Description: The Coptic monastery and cemetery Deir el-Bachit stands on the hilltop of Dra' Abu el-Naga, the well-known necropolis in Qurna (West Bank, Luxor). It is the largest Coptic monastery complex preserved in Western Thebes and the first monastery that has been systematically investigated.
Brief description:
Dr. André J. Veldmeijer (Visiting Research Scholar American University in Cairo) studied archaeology at Leiden University (The Netherlands) and received his PhD in Vertebrate Palaeontology from Utrecht University (The Netherlands) in 2006. He has worked in Egypt since 1995 as a leather, footwear and cordage specialist for various missons (including Amarna, Berenike, Dra' Abu el-Naga, Elephantine, Hierakonpolis and Qasr Ibrim). Veldmeijer has also worked in several collections all over the world, studying ancient Egyptian and Nubian leatherwork and footwear as part of the Ancient Egyptian Leatherwork Project (AELP) and the Ancient Egyptian Footwear Project (AEFP) respectively. Among these collections are the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the British Museum in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. His second PhD, on the archaeology of footwear, is planned for the next four years.
Veldmeijer is the director of two ongoing research projects: Ancient Egyptian Leatherwork Project (including the Egyptian Museum Chariot Project) and Ancient Egyptian Footwear Project. Veldmeijer is one of the founders and current chairman of the PalArch Foundation.