Kemet, the Black Land: Agriculture in Ancient Egypt with Professor Claire Malleson

Afterlives of Ancient Egypt with Kara Cooney

EPISODE 78 | In this episode Kara and Jordan talk with archaeobotanist and Assistant Professor of Archaeology Claire Malleson (American University in Beirut) about agriculture in ancient Egypt. What can archaeologists learn about the way ancient Egyptians lived from botanical remains? What are the traditional narratives about agriculture in ancient Egypt and how is our understanding of it changing? How was the profession of farming seen in ancient Egypt?

Scorpion macehead (Ashmolean Museum)

The Satire of the Trades

“Tiger nut” - Cyperus esculentus and Cyperus rotundus

About Professor Claire Malleson

After a short career in contemporary dance as a designer and technical manager, Claire started Egyptological studies at the University of Liverpool in 2002, and completed her PhD there in 2012 (published in 2019 by AUC Press). Throughout her studies she trained and worked in Egypt as an archaeobotanist at numerous settlement excavations, following graduation she re-located to Cairo to pursue work as a free-lance archaeobotanical specialist, working for multiple international archaeological projects all over Egypt. In 2018 she was appointed as an Assistant Professor of Archaeology at the American University in Beirut, where she teaches Egyptian Archaeology and Archaeobotany. She continues to work as archaeobotanist all over Egypt, gathering data for studies on ancient Egyptian agriculture, and working towards a new book.

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