Main areas of research
- Funerary archaeology
Currently I am focussing on the funerary customs of the middle and lower classes and I am analysing the large Late Period cemetery (8.-6.cent. BC) at Sanam/Sudan. - Cultural exchange
The exchange of motifs, ideas and objects between Egypt and Kush as well as Egypt and Phoenicia is illustrated by items of the material culture. - Gender studies
Questions of gender are raised and treated, various sources (funerary archaeology, iconography, texts) are interpreted. - Iconography and interpretation of images
The interpretation of regalia, individual actions or entire scenes, as well as the selection of motifs and people gives us a clue to the motivation and the content of images. - Histories of objects
The examination of groups of artefacts (amulets, jewellery, New Year s flasks) as well as individual objects (e.g. a decorated bronze bowl, a plaque, seal rings) can explain the embodiment of ideas and traditions in the material culture.
Interdisciplinary Research
My research gains from an interdisciplinary approach and the following disciplines are vital for my work: archaeology, African studies, ethnology, sociology, anthropology and gender studies.Collaboration
- CAA Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Austria: finishing Vol. 7 (I. Hein, H. Satzinger, Stelae of the Middle Kingdom II; editorial work); starting with Vol. 16 (M. Hüttner, H. Satzinger, Stelae of the New Kingdom I; research)
- Nationalmuseum Havanna, Cuba: collaboration on a project for publishing the Egyptian objects of the museum. My sub-project started with the stelae.
- Universitá La Sapienza Rom, Italy: research collaboration, visiting the excavation and documentation archive in Rome, collaboration for one season at the excavation at Gebel Barkal (archaeological assistant)
- ACACIA ("Arid Climate and Cultural Adaptation in Africa"), Cologne: collaboration on the analysis of the trial excavation in Gala Abu Ahmed (publication of small finds)
- Musawwarat es Sufra, Sudan: collaboration on the excavation for several seasons
- Die Zeit der Soldatenkaiser. Handbuch zur Geschichte der Reichskrise im 3. Jh. n. Chr. (235-284): collaboration on a interdisciplinary textbook on the "soldier-emperors"
Funding
- The publication of my thesis "Die Frauen der königlichen Familie im antiken Reich von Kusch" was funded with a grant of 3,500 EUR by the Österreichische Forschungsgemeinschaft and Vienna University.
- I received 10,000 EUR from the Fritz-Thyssen-Stiftung to establish the library "Horn of Africa" at the Seminar of Archaeology and Cultural History of North East Africa at the Humboldt-University of Berlin.
- Project "Archaeological Survey in the Wadi Abu Dom (Northern Sudan) (Gerda Henkel-Stiftung, 12,500 EUR)
- Project "The Egyptian Scarab in the 1st. Mill. B.C." (Fritz Thyssen-Stiftung)
Scholarships and Prizes
- Grant for academic excellence from the University of Vienna (1987).
- Grant for academic excellence from the University of Vienna (1990).
- Travelling grant for the USA (New York, Philadelphia, Boston) (1997).
- Scholarship for writing the Habilitation at the Humboldt-University of Berlin (2005).
- I declined the Charlotte-Bühler-Scholarship of the Fonds für Wissenschaftsförderung (2006-2007).
- Reserach scholarship of the Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (2006-2007).
- Heinz Maier-Leibnitz-Prize 2009
Membership of Professional Bodies and Honorary Offices
- International Association of Egyptologists (IAE)
- International Society for Nubian Studies
- Sudanarchäologische Gesellschaft zu Berlin e.V. (SAG)
- Sudan Archaeological Research Society (SARS)
- ÄgyptenForum Berlin
- Deutscher Hochschulverband
I have been honorary treasurer (2001-2003) and honorary secretary (2003-2004) in the SAG. In the same society I was responsible for membership affairs and public relations (1993-2004). Since 2003 I am honorary editor of the society's periodical "Der antike Sudan. Mitteilungen der Sudanarchäologischen Gesellschaft zu Berlin".