Irene Forstner-Müller

Irene Forstner-Müller is Head of the Cairo Office and Senior Research Associate at the Austrian Archaeological Institute (OeAI), a branch of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. She has directed excavations at Tell el-Dab'a since 2009 and has been with OeAI since 2002. She holds advanced qualifications including a doctorate and habilitation, with her educational background in Egyptology and related subjects from the University of Vienna.

Her primary research examines:

• Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period Egyptian archaeology
• Landscape archaeology in the Nile Delta region
• Egyptian-Near Eastern relations during the 2nd millennium BC
• Border dynamics and cultural interactions

She leads significant projects including:

• The Port of Tell el-Dab'a
• Landscape and Cityscape: Analysis of a Landscape in the Egyptian Delta
• Aswan: Ceramics of the Middle Kingdom

Her publications demonstrate consistent focus on Bronze Age settlements, particularly Tell el-Dab'a (Avaris), with emphasis on harbor structures, ceramic analysis, and geoarchaeological approaches. Recent works show increased attention to Nubian pottery studies at Kom Ombo.

As excavation director, she oversees fieldwork operations at Tell el-Dab'a and coordinates international research teams investigating Hyksos-period urban structures and material culture in the Nile Delta region.