Recently the German Archaeological Institute, Cairo (DAIK) held a two day conference at the Supreme Council of Antiquities’ Ahmed Kamal Pasha Hall in Zamalek. The conference was entitled “Rituals and Sanctuaries in the Archaeology of Egypt” and addressed many interesting topics including origin of ritual, sacred space, and ritual offerings. I was very happy to open this conference and to acknowledge the DAIK for their extensive contributions to the field of Egyptology, especially their ongoing excavations at Elephantine near Aswan.

I thought that the subject of this conference was very appropriate because ancient Egypt was founded on ritual. The civilization and rich culture of ancient Egypt would not have existed without its sacred texts, spaces and ceremonies. Fourteen people gave presentations on a range of topics over the two days, including a distinguished lecture by Gihane Zaki on Syene, Elephantine and Philae. I was very proud of the fact that several Egyptians presented during the conference and I hope that more will consider doing so in the future. This event was an excellent example of the joint cooperation between the DAIK and the SCA and I hope that more events like this will continue in the future.