Animals in Religion, Economy and Daily Life of Ancient Egypt and beyond

Rosanna Pirelli is a Professor of Egyptology and Egyptian Archaeology and Art History at the University of Naples “L’Orientale”.  She is scientific responsible for the project "From Egypt to Italy: itineraries of Egyptian and Egyptianizing Materials and cults in Campania". Since 2010-2011, she is the Director of two archaeological projects in Egypt, including the Italian Archaeological Mission at the Solar Temple of Niuserra, Abu Ghurab and the archaeological and restoration expedition at Manqabad, Asyut, in collaboration with the University of Rome and the Supreme Council of Antiquities (Egypt).  From 2008 to 2012, she has been responsible of the Italian Archaeological Centre in Cairo and coordinator of the Italian archaeological activities in Egypt. Since 1983, she has been involved in scientific projects and exhibitions for Italian Museums and Superintendences. From 2013 to 2016, she was the coordinator and curator of the new exposition of the Egyptian Collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (reopened on October 2016).

Maria Diletta Pubblico is Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Global Fellow at Museo Egizio in Turin and Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA, with the project “A Study of Egyptian Animal Mummy Styles” (SEAMS), developed in the context of the Horizon Europe. She holds a PhD in Egyptology on the cult of the goddess Bastet during the Late and the Greek-Roman Periods (2017) and a PostDoc on the role of Hathor, Apis, and Osiris in the Religious Landscape of the Fifth Dynasty (2023), both at the University of Naples “L’Orientale”. She is author of several articles on Egyptian religion and animal mummies and maintains collaborations on these topics with various museums in Italy and abroad. She is also interested in archival research and she worked on Emery's photographic archive at the Egypt Exploration Society in London. She is a member of the Italian-Egyptian Archaeological Expedition at Manqabad (Asyut-Egypt, University of Naples L’Orientale), the Italian-Polish Mission at the Solar Temple (Abu Ghurab-Egypt, University of Naples L’Orientale and Polish Academy of Sciences), and the French Mission at the Bubasteion (Saqqara-Egypt, CNRS Paris).

Salima Ikram is Distinguished Professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo and Extraordinary Professor at Stellenbosch University. She has worked as an archaeologist in Egypt since 1986, as well as in Turkey and Sudan. She has co-directed the Predynastic Gallery project and the North Kharga Oasis Survey, and has directed the Animal Mummy Project, the North Kharga Oasis Darb Ain Amur Survey, which focuses on rock art, and the Amenmesse Mission of KV10 and KV63 in the Valley of the Kings. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Ikram has published extensively in both scholarly and popular venues (for adults and children) on diverse subject matters, ranging from traditional Egyptological subjects to zooarchaeological topics. Currently her research focuses on the changing climate of Egypt as reflected in the fauna, relying on evidence derived from pictorial, textual, archaezoological, and climatalogical evidence; rock art; changing food sources and eating habits; and funerary customs.