Program Overview

Use the latest in ground-based remote sensing technologies to reveal the secrets of the sacred city built by Pharaoh Akhenaten for the sun-god. Students will spend five weeks at Tell el-Amarna, Egypt, the once-great capital city of Egypt located halfway between Cairo and Luxor. Students will explore the well-preserved ruins of this great city and receive hands-on experience using non-invasive archaeological techniques including surface survey and near-surface geophysical prospection. The instrumentation includes magnetometer, ground-penetrating radar and magnetic susceptibility. Work will focus on several parts of the city, which offer differing sub-surface characteristics. In each case the results contribute to ongoing research programs at Amarna.

To learn more about Geophysics field school at Amarna, click here;  To learn more about ongoing research at Amarna click here; For the program's Facebook page, click here.

Instructor Bio

Director -- Prof. Barry Kemp (bjk2@cam.ac.uk) is an emeritus Professor of Egyptology at the University of Cambridge (UK), a Research Fellow of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at Cambridge, a Fellow of the British Academy, Corresponding Member of the German Archaeological Institute and Corresponding Member of the Archaeological Institute of America. He is Director of the Amarna Project, and has conducted research there, through survey and excavation, since 1977.

Co-Director -- Mr. Jason Herrmann, University of Arkansas (jherrma@uark.edu) is a doctoral candidate in the Environmental Dynamics Program and an affiliate of the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies, University of Arkansas. Jason specializes in the use of remote sensing methods in archaeological exploration and uses these technologies to investigate the ways in which ancient settlement patterns promoted and reacted to environmental change. He has conducted archaeo-geophysical investigations in Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Bolivia, and throughout the United States of America.

Instructor -- Dr. Hans Barnard (MD PhD) (nomads@ucla.edu) is Assistant Professor of Archaeological Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles (USA). As an archaeological surveyor and photographer he has worked on sites in Armenia, Chile, Egypt, Iceland, Panama, Sudan and Yemen. He is currently involved in research projects on the archaeology of mobile people, ceramic analysis and the Eastern Deserts in Egypt and Sudan (www.archbase.org). With J.W. Eerkens he published "Theory and Practice of Archaeological Residue Analysis" (Oxford, 2007) and with W.Z. Wendrich "The Archaeology of Mobility: Old World and New World Nomadism" (Los Angeles, 2008).

Instructor -- Ms. Stephanie Sullivan, University of Arkansas (steph@cast.uark.edu), is a doctoral student in the Environmental Dynamics Program and a research assistant at the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies at the University of Arkansas.  She conducts archaeological research using near-surface geophysical technologies and close-range high-resolution 3D scanning devices.

Student Fees

Program Costs

Program fee payment to IFR and tuition payment to Cal State U Northridge-which provides 8 semester credit units. Program fee includes registration, accommodations, meals on workdays, program activities and health insurance.

Airfare, weekend meals, and optional excursions are additional.

Financial Aid

Please inquire about Financial Aid at your home institution.  For details about the financial aid application process, please visit the Financial Aid section of this web site.

Budgeting

How much to budget depends on your travel, entertainment and souvenir choices. It is always best to overestimate your spending. We recommend that you budget accordingly to cover optional sightseeing, laundry, internet cafes, emergencies, etc.

Accommodations

ACCOMMODATIONS:

As part of the archaeological expedition to Amarna, students will stay in the expedition house which is located on the ancient site just outside of the village of El-Hagg Qandil.  The expedition house has 20 individual bedrooms, a dining room, a kitchen, a sitting room, two modern showers and outside toilets.  The house is supplied with electricity and running water and there are personal laundry facilities. There is a weak internet connection within the house.

The Institute for Field Research reserves the right to change the housing location. Should this become necessary, the project director will arrange comparable accommodations elsewhere.

MEALS:

Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be provided throughout the week by the expedition and prepared by a cook hired by the project.  Students with special dietary needs should indicate so on their applications. This will not influence your acceptance to the program, but rather allow us to plan accordingly. It is possible to buy a wide range of commodities, including toiletries, in local shops, usually arranged via a local daily shopper employed by the expedition.

EXCURSIONS:

Students will benefit from several organized field trips, including tours of Amarna's Royal Tombs and Boundary Stelae, Workmen's Village, and the Amarna Central City as well as visits to nearby sites including Beni Hasan and El-Ashmunein/Tuna el-Gebel. The program has limited free time for independent sightseeing during weekends. Please consult with the director about independent travel during, before or after the program.

OTHER EXPENSES:

The program does not cover the following expenses: laundry service (approximately $10/week); weekend lunch/dinner ($10-20/day); any alcoholic beverages; souvenirs; phone cards/cell phones; and internet. 

Travel Information

TRAVEL:

Students will be responsible for their own air travel to Cairo where they will be met by a local agent employed by the field school. We recommend that you fly to Cairo Airport (CAI) at the latest on October 13th and stay that night in Cairo, ready for the group departure for Amarna on the morning of the 14th. If you wish to extend your stay in Egypt beyond the duration of the field school, you will need to extend your visa either before the field school starts or immediately afterwards. It takes one day in Cairo or Luxor to accomplish this. Kindly let the project director know of your travel plans as soon as you purchase your tickets so that you can be picked up from the airport.

The field school will arrange for transport between Amarna and Cairo at the beginning and the end of the field school, as well as for several short field trips during the field season. Transport between Cairo and Amarna is by air-conditioned bus.

Prior your trip, we encourage you to visit your doctor for a general check up, inoculations and other preventive measures. Make sure to bring all your prescription medicine so that you have enough for the entire field season. If you have allergies or any other medical concerns, let the director of the project know about them. You should also consider bringing into the field some over-the-counter medications for common illness such as colds, headaches, indigestion, dehydration and diarrhea.  For more information, please read the Centers for Disease Control Website (http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/egypt.aspx).

Persons who do not regularly travel to Egypt may have concerns about personal safety. The demonstrations and outbreaks of violence that marked the beginning of the revolution in January 2011 have subsided, and involved foreigners only when they were present in the heart of the demonstrations. Egypt remains a safe country for foreigners who travel as tourists. The Amarna expedition, including the field school, works under a permit from the Egyptian government authority, the Supreme Council of Antiquities, and is thus an officially recognized entity. It therefore comes under the supervision both of the SCA inspectorates and the regional tourist and antiquities police who have, for many years, provided a 24-hour police presence in a separate part of the expedition house.

VISA REQUIREMENTS:

You can purchase a tourist visa upon arrival in Cairo Airport for an amount of $15. Since you will be staying in Egypt for over a month, you have to extend your visa. We will do this as a group upon arrival in Cairo. Make sure your passport is valid until at least 6 months after the date you are planning to return.  For more information, please consult the relevant page of the US State Department (http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1108.html). It is also possible to purchase a visa, perhaps for longer than a month, through Egyptian consulates in your home country.

HEALTH ISSUES:

Prior your trip, we encourage you to visit your doctor for a general check up and advice. Also you may want to visit the Center for Disease Control (CDC) website for up to date health information.
Please make sure to bring all your prescriptions so that you have enough for the entire field season.  If you have allergies or any other medical concerns, let the director of the project know. You will be asked to bring some over the counter medications for common illness such as a cold, headaches, indigestion, dehydration or diarrhea.

Student Testimonials