015-12-01,4355–361.
  • “Fatal force-feeding or Gluttonous Gagging? The death of Kestrel SACHM 2575,” Journal of Archaeological Science, 2015-11-01,6372-77. 
  • “A kidney’s ingenious path to trimillennar preservation: Renal tuberculosis in an Egyptian mummy?” ,” International Journal of Paleopathology, 2015-08-09,117-11.
  • “‘New Ancient Egyptian Human Mummies from the Valley of the Kings, Luxor: Anthropological, Radiological, and Egyptological Investigations’,” BioMed Research International, 2015-08-07,20158.
  • “Three-dimensional model of an ancient Egyptian falcon mummy skeleton,” Rapid Prototyping Journal, 2015-06-01,21(4),5.

PhD, 1993, Cambridge University, Cambridge, United Kingdom

MPhil, 1987, Cambridge University, Cambridge, United Kingdom

AB, 1985, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA

  • 2023 - Elected Corresponding Fellow, British Academy, 
  • 2017 - Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 2013 - Spanish Geographical Society Annual Award: Investigation, Spanish Geographical Society
  • 2007 - Excellence in Research Award, The American University in Cairo

Material Culture: Looking at Artifacts in Context
Research Seminar: Research Design and Writing
Introduction to Egyptian Architecture
Site Analysis
Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt II
Culture and Society of Ancient Egypt
Selected Topics in Cultural Resource Management and Museology
Death and Burial in Ancient Egypt
Cult and Society of Ancient Egypt