Introducing EAMENA

The Middle East and North Africa are home to some of the best-preserved and most important archaeological sites in the world. Yet this irreplaceable heritage is under enormous threat. Reasons for this include urban development, agriculture, looting, warfare, and natural erosion. We are in danger of not only losing these sites but any record of their existence, such is the pace of change. In 2015, the Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa (EAMENA) project was set up. The EAMENA team comprises archaeologists, researchers, heritage experts and volunteers. The project works with national heritage organisations and officials. Together, we document and protect archaeology under threat throughout the region.

The team uses satellite imagery, aerial photography and on-the-ground visits to record archaeological sites and assess their condition. There are now over 200,000 records in a specially-created database. It is an online, open-access resource that anyone can search:

eamenadatabase.arch.ox.ac.uk

Top image: Meidum Pyramid (Photograph: M. Kenawi).

Right: Inauguration of the EAMENA training programme in Egypt, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, May 2018.

اليمين: ورشة عمل وتقديم برنامج ايمينا التدريبي في مصر: مكتبة الإسكندرية، مايو ٢٠١٨

Bottom image: Documentation of mud-brick structures, photographed from above (Photograph: Archaeology of the Western Nile Delta Archive).

الصورة بالأسفل: توثيق مباني من الطوب اللبن من خلال التصوير من الأعلى )صورة: أرشيف صور غرب الدلتا الأثري(.