Smithsonian Journeys Experts

Elizabeth Hart earned her Ph.D in the anthropological archaeology of Egypt from the University of Virginia. Motivated by a passion for world history and the profound diversity of human society, her research focuses on understanding ancient economies, particularly through the analysis of flaked-stone artifacts and settlement sites. She has done fieldwork in Egypt yearly since 2004, working at Giza, Helwan, Wadi el-Sheikh, Abydos, el-Mahâsna, the Valley of the Kings, Elkab, Aswan, and Wadi el-Hudi. She is currently a Research Affiliate at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the University of Michigan, and the head lithic specialist for the University of Vienna’s Wadi el-Sheikh project. She has shared Egypt’s cultural heritage by teaching courses on Ancient Egypt at the University of Virginia, as a research fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, by working for the non-profit organization the American Research Center in Egypt, and through talks and publications for both academic and general audiences.