Dr Silvia Zago BA, MA, PhD, FHEA
Lecturer in Egyptology Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology
- Work email S.Zago@liverpool.ac.uk
- Personal Websitehttps://liverpool.academia.edu/SilviaZago
- ACADEMIAAcademia profile
- ORCID0000-0003-3266-0460
About
Personal Statement
Silvia Zago is a Lecturer in Egyptology in the Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology of the University of Liverpool, where she also holds the role of Coordinator of the Liverpool Schools Classics Project. She obtained a PhD in Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations (Egyptology) from the University of Toronto, where she taught courses on ancient Egyptian history, culture, and language for several years. She moreover holds an MA in Languages and Cultures of the Near and Middle East (Egyptology) from the University of Pisa (Italy) and a BA in Heritage Studies (Near Eastern Archaeology) from Ca' Foscari University of Venice (Italy).
Her research focuses on ancient Egyptian religion and afterlife texts, and in particular the evolution of notions of the otherworld over time, on which she has published extensively, including the recent monograph 'A Journey through the Beyond: The Development of the Concept of Duat and Related Cosmological Notions in Egyptian Funerary Literature' (Lockwood Press, 2022). Her work encompasses magic and ritual practices and the conceptualisation and use of sacred landscapes in ancient Egypt. She is currently studying the iconographic tradition underpinning the decoration of the artisans' tombs at Deir el-Medina in the Ramesside period, looking to trace interconnections with the contemporary royal and non-royal tombs of the Theban necropolis. She is moreover interested in exploring cross-cultural interconnections and transmission of knowledge between the Egyptian world and contemporary societies of the ancient Mediterranean basin, in particular during the Graeco-Roman period.
She took part in several archaeological excavations in Italy as well as in Egypt and Oman and she is currently a member of the mission of the Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale (IFAO) to Deir el-Medina (Luxor, Egypt), carrying out epigraphic documentation of TT 265 (Amenemipet). She was appointed Member of the Royal Historical Society in 2021, and in 2022-2024 she was Visiting Professor of Egyptology in the Department of Civilisation and Knowledge of the University of Pisa (Italy). In 2023 she became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy UK, an international recognition of commitment to professionalism in teaching and learning in higher education.