Bettina Bader

Bettina Bader is a Professor and Group Leader at the Austrian Archaeological Institute (ÖAI) within the Austrian Academy of Sciences. She holds a PhD (2004) and Habilitation (2019) from the University of Vienna’s Institute for Egyptology. Her research focuses on material culture, cultural interaction between Egypt and the Levant, and settlement archaeology of the First Intermediate Period to New Kingdom (2176–1450 BCE). Key projects include the START-project ‘Beyond Politics: Material Culture of Second Intermediate Period Egypt and Nubia’ and the ‘Foreigners in Ancient Egypt’ initiative. She has led excavations at Tell el-Daba, Herakleopolis Magna, Dahshur, and Deir el-Ballas, collaborating with institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the University of Cambridge. Awards include a Marie Curie Fellowship and FWF grants. Her work integrates interdisciplinary methods, emphasizing pottery analysis, ceramic provenance studies, and re-evaluation of historical excavation records.

Education:

• MA in Egyptology, University of Vienna (1998)
• PhD in Egyptology, University of Vienna (2004)
• Habilitation in Archaeology, University of Vienna (2019)

Research Interests: Funerary archaeology, material culture distribution patterns, culture contact studies, identity archaeology, Egyptian-Levantine relations, and pottery typology. Current projects explore the Second Intermediate Period’s material culture beyond political frameworks.

Publications: Over 30 peer-reviewed articles and monographs analyzing Egyptian ceramics, settlement patterns, and cultural interaction. Recent work includes Material Culture and Identities in Egyptology (2021) and Tell el-Dabʿa XXIV (2021).

Grants & Awards:

• FWF START Project (Y754-G19)
• FWF Project (V147-G21)
• Marie Curie Fellowship (2007–2009)

Labs/Teams: Heads the research group ‘Material Culture in Egypt and Nubia’ at the ÖAI, coordinating international collaborations in fieldwork and lab analysis.